A trait-based approach to advance coral reef science

Joshua S. Madin; Mia O. Hoogenboom; Sean R. Connolly; Emily S. Darling; Daniel S. Falster; Danwei Huang; Sally Anne Keith; Toni Mizerek; John M. Pandolfi; Hollie M. Putnam; Andrew H. Baird

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2016.02.012

A trait-based approach to advance coral reef science

Joshua S. Madin, Mia O. Hoogenboom, Sean R. Connolly, Emily S. Darling, Daniel S. Falster, Danwei Huang, Sally Anne Keith, Toni Mizerek, John M. Pandolfi, Hollie M. Putnam, Andrew H. Baird

87 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Coral reefs are biologically diverse and ecologically complex ecosystems constructed by stony corals. Despite decades of research, basic coral population biology and community ecology questions remain. Quantifying trait variation among species can help resolve these questions, but progress has been hampered by a paucity of trait data for the many, often rare, species and by a reliance on nonquantitative approaches. Therefore, we propose filling data gaps by prioritizing traits that are easy to measure, estimating key traits for species with missing data, and identifying ‘supertraits’ that capture a large amount of variation for a range of biological and ecological processes. Such an approach can accelerate our understanding of coral ecology and our ability to protect critically threatened global ecosystems.

Original language	English
Journal	Trends in Ecology & Evolution
Volume	31
Issue number	6
Pages (from-to)	419-428
Number of pages	10
ISSN	0169-5347
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2016.02.012
Publication status	Published - 1 Jun 2016

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10.1016/j.tree.2016.02.012

Cite this

@article{6770b923f849429797e3798e8482f7a6,

title = "A trait-based approach to advance coral reef science",

abstract = "Coral reefs are biologically diverse and ecologically complex ecosystems constructed by stony corals. Despite decades of research, basic coral population biology and community ecology questions remain. Quantifying trait variation among species can help resolve these questions, but progress has been hampered by a paucity of trait data for the many, often rare, species and by a reliance on nonquantitative approaches. Therefore, we propose filling data gaps by prioritizing traits that are easy to measure, estimating key traits for species with missing data, and identifying {\textquoteleft}supertraits{\textquoteright} that capture a large amount of variation for a range of biological and ecological processes. Such an approach can accelerate our understanding of coral ecology and our ability to protect critically threatened global ecosystems.",

author = "Madin, {Joshua S.} and Hoogenboom, {Mia O.} and Connolly, {Sean R.} and Darling, {Emily S.} and Falster, {Daniel S.} and Danwei Huang and Keith, {Sally Anne} and Toni Mizerek and Pandolfi, {John M.} and Putnam, {Hollie M.} and Baird, {Andrew H.}",

year = "2016",

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doi = "10.1016/j.tree.2016.02.012",

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T1 - A trait-based approach to advance coral reef science

AU - Madin, Joshua S.

AU - Hoogenboom, Mia O.

AU - Connolly, Sean R.

AU - Darling, Emily S.

AU - Falster, Daniel S.

AU - Huang, Danwei

AU - Keith, Sally Anne

AU - Mizerek, Toni

AU - Pandolfi, John M.

AU - Putnam, Hollie M.

AU - Baird, Andrew H.

PY - 2016/6/1

Y1 - 2016/6/1

N2 - Coral reefs are biologically diverse and ecologically complex ecosystems constructed by stony corals. Despite decades of research, basic coral population biology and community ecology questions remain. Quantifying trait variation among species can help resolve these questions, but progress has been hampered by a paucity of trait data for the many, often rare, species and by a reliance on nonquantitative approaches. Therefore, we propose filling data gaps by prioritizing traits that are easy to measure, estimating key traits for species with missing data, and identifying ‘supertraits’ that capture a large amount of variation for a range of biological and ecological processes. Such an approach can accelerate our understanding of coral ecology and our ability to protect critically threatened global ecosystems.

AB - Coral reefs are biologically diverse and ecologically complex ecosystems constructed by stony corals. Despite decades of research, basic coral population biology and community ecology questions remain. Quantifying trait variation among species can help resolve these questions, but progress has been hampered by a paucity of trait data for the many, often rare, species and by a reliance on nonquantitative approaches. Therefore, we propose filling data gaps by prioritizing traits that are easy to measure, estimating key traits for species with missing data, and identifying ‘supertraits’ that capture a large amount of variation for a range of biological and ecological processes. Such an approach can accelerate our understanding of coral ecology and our ability to protect critically threatened global ecosystems.

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DO - 10.1016/j.tree.2016.02.012

M3 - Journal article

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JO - Trends in Ecology & Evolution

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