Eric Wolanski - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Eric Wolanski
Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2017
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2021
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2019
Understanding processes that drive community recovery are needed to predict ecosystem trajectorie... more Understanding processes that drive community recovery are needed to predict ecosystem trajectories and manage for impacts under increasing global threats. Yet, the quantification of community recovery in coral reefs has been challenging owing to a paucity of long-term ecological data and high frequency of disturbances. Here we investigate community re-assembly and the bio-physical drivers that determine the capacity of coral reefs to recover following the 1998 bleaching event, using long-term monitoring data across four habitats in Palau. Our study documents that the time needed for coral reefs to recover from bleaching disturbance to coral-dominated state in disturbance-free regimes is at least 9–12 years. Importantly, we show that reefs in two habitats achieve relative stability to a climax community state within that time frame. We then investigated the direct and indirect effects of drivers on the rate of recovery of four dominant coral groups using a structural equation modelli...
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2017
The ability of individuals to actively control their movements, especially during the early life ... more The ability of individuals to actively control their movements, especially during the early life stages, can significantly influence the distribution of their population. Most marine turtle species develop oceanic foraging habitats during different life stages. However, flatback turtles (<i>Natator depressus</i>) are endemic to Australia and are the only marine turtle species with an exclusive neritic development. To explain the lack of oceanic dispersal of this species, we predicted the dispersal of post-hatchlings in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, using oceanographic advection-dispersal models. We included directional swimming in our models and calibrated them against the observed distribution of post-hatchling and adult turtles. We simulated the dispersal of green and loggerhead turtles since they also breed in the same region. Our study suggests that the neritic distribution of flatback post-hatchlings is favoured by the inshore distribution of nesting beaches, the local water circulation and directional swimming during their early dispersal. This combination of factors is important because, under the conditions tested, if flatback post-hatchlings were entirely passively transported, they would be advected into oceanic habitats after 40 days. Our results reinforce the importance of oceanography and directional swimming in the early life stages and their influence on the distribution of a marine turtle species.
Coral Reefs, May 20, 2016
The reefs in Palau’s Nikko Bay live in seawater with low pH that is similar to conditions predict... more The reefs in Palau’s Nikko Bay live in seawater with low pH that is similar to conditions predicted for 2100 because of ocean acidification. Nevertheless, the reefs at Nikko Bay have high coral cover and high diversity. We hypothesize that the low-pH environment in Nikko Bay is caused by low flushing rates, which causes long-term isolation and local adaptation. To test this hypothesis, we modeled the water circulation in and around Nikko Bay. Model results show that average residence time is 71 d, which is ten times the residence time on fore-reef habitats. The long residence time restricts the exchange of coral larvae in the bay with adjacent reefs, allowing persistent selection for tolerant traits and local adaptation. The corals in Nikko Bay are also more susceptible to local pollution because the waters are poorly flushed. Therefore, local management must focus on minimizing human impacts such as dredging, overfishing and pollution in the bay, which would compromise the condition of the corals that have already adapted to low-pH conditions.
Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science, Dec 1, 2016
Frontiers in Marine Science, May 31, 2018
Marine Ecology Progress Series, Mar 19, 2018
Scientific Reports, May 13, 2021
Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology, 2021
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2020
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2020
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2016
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2016
Science, Oct 2, 2008
[Extract] Koedam and Dahdouh-Guebas raise the important issue that&quot; there is a press... more [Extract] Koedam and Dahdouh-Guebas raise the important issue that&quot; there is a pressing need for in-depth investigation of the protection function of various mangrove formations and coast-geomorphological settings, various root types, and various species composition,&quot; and that&quot; detangling the effect of such complexity under various water-related impacts&quot; is essential for&quot; understanding the power of mangroves and other coastal vegetation as protective barriers.&quot; We agree with their assessment, and consider our recent Science ...
Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2017
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2021
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2019
Understanding processes that drive community recovery are needed to predict ecosystem trajectorie... more Understanding processes that drive community recovery are needed to predict ecosystem trajectories and manage for impacts under increasing global threats. Yet, the quantification of community recovery in coral reefs has been challenging owing to a paucity of long-term ecological data and high frequency of disturbances. Here we investigate community re-assembly and the bio-physical drivers that determine the capacity of coral reefs to recover following the 1998 bleaching event, using long-term monitoring data across four habitats in Palau. Our study documents that the time needed for coral reefs to recover from bleaching disturbance to coral-dominated state in disturbance-free regimes is at least 9–12 years. Importantly, we show that reefs in two habitats achieve relative stability to a climax community state within that time frame. We then investigated the direct and indirect effects of drivers on the rate of recovery of four dominant coral groups using a structural equation modelli...
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2017
The ability of individuals to actively control their movements, especially during the early life ... more The ability of individuals to actively control their movements, especially during the early life stages, can significantly influence the distribution of their population. Most marine turtle species develop oceanic foraging habitats during different life stages. However, flatback turtles (<i>Natator depressus</i>) are endemic to Australia and are the only marine turtle species with an exclusive neritic development. To explain the lack of oceanic dispersal of this species, we predicted the dispersal of post-hatchlings in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, using oceanographic advection-dispersal models. We included directional swimming in our models and calibrated them against the observed distribution of post-hatchling and adult turtles. We simulated the dispersal of green and loggerhead turtles since they also breed in the same region. Our study suggests that the neritic distribution of flatback post-hatchlings is favoured by the inshore distribution of nesting beaches, the local water circulation and directional swimming during their early dispersal. This combination of factors is important because, under the conditions tested, if flatback post-hatchlings were entirely passively transported, they would be advected into oceanic habitats after 40 days. Our results reinforce the importance of oceanography and directional swimming in the early life stages and their influence on the distribution of a marine turtle species.
Coral Reefs, May 20, 2016
The reefs in Palau’s Nikko Bay live in seawater with low pH that is similar to conditions predict... more The reefs in Palau’s Nikko Bay live in seawater with low pH that is similar to conditions predicted for 2100 because of ocean acidification. Nevertheless, the reefs at Nikko Bay have high coral cover and high diversity. We hypothesize that the low-pH environment in Nikko Bay is caused by low flushing rates, which causes long-term isolation and local adaptation. To test this hypothesis, we modeled the water circulation in and around Nikko Bay. Model results show that average residence time is 71 d, which is ten times the residence time on fore-reef habitats. The long residence time restricts the exchange of coral larvae in the bay with adjacent reefs, allowing persistent selection for tolerant traits and local adaptation. The corals in Nikko Bay are also more susceptible to local pollution because the waters are poorly flushed. Therefore, local management must focus on minimizing human impacts such as dredging, overfishing and pollution in the bay, which would compromise the condition of the corals that have already adapted to low-pH conditions.
Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science, Dec 1, 2016
Frontiers in Marine Science, May 31, 2018
Marine Ecology Progress Series, Mar 19, 2018
Scientific Reports, May 13, 2021
Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology, 2021
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2020
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2020
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2016
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2016
Science, Oct 2, 2008
[Extract] Koedam and Dahdouh-Guebas raise the important issue that&quot; there is a press... more [Extract] Koedam and Dahdouh-Guebas raise the important issue that&quot; there is a pressing need for in-depth investigation of the protection function of various mangrove formations and coast-geomorphological settings, various root types, and various species composition,&quot; and that&quot; detangling the effect of such complexity under various water-related impacts&quot; is essential for&quot; understanding the power of mangroves and other coastal vegetation as protective barriers.&quot; We agree with their assessment, and consider our recent Science ...