1Assessment of Coral Reef Disturbance Histories in the Line Islands Using Coral Damage and Morphological Dominance Patterning

Coral reefs are in decline worldwide under the pressure of a number of environmental and anthropogenic stressors. Human populations have impacted coral reef ecosystems through a variety of activities including fishing, pollution, and even tourism. These pressures can amplify environmental stressors such as global warming and storm activity that are faced by much of the world’s reefs. In this study, coral damage in the Line Islands was compared to the current coral morphological dominance patterns at each study site to suggest differences in the environmental and anthropogenic disturbance histories in study sites both within and between Christmas, and Fanning Islands, and Palmyra Atoll. Results indicate that the coral damage variables of coral rubble and broken coral colonies are good quantitative indicators of past disturbance histories that when combined with morphological dominance patterns can suggest valuable relationships between damage, recovery, and overall coral ecosystem health. Coral reefs are among the most valuable yet most threatened of the world’s ecosystems. Reefs provide subsistence food for a number of native populations