139
systems, limited awareness of the consequences of human
activities, and, most importantly, a lack of perspective
regarding the connectivity among ecosystems on the tropical
seascape (Duda and Sherman 2002). This review has highlighted the scale and importance of connectivity between
tropical marine ecosystems, and investigated the impact of
select anthropogenic activities and climatic perturbations on
their associated connectivity pathways and ecosystem services. Only by progressing our understanding of these environments can the impact of human activities and changes in
environmental conditions on nature be better elucidated. It is
concluded that in order to effectively protect and preserve
these critically important ecosystems and their associated
services for future generations, we can no longer consider
each ecosystem as a separate entity, and instead a holistic,
seascape-wide approach is paramount. This means, the
static, ‘boundary-based’ norm of scientific thinking must be
overcome, and instead a more flexible, inter-ecosystem and
interdisciplinary approach employed, which may, in turn,
lead to strategies, which balance environmental change
whilst allowing human subsistence to be ensured.
Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to constructive input by
Mirco Wölfelschneider, Timothy Thomson and Dr. Siobhan Vye.
Thanks also to Dr. Simon Jungblut for his continuous support and to
two reviewers who contributed significantly to the final version of this
chapter.
Appendix
This article is related to the YOUMARES 8 conference session no. 14: “Tropical Aquatic Ecosystems Across Time,
Space and Disciplines”. The original Call for Abstracts and
the abstracts of the presentations within this session can be
found in the appendix “Conference Sessions and Abstracts”,
chapter “8 Tropical Aquatic Ecosystems Across Time, Space
and Disciplines”, of this book.
References
Aburto-Oropeza O, Ezcurra E, Danemann G et al (2008) Mangroves in
the Gulf of California increase fishery yields. Proc Natl Acad Sci
USA 105:10456–10459. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0804601105
Adam TC, Burkepile DE, Ruttenberg BI et al (2015) Herbivory and
the resilience of Caribbean coral reefs: knowledge gaps and implications for management. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 520:1–20. https://doi.
org/10.3354/meps11170
Albert S, Saunders MI, Roelfsema CM et al (2017) Winners and losers
as mangrove, coral and seagrass ecosystems respond to sea-level
rise in Solomon Islands. Environ Res Lett 12(9):094009. https://doi.
org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7e68
Alongi DM (2002) Present state and future of the world’s mangrove
forests. Environ Conserv 29:331–349. https://doi.org/10.1017/
S0376892902000231
Alongi DM (2008) Mangrove forests: resilience, protection from tsunamis, and responses to global climate change. Estuar Coast Shelf
Sci 76:1–13
Alongi DM (2009) The energetics of mangrove forests. Springer
Science/Business Media BV, New York
Alongi DM (2015) The impact of climate change on mangrove forests. Curr Clim Chang Rep 1:30–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/
s40641-015-0002-x
Anthony KRN, Maynard JA, Diaz-Pulido G et al (2011) Ocean acidification and warming will lower coral reef resilience. Glob Chang Biol
17:1798–1808. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02364.x
Arnold TM, Mealey C, Leahey H et al (2012) Ocean acidification
and the loss of phenolic substances in marine plants. PLoS ONE
7:e35107. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035107
Arunparasath A, Gomathinayagam M (2015) Reproductive phenology of true mangrove species in Pichavaram mangrove forests,
Tamilnadu, India – a comparative account. J Environ Treat Tech
15:17–21
Badola R, Hussain SA (2005) Valuing ecosystem functions: an empirical study on the storm protection function of Bhitarkanika mangrove ecosystem, India. Environ Conserv 32:85–92. https://doi.
org/10.1017/S0376892905001967
Baker DM, Freeman CJ, Knowlton N et al (2015) Productivity links
morphology, symbiont specificity and bleaching in the evolution of
Caribbean octocoral symbioses. ISME J 9:2620–2629. https://doi.
org/10.1038/ismej.2015.71
Barbier EB, Hacker SD, Kennedy C et al (2011) The value of estuarine
and coastal ecosystem services. Ecol Monogr 81:169–193. https://
doi.org/10.1890/10-1510.1
Bellantuono AJ, Granados-Cifuentes C, Miller DJ et al (2012) Coral
thermal tolerance: tuning gene expression to resist thermal stress.
