Ongoing declines in the structure and function of the world’s coral reefs require novel approaches to sustain these ecosystems and the millions of people who depend on them. A presently unexplored approach that draws on theory and practice in human health and rural development is to systematically identify and learn from the ‘outliers’—places where ecosystems are substantially better (‘bright spots’) or worse (‘dark spots’) than expected, given the environmental conditions and socioeconomic drivers they are exposed to. Here we compile data from more than 2,500 reefs worldwide and develop a Bayesian hierarchical model to generate expectations of how standing stocks of reef fish biomass are related to 18 socioeconomic drivers and environmental conditions. We identify 15 bright spots and 35 dark spots among our global survey of coral reefs, defined as sites that have biomass levels more than two standard deviations from expectations. Importantly, bright spots are not simply comprised of remote areas with low fishing pressure; they include localities where human populations and use of ecosystem resources is high, potentially providing insights into how communities have successfully confronted strong drivers of change. Conversely, dark spots are not necessarily the sites with the lowest absolute biomass and even include some remote, uninhabited locations often considered near pristine. We surveyed local experts about social, institutional, and environmental conditions at these sites to reveal that bright spots are characterized by strong sociocultural institutions such as customary taboos and marine tenure, high levels of local engagement in management, high dependence on marine resources, and beneficial environmental conditions such as deep-water refuges. Alternatively, dark spots are characterized by intensive capture and storage technology and a recent history of environmental shocks. Our results suggest that investments in strengthening fisheries governance, particularly aspects such as participation and property rights, could facilitate innovative conservation actions that help communities defy expectations of global reef degradation.

Uncovering Bright Spots Among the World’s Coral Reefs

Preliminary lessons from COVID-19 disruptions of small-scale fishery supply chains

The resilience of reefs to repeated, increasingly frequent thermal disturbance is a dynamic balance between resistance and recovery pathways. The Lakshadweep archipelago in the central Indian Ocean has experienced three El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events in 1998, 2010 and 2016. Using a multi-decadal monitoring of 6 shallow reefs, we estimated reef resistance and coral recovery after each of these bleaching events. Even as the severity of each ENSO event increased over time, coral mortality decreased from 87% post-1998 to 44% after 2010 and 31% after 2016. In contrast, benthic recovery after 2010 was more protracted than after 1998, with a fourfold decrease in recovery rates between the two time periods. This has resulted in a 40% decline in absolute coral cover in the last 2 decades from 51.6% in 1998 to 11% in 2017. We examined the demographic and compositional mechanisms underlying these two recovery trajectories by monitoring coral recruitment, juvenile, and young adult compositions for 5 yr after 1998 and 2010. While coral juvenile densities were comparable after each of these disturbances, densities of fast-growing Acroporids had reduced from > 1 m−2 post-1998 to 0.09 m−2 post-2010. This was reflected in the composition of coral communities in 2003 and 2015, which differed in its dominant coral taxa, with a dramatic decline in Acropora and an increase in the cover of Porites by 2015. While the dominance of resistant taxa like Porites signals a shift to a system adapting to recurrent thermal anomalies, the reduction in fast-growing, habitat-forming corals like Acropora is driving a major decline in recovery rates with time. Given the frequency of current warming events, the increased reef resistance over the last 2 decades is likely not sufficient to also ensure gains in coral cover in Lakshadweep’s reefs.

Coral reefs respond to repeated ENSO events with increasing resistance but reduced recovery capacities in the Lakshadweep archipelago

Many islands are being visibly impacted by climate change to which they are disproportionately exposed. This situation requires a shift away from reactive shortterm responses to longer-term transformational adaptation. For this to be effective, the singularity of island environments and societies should be acknowledged and optimal ways of management and engagement identified. There is considerable potential to learn from past intervention failures in island contexts. The importance of aligning adaptation needs with interventions underpins such transformational change, which on islands principally involves the relocation of vulnerable (coastal) communities and infrastructure to less-vulnerable (inland) places, as well as other transformations such as changing livelihoods and qualityof-life improvements. Successful transformational adaptation also requires that all actors involved change their current attitudes and re-evaluate how they can contribute to adaptation that is effective and sustainable in island contexts.

/pdf/failing-adaptation-in-island-contexts-the-growing-need-for-1vqq03bu1x.pdf

Failing adaptation in island contexts: the growing need for transformational change

Analysis of constraints and opportunities in marine small-scale fisheries value chain: A multi-criteria decision approach

Islands offer unique model systems for studying fisheries development in relation to the growing global seafood trade. This study examines how export-driven fisheries in India's oceanic islands (Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands) differ significantly as a result of their varied history, culture, available infrastructure and market access. Despite being geographically closer to export centres on the Indian mainland, processing and transport infrastructure in the Lakshadweep Islands are limited. This only allows for the trade of non-perishable commodities like dried tuna that are caught using traditional pole-and-line fishing techniques, restricting reef exploitation to local preference-based consumption and opportunistic export. The Andaman Islands, on the other hand, with multiple daily flight connections and large private and government processing facilities, are better connected to export markets. The relatively recent and multicultural fisheries of these islands supply marine commodity chains for reef fishery goods such as dried shark fins, frozen snapper fillets and chilled groupers. The Nicobar Islands are furthest away from mainland export centres and are mostly populated by indigenous communities – fishing here is mostly for subsistence and local sale. Revised estimates of travel times to export market centres are counterintuitive in terms of geographical distances and are significantly different from travel times to local markets.

Mahima Jaini

Papers

History, culture, infrastructure and export markets shape fisheries and reef accessibility in India's contrasting oceanic islands