ArticleNature ecology & evolution2022
Biological trade-offs underpin coral reef ecosystem functioning.
Article in Nature ecology & evolution, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Marine protected areas marginally offset anthropogenic declines in tropical reef fish contributions to nature and people.Nature ecology & evolution · 2026Article
- Period of the day drives distinctions in the taxonomic and functional structures of reef fish assemblages.Journal of fish biology · 2026Article
- Towards a systematic framework to assess restoration success of interventions in coral reef ecosystems.PloS one · 2026Article
- Predators can facilitate herbivory in nutrient-limited marine ecosystems.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- 3D Habitat Complexity and Coral Morphology Modulate Reef Fish Functional Structure in a Marine National Park.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Species abundances surpass richness effects in the biodiversity-ecosystem function relationship across marine fishes.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Protection efforts have resulted in ~10% of existing fish biomass on coral reefs.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Global patterns and drivers of fish reproductive potential on coral reefs.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Insights from the 2-year-long human confinement experiment in Grand Cayman reveal the resilience of coral reef fish communities.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Trophic distribution of nutrient production in coral reef fisheries.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Functional trade-offs in fish communities.Nature ecology & evolution · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
25 authors at 17 institutions in 9 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Human impact increasingly alters global ecosystems, often reducing biodiversity and disrupting the provision of essential ecosystem services to humanity. Therefore, preserving ecosystem functioning is a critical challenge of the twenty-first century. Coral reefs are declining worldwide due to the pervasive effects of climate change and intensive fishing, and although research on coral reef ecosystem functioning has gained momentum, most studies rely on simplified proxies, such as fish biomass. This lack of quantitative assessments of multiple process-based ecosystem functions hinders local and regional conservation efforts. Here we combine global coral reef fish community surveys and bioenergetic models to quantify five key ecosystem functions mediated by coral reef fishes. We show that functions exhibit critical trade-offs driven by varying community structures, such that no community can maximize all functions. Furthermore, functions are locally dominated by few species, but the identity of dominant species substantially varies at the global scale. In fact, half of the 1,110 species in our dataset are functionally dominant in at least one location. Our results reinforce the need for a nuanced, locally tailored approach to coral reef conservation that considers multiple ecological functions beyond the effect of standing stock biomass.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.