COVID-19 impacts on food systems in fisheries-dependent island communities

Policies designed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted food systems worldwide. How impacts played out in local food systems, and how these affected the lived experiences of different people is only just coming to light. We conducted a structured analysis of the impacts of COVID-19 containment policies on the food systems of small-scale fishing communities in Kenya, Papua New Guinea, and Saint Lucia, based on interviews with men and women fishers, fish traders, and community leaders. Participants reported that containment policies lead indirectly to reduced volumes of food, lower dietary diversity, increased consumption of traditional foods, and reduced access to fish for food and income. Although the initiating policy and food and nutrition security outcomes often appeared similar, we found that the underlying pathways and feedbacks causing these impacts were different based on local context. Incorporating knowledge of how context-specific factors shape food system outcomes may be key to tailoring strategies to mitigate the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 and designing timely, strategic interventions for future systemic shocks

Large Geographic Variability in the Resistance of Corals to Thermal Stress

Aim: Predictions for the future of coral reefs are largely based on thermal exposure and poorly account for potential geographic variation in biological sensitivity to ther- mal stress. Without accounting for complex sensitivity responses, simple climate ex- posure models and associated predictions may lead to poor estimates of future coral survival and lead to policies that fail to identify and implement the most appropri- ate interventions. To begin filling this gap, we evaluated a number of attributes of coral taxa and communities that are predicted to influence coral resistance to thermal stress over a large geographic range. Location: Western Indo-Pacific and Central Indo-Pacific Ocean Realms. Major taxa studied: Zooxanthellate Scleractinia – hard corals. Methods: We evaluated the geographic variability of coral resistance to thermal stress as the ratio of thermal exposure and sensitivity in 12 countries during the 2016 global-bleaching event. Thermal exposure was estimated by two metrics: (a) histori- cal excess summer heat (cumulative thermal anomaly, CTA), and (b) a multivariate index of sea-surface temperature (SST), light, and water flow (climate exposure, CE). Sensitivity was estimated for 226 sites using coordinated bleaching observations and underwater surveys of coral communities. We then evaluated coral resistance to ther- mal stress using 48 generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) to compare the poten- tial influences of geography, historical SST variation, coral cover and coral richness. Results: Geographic faunal provinces and ecoregions were the strongest predic- tors of coral resistance to thermal stress, with sites in the Australian, Indonesian and Fiji-Caroline Islands coral provinces having higher resistance to thermal stress than Africa-India and Japan-Vietnam provinces. Ecoregions also showed strong gradients in resistance with highest resistance to thermal stress in the western Pacific and Coral Triangle and lower resistance in the surrounding ecoregions. A more detailed evaluation of Coral Triangle and non-Coral Triangle sites found higher resistance to thermal stress within the Coral Triangle, associated with c. 2.5 times more recent historical thermal anomalies and more centralized, warmer, and cool-water skew SST distributions, than in non-Coral Triangle sites. Our findings identify the importance of environmental history and geographic context in future predictions of bleaching, and identify some potential drivers of coral resistance to thermal stress. Main conclusions: Simple threshold models of heat stress and coral acclimation are commonly used to predict the future of coral reefs. Here and elsewhere we show that large-scale responses of coral communities to heat stress are geographically variable and associated with differential environmental stresses and histories

Highly Variable Taxa-specific Coral Bleaching Responses to Thermal Stresses

Complex histories of chronic and acute sea surface temperature (SST) stresses are expected to trigger taxon- and location-specific responses that will ultimately lead to novel coral communities. The 2016 El Niño-Southern Oscillation provided an opportunity to examine large- scale and recent environmental histories on emerging patterns in 226 coral communities distrib- uted across 12 countries from East Africa to Fiji. Six main coral communities were identified that largely varied across a gradient of Acropora to massive Porites dominance. Bleaching intensity was taxon-specific and was associated with complex interactions among the 20 environmental variables that we examined. Coral community structure was better aligned with the historical temperature patterns between 1985 and 2015 than the 2016 extreme temperature event. Addi- tionally, bleaching responses observed during 2016 differed from historical reports during past warm years. Consequently, coral communities present in 2016 are likely to have been reorganized by both long-term community change and acclimation mechanisms. For example, less disturbed sites with cooler baseline temperatures, higher mean historical SST background variability, and infrequent extreme warm temperature stresses were associated with Acropora-dominated communities, while more disturbed sites with lower historical SST background variability and frequent acute warm stress were dominated by stress-resistant massive Porites corals. Overall, the combination of taxon-specific responses, community-level reorganization over time, geographic variation, and multiple environmental stressors suggest complex responses and a diversity of future coral communities that can help contextualize management priorities and activities

