Intensive studies reveal that the phenomenon could be a result of changing environmental conditions such as food availability and increases in ocean temperatures [6, 7] or overfishing [8, 9].
Coral reefs around the world are threatened by global warming [1], [2], increased sedimentation [3], [4], eutrophication [5], overfishing [6], disease [7], [8], ocean acidification [2], [9], and other natural and anthropogenic stressors.
Moreover, some species are threatened or endangered due to rarity in nature, e.g., Pylochelidae [ 6], overfishing, e.g., Lithodidae [ 7], or habitat loss, e.g., Aeglidae [ 8- 10].
Yet, these tropical marine ecosystems are currently threatened by a multitude of factors including climate change-induced mass bleaching events [ 1], disease [ 2, 3], pollution [ 4, 5], overfishing, and eutrophication [ 6- 8].
86, 155 Furthermore, overfishing can lead to release of small corallivores from predatory control, such that they increase surface wounds on corals.
In the '70s and '80s, though, overfishing decimated the region's sea life.
They've been stressed by warm oceans (ScienceNOW, 25 October 2000), overfishing, and pollution (ScienceNOW, 2 July).
A21 SCIENCE TIMES F1-8 Overfishing Taking Toll Most of the earth's surface is covered by oceans, and their vastness and biological bounty were long thought to be immune to human influence.
An even more recent decline of European grayling populations throughout central Europe, due to pollution, habitat destruction, river engineering, predation from piscivorous birds and overfishing [ 1, 13, 15, 25- 27], is also characteristic to Serbian grayling populations.
They are vulnerable to warming water, ocean acidification due to CO2 absorption, overfishing, pollution from prawn farms and damage to reefs.
In addition, incorporating the effects of environmental variation [82], multiple human stressors [83], and linkages in interaction webs [84], [85] with socioeconomic factors that lead to overfishing [86] may improve management and conservation in coral reef systems.
