Degradation and loss of critical coastal habitats has significant ramifications for marine fisheries, such that knowledge of changes in habitat quality and quantity are fundamental to effective ecosystem management. This study explores changes in the structure of coral reef habitats, specifically changes in coral cover and composition, in Moorea, French Polynesia, to assess the independent and combined effects of different disturbances since 1979. During this period, reefs on the north coast have been subject to coral bleaching, severe tropical storms, as well as outbreaks of Acanthaster. Coral cover varied significantly among years, showing marked declines during some, but not all, disturbances. The greatest rates of coral loss coincided with outbreaks of A. planci. Moreover, successive disturbances have had differential effects among coral genera, leading to strong directional shifts in coral composition. Acropora is declining in abundance and coral assemblages are becoming increasingly dominated by Pocillopora and Porites. Observed changes in the cover and composition of corals are likely to have further significant impacts on the reef fish assemblages. Given that significant disturbances have been mostly associated with outbreaks of A. planci, rather than climate change, effective ecosystem management may reduce and/or delay impending effects of climate change. 1. Introduction Disturbances play an important role in the structure and dynamics of marine communities and are a necessary part of ecosystem dynamics [1–4]. On coral reefs, moderate levels of disturbance make an important contribution to increasing biodiversity [5]. In many locations, however, natural acute “pulse” disturbances have combined with chronic “press” [6] anthropogenic stresses (e.g., overfishing, pollution and eutrophication) to cause excessive disturbance and degradation of coral reef environments [7, 8]. On a global scale, it is estimated that 30% of coral reefs have now lost >90% of reef-building corals and there is little to no prospect of recovery [9]. Moreover, 60% of coral reefs around the world may face a similar fate by 2030 [9, 10]. The loss of reef-building corals is likely to have major impacts on the biodiversity, productivity, and biological functioning of coral reef ecosystems [11, 12]. In some locations, changes in the structure and quality of benthic reef habitats are now the most important driver of changes in the abundance of reef fishes (including some large piscivorous species), having a greater influence than extractive fisheries [13, 14]. Major contributors
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