PLoS ONE 7:e50685. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0050685
Bellwood DR, Hughes TP, Folke C et al (2004) Confronting the
coral reef crisis. Nature 429:827–833. https://doi.org/10.1038/
nature02691
Berkelmans R, van Oppen MJ (2006) The role of zooxanthellae in the
thermal tolerance of corals: a “nugget of hope” for coral reefs in an
era of climate change. Proc R Soc B 273:2305–2312. https://doi.
org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3567
Berkström C, Gullström M, Lindborg R et al (2012) Exploring
“knowns” and “unknowns” in tropical seascape connectivity with
insights from East African coral reefs. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci
107:1–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2012.03.020
Bjork M, Short F, Mcleod E et al (2008) Managing seagrasses for resilience to climate change. IUCN, Gland. https://doi.org/10.1017/
CBO9781107415324.004
Borum J, Pedersen O, Greve TM et al (2005) The potential role of
plant oxygen and sulphide dynamics in die-off events of the tropical seagrass, Thalassia testudinum. J Ecol 93:148–158. https://doi.
org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2004.00943.x
Bouillon S, Borges AV, Castañeda-Moya E et al (2008) Mangrove
production and carbon sinks: a revision of global budget estimates. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 22:GB2013. https://doi.
org/10.1029/2007GB003052
Bozec Y-M, O’Farrell S, Bruggemann JH et al (2016) Tradeoffs
between fisheries harvest and the resilience of coral reefs. Proc
Natl Acad Sci USA 113:4536–4541. https://doi.org/10.1073/
pnas.1601529113
Burke L, Reytar K, Spalding MD et al (2011) Reefs at risk revisited.
World Resources Institute, Washington, DC
Caldeira K, Wickett ME (2003) Oceanography: anthropogenic carbon
and ocean pH. Nature 425:365. https://doi.org/10.1038/425365a
Campbell PKE, Middleton EM, McMurtrey JE et al (2007) Assessment
of vegetation stress using reflectance or fluorescence measurements.
J Environ Qual 36:832–845. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2005.0396
Chakraborty S, Zaman S, Pramanick P et al (2013) Acidification of
Sundarbans mangrove estuarine system. Discov Nat 6:14–20
For a World Without Boundaries: Connectivity Between Marine Tropical Ecosystems in Times of Change
systems, limited awareness of the consequences of human
activities, and, most importantly, a lack of perspective
regarding the connectivity among ecosystems on the tropical
seascape (Duda and Sherman 2002). This review has highlighted the scale and importance of connectivity between
tropical marine ecosystems, and investigated the impact of
select anthropogenic activities and climatic perturbations on
their associated connectivity pathways and ecosystem services. Only by progressing our understanding of these environments can the impact of human activities and changes in
environmental conditions on nature be better elucidated. It is
concluded that in order to effectively protect and preserve
these critically important ecosystems and their associated
services for future generations, we can no longer consider
each ecosystem as a separate entity, and instead a holistic,
seascape-wide approach is paramount. This means, the
static, ‘boundary-based’ norm of scientific thinking must be
overcome, and instead a more flexible, inter-ecosystem and
interdisciplinary approach employed, which may, in turn,
lead to strategies, which balance environmental change
whilst allowing human subsistence to be ensured.
Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to constructive input by
Mirco Wölfelschneider, Timothy Thomson and Dr. Siobhan Vye.
Thanks also to Dr. Simon Jungblut for his continuous support and to
two reviewers who contributed significantly to the final version of this
chapter.
Appendix
This article is related to the YOUMARES 8 conference session no. 14: “Tropical Aquatic Ecosystems Across Time,
Space and Disciplines”. The original Call for Abstracts and
the abstracts of the presentations within this session can be
found in the appendix “Conference Sessions and Abstracts”,
chapter “8 Tropical Aquatic Ecosystems Across Time, Space
and Disciplines”, of this book.
