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Article
<br /> Coral reefs benefit from reduced land-sea
<br /> impacts under ocean warming
<br /> https://doi.org/10.1038/S4l586-023-06394-w Jamison M.Gove"",Gareth J.Williams2•1 "',Joey Lecky3,Eric Brown 4,Eric Conklin',
<br /> Received:21 Jul 2022 Chelsie Counse116,Gerald Davis3,Mary K.Donovan',",Kim Falinski',Lindsey Kramer',
<br /> y Kelly Kozar1O,Ning Litt,Jeffrey A.Maynard 12,Amanda McCutcheon",Sheila A.McKenna10,
<br /> Accepted:30 June 2023 Brian J.Neilson13,Aryan Safaie14,Christopher Teague",Robert Whittier"&
<br /> b Gregory P.Asner7,16
<br /> Open access
<br /> Check for updates Coral reef ecosystems are being fundamentally restructured by local human impacts
<br /> and climate-driven marine heatwaves that trigger mass coral bleaching and mortality'.
<br /> Reducing local impacts can increase reef resistance to and recovery from bleaching2.
<br /> However,resource managers lack clear advice on targeted actions that best support
<br /> coral reefs under climate change'and sector-based governance means most land-and
<br /> sea-based management efforts remain siloed4.Here we combine surveys of reef change
<br /> with a unique 20-year time series of land-sea human impacts that encompassed an
<br /> unprecedented marine heatwave in Hawaii.Reefs with increased herbivorous fish
<br /> populations and reduced land-based impacts,such as wastewater pollution and
<br /> urban runoff,had positive coral cover trajectories predisturbance.These reefs also
<br /> experienced a modest reduction in coral mortality following severe heat stress
<br /> compared to reefs with reduced fish populations and enhanced land-based impacts.
<br /> Scenario modelling indicated that simultaneously reducing land-sea human impacts
<br /> results in a three-to sixfold greater probability of a reef having high reef-builder cover
<br /> four years postdisturbance than if either occurred in isolation.International effortsto
<br /> protect 30%of Earth's land and ocean ecosystems by 2030 are underway'.Our results
<br /> reveal that integrated land-sea management could help achieve coastal ocean
<br /> conservation goals and provide coral reefs with the best opportunity to persist in our
<br /> changing climate.
<br /> Coastal areas contain some of the most biologically diverse and pro- decades3.Its importance was established in the indigenous steward-
<br /> ductive marine ecosystems on Earth'.But with four times the popula- ship of island ecosystems,which used a decentralized and integrated
<br /> tion density living within 20 km of the ocean compared to the rest of resource management strategy that extended from the mountains to
<br /> the world',direct human impacts on local scales are fundamentally the sea1,'"By contrast,contemporary centralized governance means
<br /> restructuring these important marine communities'.Coastal areas are most terrestrial and ocean management efforts remain siloed4•17•18 As a
<br /> also affected by stronger and more frequent disturbances fuelled by result,whereas local resource managers have aspired to an integrated
<br /> human-inducedclimatechange9 These human stressorsare especially land-sea approach",evidence of its efficacy aboveeither approach in
<br /> acuteon tropical coral reefs where upto 90%ofthe local population live isolation remains wantingand difficult to test.Detecting conservation
<br /> alongtheshoreline1'.Land-based stressors,such as wastewater pollu- benefits in highly dynamic ecosystems is challenging20,but recent
<br /> tion,combine with sea-based stressors,such as overfishing,to disrupt studies have identified salient connections between local conditions
<br /> natural ecological feedbacks on reefs".Corals are further stressed by and coral reef resistance to and recovery potential following mass
<br /> prolonged periods of anomalously warm ocean temperatures,known as bleachingz,tt,zt-23.Managersthereforerequireunambiguoustargetsfor
<br /> marine heatwaves12,thatcan cause mass coral bleaching13and mortality the combination of land-sea human impacts they should mitigate to
<br /> and fundamentally transform reef assemblages14•ts supportcoral reef persistence under climate change.Hamperingthese
<br /> Reducing human impacts on local scales to maintain ecosystem effortsarea lackof spatially resolved data on local drivers of coral reef
<br /> integrity has been the guiding model of coral reef conservation for ecosystems over time.Researchers are often forced to use proxies
<br /> 'Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center,National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA),Honolulu,HI,USA. School of Ocean Sciences,Bangor University,Menai Bridge,Anglesey,
<br /> UK.'Pacific Islands Regional Office,National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,Honolulu,HI,USA."National Park of American Samoa,Pago Pago,American Samoa,USA.'The Nature
<br /> Conservancy,Honolulu,HI,USA.'Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research,Honolulu,HI,USA.'Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science,Arizona State
<br /> University,Hilo,HI,USA.'School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning,Arizona State University,Tempe,AZ,USA.'Hawai'i Wildlife Fund,Kealakekua,HI,USA.10National Park Service,
<br /> Pacific Island Network Inventory and Monitoring,Hawai'i National Park,HI,USA."Department of Ocean and Resources Engineering,University of Hawai'i at Mwoa,Honolulu,HI,USA.
<br /> "SymbioSeas,Carolina Beach,INC,USA."Hawai'i Division of Aquatic Resources,Honolulu,HI,USA."Graduate School of Oceanography,University of Rhode Island,Narragansett,RI,USA.
<br /> "Hawai'i Department of Health,Honolulu,HI,USA."School of Ocean Futures,Arizona State University,Hilo,HI,USA."These authors contributed equally:Jamison M.Gove,Gareth J.Williams.
<br /> ®e-mail:jamison.gove@noaa.gov;g.j.williams@bangor.ac.uk
<br /> Nature I www.nature.com I 1
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