Limited Progress in Improving Gender and Geographic Representation in Coral Reef Science

Despite increasing recognition of the need for more diverse and equitable representation in the sciences, it is unclear whether measurable progress has been made. Here, we examine trends in authorship in coral reef science from 1,677 articles published over the past 16 years (2003–2018) and find that while representation of authors that are women (from 18 to 33%) and from non-OECD nations (from 4 to 13%) have increased over time, progress is slow in achieving more equitable representation. For example, at the current rate, it would take over two decades for female representation to reach 50%. Given that there are more coral reef non-OECD countries, at the current rate, truly equitable representation of non-OECD countries would take even longer. OECD nations also continue to dominate authorship contributions in coral reef science (89%), in research conducted in both OECD (63%) and non-OECD nations (68%). We identify systemic issues that remain prevalent in coral reef science (i.e., parachute science, gender bias) that likely contribute to observed trends. We provide recommendations to address systemic biases in research to foster a more inclusive global science community. Adoption of these recommendations will lead to more creative, innovative, and impactful scientific approaches urgently needed for coral reefs and contribute to environmental justice efforts.We acknowledge the contributions of the many unrecognized and undervalued individuals in coral reef research whose efforts have made it possible for the field to progress. These scientists have collected data, translated across languages, coordinated field work, welcomed foreign visitors to their countries, shared ideas, trained and mentored students, become friends, inspired, and built the foundation for the discipline we know today. We acknowledge the work of all coral reef scientists who continue day after day to pursue equity, inclusion, and justice in the field and for their colleagues and themselves.Ye

THE EFFECTS OF SALINITY STRESS ON THE RATES OF AEROBIC RESPIRATION AND PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN THE HERMATYPIC CORAL SIDERASTREA SIDEREA

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Associations between climate stress and coral reef diversity in the western Indian Ocean

Climatic-oceanographic stress and coral reef diversity were mapped in the western Indian Ocean (WIO) in order to determine if there were associations between high diversity coral reefs and regions with low-to-moderate climate stress. A multivariate stress model developed to estimate environmental exposure to stress, an empirical index of the coral community's susceptibility to stress, and field data on numbers of fish and corals taxa from 197 WIO sites were overlain to evaluate these associations. Exposure to stress was modeled from satellite data based on nine geophysical-biological oceanographic characteristics known to influence coral bleaching (i.e. temperature, light, and current variables). The environmental stress model and the coral community's susceptibility index were moderately correlated (r=-0.51) with southern and eastern parts of the WIO identified as areas with low environmental stress and coral communities with greater dominance of bleaching stress-sensitive taxa. Numbers of coral and fish taxa were positive and moderately correlated (r=0.47) but high diversity regions for fish were in the north and west while diversity was highest for corals in central regions from Tanzania to northwestern Madagascar. Combining three and four of these variables into composite maps identified a region from southern Kenya to northern Mozambique across to northern-eastern Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands and the Mozambique-S outh Africa border as areas where low-moderate environmental exposure overlaps with moderate-high taxonomic diversity. In these areas management efforts aimed at maintaining high-diversity and intact ecosystems are considered least likely to be undermined by climate disturbances in the near term. Reducing additional human disturbances, such as fishing and pollution, in these areas is expected to improve the chances for their persistence. These reefs are considered a high priority for increased local, national, and international management efforts aimed at establishing coral reef refugia for climate change impacts.10 page(s

