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A geological perspective on the degradation and conservation of western Atlantic coral reefs

Overview of attention for article published in Conservation Biology, April 2016
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (87th percentile)
  • Average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source

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25 X users
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3 Facebook pages

Citations

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83 Dimensions

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231 Mendeley
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Title
A geological perspective on the degradation and conservation of western Atlantic coral reefs
Published in
Conservation Biology, April 2016
DOI 10.1111/cobi.12725
Pubmed ID
Authors

Ilsa B Kuffner, Lauren T Toth

Abstract

Continuing coral-reef degradation in the western Atlantic is resulting in loss of ecological and geologic functions of reefs. With the goal of assisting resource managers and stewards of reefs in setting and measuring progress toward realistic goals for coral-reef conservation and restoration, we examined reef degradation in this region from a geological perspective. The importance of ecosystem services provided by coral reefs-as breakwaters that dissipate wave energy and protect shorelines and as providers of habitat for innumerable species-cannot be overstated. However, the few coral species responsible for reef building in the western Atlantic during the last approximately 1.5 million years are not thriving in the 21(st) century. These species are highly sensitive to abrupt temperature extremes, prone to disease infection, and have low sexual reproductive potential. Their vulnerability and the low functional redundancy of branching corals have led to the low resilience of western Atlantic reef ecosystems. The decrease in live coral cover over the last 50 years highlights the need for study of relict (senescent) reefs, which, from the perspective of coastline protection and habitat structure, may be just as important to conserve as the living coral veneer. Research is needed to characterize the geological processes of bioerosion, reef cementation, and sediment transport as they relate to modern-day changes in reef elevation. For example, although parrotfish (family Scaridae) remove nuisance macroalgae, possibly promoting coral recruitment, they will not save Atlantic reefs from geological degradation. In fact, these fish are quickly nibbling away significant quantities of Holocene reef framework. The question of how different biota covering dead reefs affect framework resistance to biological and physical erosion needs to be addressed. Monitoring and managing reefs with respect to physical resilience, in addition to ecological resilience, could optimize the expenditure of resources in conserving Atlantic reefs and the services they provide. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 25 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 231 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Brazil 4 2%
Germany 1 <1%
Guadeloupe 1 <1%
Mexico 1 <1%
United States 1 <1%
Unknown 223 97%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 49 21%
Student > Master 36 16%
Student > Ph. D. Student 33 14%
Student > Bachelor 28 12%
Professor > Associate Professor 9 4%
Other 30 13%
Unknown 46 20%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 78 34%
Environmental Science 63 27%
Earth and Planetary Sciences 19 8%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 6 3%
Economics, Econometrics and Finance 2 <1%
Other 8 3%
Unknown 55 24%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 15. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 22 September 2019.
All research outputs
#2,413,202
of 25,083,571 outputs
Outputs from Conservation Biology
#1,277
of 4,026 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#37,667
of 305,254 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Conservation Biology
#23
of 46 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,083,571 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 90th percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,026 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 22.9. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 68% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 305,254 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 87% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 46 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 50% of its contemporaries.