Reef Environmental Education Foundation

Animals aggregated on habitat patches can generate nutrient “hotspots” that enhance biogeochemical cycling and primary production, yet the conditions under which such hotspots emerge in continuous reef habitats remain unclear.This study aimed to determine how different scales of reef structural complexity regulate fish‐derived nutrient supply and associated benthic enrichment.We conducted fish surveys and high‐resolution photogrammetry across six reefscapes (~2500 m2 each) in the Florida Keys, USA. At the 25 m2 scale, we quantified large‐scale vertical relief and fine‐scale complexity using vector ruggedness (VRM), estimated nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) supply from fish bioenergetics models, and measured macroalgal tissue %N and %P.We found that fish‐derived nutrient supply increased with reef vertical relief up to ~2.8 m, beyond which supply rates saturated. VRM was positively related to nutrient supply, particularly in low‐relief areas, indicating scale‐dependent effects. Macroalgal nutrient content was non‐linearly related to supply, with uptake plateauing above ~250 mg N m−2 day−1 and ~35 mg P m−2 day−1. Nonlinear patterns were driven by high‐relief hotspots, where nutrient supply was several times greater than surrounding reef.These findings show that mesoscale habitat complexity interacts across scales to shape consumer‐driven nutrient supply and benthic enrichment. Identifying thresholds in relief and VRM provides new insight into when and where nutrient hotspots form and offers practical guidance for targeting restoration to reef features most likely to enhance productivity.

Passive acoustic monitoring is a cost‐effective, minimally invasive technology commonly used to study behavior and population dynamics of soniferous fish species. To understand the strengths and limitations of acoustic monitoring for this purpose at fish spawning aggregations (FSA) requires an assessment of the variability in aggregation‐associated sounds (AAS) as a function of time, space, and proximity for spawning fishes of interest. Here, we evaluate temporal and spatial trends in the detection of AAS by Nassau Grouper (Epinephelus striatus) using an array of six hydrophones deployed across a large Nassau Grouper FSA at Little Cayman, Cayman Islands. We collected continuous data for nine days during a winter spawning season and subsequently used an automatic classifier to extract the embedded Nassau Grouper AAS. Using these data, we analyzed variability in spatiotemporal AAS detection rates across the array with a Bayesian mixed effects model. We found high variability in the detection of AAS across the spawning site, with positive correlations among neighboring hydrophone pairs trending toward negative correlations with distances exceeding 350 m. Indeed, temporal trends in AAS rates at the spawning site were approximately inverted at the two most distant hydrophones (~600 m). Across the hydrophone network, our model predicted strong positive effects of fish proximity, spawning behavior, and crepuscular periods on detected AAS. Our findings suggest hydrophone placement can strongly influence AAS detection rates and even basic temporal patterns in AAS across the spawning season. Given both the vagaries of movement and behavior of aggregating fish at spawning sites and the limits of AAS detection using standard monitoring tools, we suggest spawning site acoustic monitoring programs deploy hydrophone arrays of sufficient size to capture the site‐wide trends in AAS rates if possible; this is particularly true if researchers hope to compare/contrast AAS rates between spawning sites or across seasons for the purpose of population assessment.

though smaller margins were reproducible for groups (e.g., 0.29 °C for groups of 10). These results demonstrate that rapid assays may not resolve fine-scale individual heat tolerance differences, but they can easily identify top-and bottom-performing individuals, and differential tolerance between groups of corals. These findings provide critical validation and quantitative guidelines for the use of rapid assays, which may transform coral heat tolerance research and its applications to reef restoration. Coral bleaching automated stress system (CBASS) • Symbiodiniaceae • Chlorophyll fluorometry • Mo'orea • Florida Keys • Restoration * Ross Cunning

Two new leucothoid amphipod species are described from the Western Atlantic Ocean. Leucothoe mucifibrosa sp. nov., collected from Belize, may represent a member of the Paraleucothoe group with a specific sponge host preference. Leucothoe darthvaderi sp. nov., collected from South Florida, is part of the Leucothoe spinicarpa species complex and has demonstrated a shift in host preference over time, possibly associated with environmental perturbances.