Governance structures and sustainability in Indian Ocean sea cucumber fisheries

Good governance is paramount to the sustainability of fisheries, and inclusiveness of stakeholder groups has become the centerpiece in the ethos of managing small-scale fisheries. Understanding the effect of governance network structures on fishery sustainability can help guide governance to achieve desired outcomes. Data on resource users, fishing methods, governance networks and classifications of stock health were compiled for 17 sea cucumber fisheries in the Indian Ocean. The subjective influence of the actors and the complexity of governance networks on the health of wild stocks were analyzed. The fisheries differed widely in their resource users, fishing methods and governance networks. Little correspondence was found between the number of nodes in the governance networks and the health (exploitation status) of wild stocks. Government entities dominated the networks but neither their relative influence in the networks nor their proportionate contribution to the number of entities in the networks greatly affected stock health. These findings do not refute the benefits of inclusive governance, but rather suggest that multiple other factors (e.g. inadequate regulations, weak enforcement, high number of fishers) are also likely to play a role in influencing sea cucumber fishery sustainability. These factors must be tackled in tandem with good governance

Biogeography and Change among Regional Coral Communities across the Western Indian Ocean

Coral reefs are biodiverse ecosystems structured by abiotic and biotic factors operating across many spatial scales. Regional-scale interactions between climate change, biogeography and fisheries management remain poorly understood. Here, we evaluated large-scale patterns of coral communities in the western Indian Ocean after a major coral bleaching event in 1998. We surveyed 291 coral reef sites in 11 countries and over 30° of latitude between 2004 and 2011 to evaluate variations in coral communities post 1998 across gradients in latitude, mainland-island geography and fisheries management. We used linear mixed-effect hierarchical models to assess total coral cover, the abundance of four major coral families (acroporids, faviids, pocilloporids and poritiids), coral genus richness and diversity, and the bleaching susceptibility of the coral communities. We found strong latitudinal and geographic gradients in coral community structure and composition that supports the presence of a high coral cover and diversity area that harbours temperature-sensitive taxa in the northern Mozambique Channel between Tanzania, northern Mozambique and northern Madagascar. Coral communities in the more northern latitudes of Kenya, Seychelles and the Maldives were generally composed of fewer bleaching-tolerant coral taxa and with reduced richness and diversity. There was also evidence for continued declines in the abundance of temperature-sensitive taxa and community change after 2004. While there are limitations of our regional dataset in terms of spatial and temporal replication, these patterns suggest that large-scale interactions between biogeographic factors and strong temperature anomalies influence coral communities while smaller-scale factors, such as the effect of fisheries closures, were weak. The northern Mozambique Channel, while not immune to temperature disturbances, shows continued signs of resistance to climate disturbances and remains a priority for future regional conservation and management actions

Multiscale determinants of social adaptive capacity in small-scale fishing communities

Climate change is expected to reinforce undesirable social and ecological feedbacks between ecosystem degradation and poverty. This is particularly true for resource-dependent communities in the developing world such as coral reef fishing communities who will have to adapt to those new environmental conditions and novel ecosystems. It is therefore crucial to identify: i) multiscale characteristics that can influence social adaptive capacity of local communities to climate change, and ii) current and future social-ecological conditions related to climate change that might lead communities to experience unsustainable and undesirable states (i.e., "socialecological traps"). Here, we investigated social adaptive capacity and the relationship to ecological conditions in 29 small-scale fishing communities in Madagascar and Kenya in the Western Indian Ocean. We found that isolation from a market and climate stress had a significant negative relationship with social adaptive capacity, while a higher level of education and the presence of market traders (middlemen) had a positive relationship. In general, resource management through marine protected areas and locally managed marine areas had a positive influence on ecological conditions. Combining social adaptive capacity and ecological conditions revealed that 80 % of fishers households surveyed were experiencing social-ecological states that could lead to unsustainable social-ecological conditions, while 10 % might already be experiencing social-ecological traps. Our findings reveal specific mechanisms by which conservation and development activities can increase social adaptive capacity in coastal communities, including but not limited to: increasing market access and education, and mitigating future climate exposure and unsustainable fishing through improved marine conservation and management