Evaluating life‐history strategies of reef corals from species traits

TLDR

Classifying biological traits tests life‑history frameworks and predicts species responses to environmental disturbances. The study applies a trait‑based classification to scleractinian corals. Hierarchical clustering and random forests identified four globally consistent life‑history strategies among 143 reef coral species, distinguished by colony morphology, growth rate, and reproductive mode. Shifts toward stress‑tolerant, generalist and weedy coral species match expected life‑history responses, and the trait‑based classification provides an objective, broadly applicable tool for testing community‑ecology theories and predicting stressor impacts.

Abstract

Abstract Classifying the biological traits of organisms can test conceptual frameworks of life‐history strategies and allow for predictions of how different species may respond to environmental disturbances. We apply a trait‐based classification approach to a complex and threatened group of species, scleractinian corals. Using hierarchical clustering and random forests analyses, we identify up to four life‐history strategies that appear globally consistent across 143 species of reef corals: competitive, weedy, stress‐tolerant and generalist taxa, which are primarily separated by colony morphology, growth rate and reproductive mode. Documented shifts towards stress‐tolerant, generalist and weedy species in coral reef communities are consistent with the expected responses of these life‐history strategies. Our quantitative trait‐based approach to classifying life‐history strategies is objective, applicable to any taxa and a powerful tool that can be used to evaluate theories of community ecology and predict the impact of environmental and anthropogenic stressors on species assemblages.