Beyond all boundaries the meteoric rise of environmental crimeThe meteoric rise of environmental crime across all global boundaries has for decades caused accelerating climate change, destruction of habitats and biodiversity loss demands far more attention by those responsible for protecting our societies and institutions against risks to their stability and, indeed, their very existence.Environmental crime is a serious economic crime which affects the global economy and therefore everyone of us. What is environmental crime?Environmental crime is understood to collectively describe illegal activities harming the environment and aimed at financially benefiting certain individuals, group or companies through the exploitation and theft of, or trade in natural resources.It is the third largest global crime sector, and the economic impact of environmental crime is rising at the meteoric rate of 5%-7% annually, which is two to three times the rate of growth for the global economy.Interpol and UNEP estimate that natural resources worth as much as US $91-281bn are stolen annually from the global economy.The economic impact estimates for the specific categories of environmental crime are useful to an understanding of the significance of the major global environmental crimes:Forestry crime, the largest sector, has an impact of US$51-152bn annually.Illegal mining has an impact of US$12-48 bn annually.Illegal fisheries and poaching have an impact of US$11-24bn annually.Illegal wildlife trade has an impact of US$7-23bn annually.Illegal trafficking of toxic waste has an impact of US$10-12bn annually.Illegal exploitation and theft of oil has an impact of US$19-23bn annually.

Global change driven by anthropogenic carbon emissions is altering ecosystems at unprecedented rates, especially coral reefs, whose symbiosis with algal symbionts is particularly vulnerable to increasing ocean temperatures and altered carbonate chemistry. Here, we assess the physiological responses of three Caribbean coral (animal host + algal symbiont) species from an inshore and offshore reef environment after exposure to simulated ocean warming (28, 31°C), acidification (300-3290 μatm), and the combination of stressors for 93 days. We used multidimensional analyses to assess how a variety of coral physiological parameters respond to ocean acidification and warming. Our results demonstrate reductions in coral health in Siderastrea siderea and Porites astreoides in response to projected ocean acidification, while future warming elicited severe declines in Pseudodiploria strigosa. Offshore S. siderea fragments exhibited higher physiological plasticity than inshore counterparts, suggesting that this offshore population was more susceptible to changing conditions. There were no plasticity differences in P. strigosa and P. astreoides between natal reef environments, however, temperature evoked stronger responses in both species. Interestingly, while each species exhibited unique physiological responses to ocean acidification and warming, when data from all three species are modelled together, convergent stress responses to these conditions are observed, highlighting the overall sensitivities of tropical corals to these stressors. Our results demonstrate that while ocean warming is a severe acute stressor that will have dire consequences for coral reefs globally, chronic exposure to acidification may also impact coral physiology to a greater extent in some species than previously assumed. Further, our study identifies S. siderea and P. astreoides as potential 'winners' on future Caribbean coral reefs due to their resilience under projected global change stressors, while P. strigosa will likely be a 'loser' due to their sensitivity to thermal stress events. Together, these species-specific responses to global change we observe will likely manifest in altered Caribbean reef assemblages in the future.

Many large-bodied marine fishes that form spawning aggregations, such as the Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus), have suffered regional overfishing due to exploitation during spawning. In response, marine resource managers in many locations have established marine protected areas or seasonal closures to recover these overfished stocks. The challenge in assessing management effectiveness lies largely in the development of accurate estimates to track stock size through time. For the past 15 y, the Cayman Islands government has taken a series of management actions aimed at recovering collapsed stocks of Nassau grouper. Importantly, the government also partnered with academic and nonprofit organizations to establish a research and monitoring program (Grouper Moon) aimed at documenting the impacts of conservation action. Here, we develop an integrated population model of 2 Cayman Nassau grouper stocks based on both diver-collected mark-resight observations and video censuses. Using both data types across multiple years, we fit parameters for a state-space model for population growth. We show that over the last 15 y the Nassau grouper population on Little Cayman has more than tripled in response to conservation efforts. Census data from Cayman Brac, while more sparse, show a similar pattern. These findings demonstrate that spatial and seasonal closures aimed at rebuilding aggregation-based fisheries can foster conservation success.