Coral reefs in the Anthropocene

Hughes, Terry P.;Barnes, Michele L.;Bellwood, David R.;Cinner, Joshua E.;Cumming, Graeme S.;Jackson, Jeremy B.C.;Kleypas, Joanie;van de Leemput, Ingrid A.;Lough, Janice M.;Morrison, Tiffany H.;Palumbi, Stephen R.;van Nes, Egbert H.;Scheffer, Marten

Terry Hughes David Bellwood

Abstract

Coral reefs support immense biodiversity and provide important ecosystem services to many millions of people. Yet reefs are degrading rapidly in response to numerous anthropogenic drivers. In the coming centuries, reefs will run the gauntlet of climate change, and rising temperatures will transform them into new configurations, unlike anything observed previously by humans. Returning reefs to past configurations is no longer an option. Instead, the global challenge is to steer reefs through the Anthropocene era in a way that maintains their biological functions. Successful navigation of this transition will require radical changes in the science, management and governance of coral reefs.

Journal

Nature

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Volume

546

ISBN/ISSN

1476-4687

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Issue

7656

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Publisher

Nature Publishing Group

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DOI

10.1038/nature22901