References
Aburto-Oropeza O, Ezcurra E, Danemann G et al (2008) Mangroves in
the Gulf of California increase fishery yields. Proc Natl Acad Sci
USA 105:10456–10459. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0804601105
Adam TC, Burkepile DE, Ruttenberg BI et al (2015) Herbivory and
the resilience of Caribbean coral reefs: knowledge gaps and implications for management. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 520:1–20. https://doi.
org/10.3354/meps11170
Albert S, Saunders MI, Roelfsema CM et al (2017) Winners and losers
as mangrove, coral and seagrass ecosystems respond to sea-level
rise in Solomon Islands. Environ Res Lett 12(9):094009. https://doi.
org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7e68
Alongi DM (2002) Present state and future of the world’s mangrove
forests. Environ Conserv 29:331–349. https://doi.org/10.1017/
S0376892902000231
Alongi DM (2008) Mangrove forests: resilience, protection from tsunamis, and responses to global climate change. Estuar Coast Shelf
Sci 76:1–13
Alongi DM (2009) The energetics of mangrove forests. Springer
Science/Business Media BV, New York
Alongi DM (2015) The impact of climate change on mangrove forests. Curr Clim Chang Rep 1:30–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/
s40641-015-0002-x
Anthony KRN, Maynard JA, Diaz-Pulido G et al (2011) Ocean acidification and warming will lower coral reef resilience. Glob Chang Biol
17:1798–1808. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02364.x
Arnold TM, Mealey C, Leahey H et al (2012) Ocean acidification
and the loss of phenolic substances in marine plants. PLoS ONE
7:e35107. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035107
Arunparasath A, Gomathinayagam M (2015) Reproductive phenology of true mangrove species in Pichavaram mangrove forests,
Tamilnadu, India – a comparative account. J Environ Treat Tech
15:17–21
Badola R, Hussain SA (2005) Valuing ecosystem functions: an empirical study on the storm protection function of Bhitarkanika mangrove ecosystem, India. Environ Conserv 32:85–92. https://doi.
org/10.1017/S0376892905001967
Baker DM, Freeman CJ, Knowlton N et al (2015) Productivity links
morphology, symbiont specificity and bleaching in the evolution of
Caribbean octocoral symbioses. ISME J 9:2620–2629. https://doi.
org/10.1038/ismej.2015.71
Barbier EB, Hacker SD, Kennedy C et al (2011) The value of estuarine
and coastal ecosystem services. Ecol Monogr 81:169–193. https://
doi.org/10.1890/10-1510.1
Bellantuono AJ, Granados-Cifuentes C, Miller DJ et al (2012) Coral
thermal tolerance: tuning gene expression to resist thermal stress.
PLoS ONE 7:e50685. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0050685
Bellwood DR, Hughes TP, Folke C et al (2004) Confronting the
coral reef crisis. Nature 429:827–833. https://doi.org/10.1038/
nature02691
Berkelmans R, van Oppen MJ (2006) The role of zooxanthellae in the
thermal tolerance of corals: a “nugget of hope” for coral reefs in an
era of climate change. Proc R Soc B 273:2305–2312. https://doi.
org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3567
Berkström C, Gullström M, Lindborg R et al (2012) Exploring
“knowns” and “unknowns” in tropical seascape connectivity with
insights from East African coral reefs. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci
107:1–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2012.03.020
Bjork M, Short F, Mcleod E et al (2008) Managing seagrasses for resilience to climate change. IUCN, Gland. https://doi.org/10.1017/
CBO9781107415324.004
Borum J, Pedersen O, Greve TM et al (2005) The potential role of
plant oxygen and sulphide dynamics in die-off events of the tropical seagrass, Thalassia testudinum. J Ecol 93:148–158. https://doi.
org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2004.00943.x
Bouillon S, Borges AV, Castañeda-Moya E et al (2008) Mangrove
production and carbon sinks: a revision of global budget estimates. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 22:GB2013. https://doi.
org/10.1029/2007GB003052
Bozec Y-M, O’Farrell S, Bruggemann JH et al (2016) Tradeoffs
between fisheries harvest and the resilience of coral reefs. Proc
Natl Acad Sci USA 113:4536–4541. https://doi.org/10.1073/
pnas.1601529113
Burke L, Reytar K, Spalding MD et al (2011) Reefs at risk revisited.
World Resources Institute, Washington, DC
Caldeira K, Wickett ME (2003) Oceanography: anthropogenic carbon
and ocean pH. Nature 425:365. https://doi.org/10.1038/425365a
Campbell PKE, Middleton EM, McMurtrey JE et al (2007) Assessment
of vegetation stress using reflectance or fluorescence measurements.
J Environ Qual 36:832–845. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2005.0396
Chakraborty S, Zaman S, Pramanick P et al (2013) Acidification of
Sundarbans mangrove estuarine system. Discov Nat 6:14–20
For a World Without Boundaries: Connectivity Between Marine Tropical Ecosystems in Times of Change