Regulation of coral assemblages: Spatial and temporal variation in the abundance of recruits, juveniles, and adults.

Understanding the processes that maintain coral assemblages is of crucial importance given increasing rates of coral mortality on reefs globally. Here, we compared relationships among distribution patterns of recruit, juvenile, and adult corals with distinct life history traits to determine the contribution of early life stages to the structure of adult assemblages at Toliara, southwest Madagascar. Results highlighted a marked spatio-temporal variability in the abundance of all life stages within and between major reef habitats.

Effects of Madagascar marine reserves on juvenile and adult coral abundance, and the implication for population regulation.

Recruitment is a critical component in the dynamics of coral assemblages, and a key question is to determine the degree to which spatial heterogeneity of adults is influenced by pre-vs. post-settlement processes. We analyzed the density of juvenile and adult corals among 18 stations located at three regions around Madagascar, and examined the effects of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

A contemporary baseline of Madagascar's coral assemblages: Reefs with high coral diversity, abundance, and function associated with marine protected areas.

Madagascar is a major hotspot of biodiversity in the Western Indian Ocean, but, as in many other regions, coral reefs surrounding the island confront large-scale disturbances and human-induced local stressors. Conservation actions have been implemented with encouraging results for fisheries, though their benefit on coral assemblages has never been rigorously addressed. In this context, we analyzed the multiscale spatial variation of the composition, generic richness, abundance, life history strategies, and cover of coral assemblages among 18 stations placed at three regions around the island.