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      Evaluating life-history strategies of reef corals from species traits.

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          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.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          Ecol Lett
          Ecology letters
          Wiley
          1461-0248
          1461-023X
          Dec 2012
          : 15
          : 12
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. edarling@sfu.ca
          Article
          10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01861.x
          22938190
          4a55ae69-6786-4042-8de8-17b4691ae53f
          © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.
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