Ecosystem Resilience

Feature publications
Highly disturbed populations of seagrass show increased resilience but lower genotypic diversity 
Connolly et al. 2018 Frontiers in Plant Science
​The response of seagrass systems to a severe disturbance provides an opportunity to quantify the degree of resilience in different meadows, and subsequently to test whether there is a genetic basis to resilience. We used existing data on levels of long-standing disturbance from poor water quality, and the responses of seagrass (Zostera muelleri) after an extreme flood event in Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. 
Seagrass dynamics and resilience
Connolly et al. 2018 In: seagrasses of Australia
The vulnerability of seagrass ecosystems, and the services they provide, to damage and loss from anthropogenic stressors has led to a surge of interest in understanding their resilience. This chapter examines patterns of change in tropical and temperate Australian seagrasses to identify underlying causes of the observed patterns. It then relates seagrass dynamics to ecosystem resilience, and examines how resilience can be measured, managed and enhanced.​
Synergistic effect of reserves and connectivity on ecological resilience 
Olds et al. 2012 Journal of Applied Ecology
​In light of the global extent and cascading effect of our impact on the environment, we design and manage reserves to restore biodiversity and the functioning of ecosystems. Mobile organisms link important processes across ecosystems, however, their roles in providing these services are often overlooked and we need to know how they influence ecosystem functions in reserves. Herbivorous fish play a key role in coral reef seascapes. ​By removing algae, they promote coral growth and recruitment, and help to increase resilience.

Ecosystem resilience publications

Rod Connolly's publications relating to ecosystem resilience
2024​​
  • Buelow CA, Connolly RM, Dunic JC, Griffiths L, Holgate B, Lee SL, Mackey BG, Maxwell PS, Pearson RM, Rajkaran A, Sievers M, Sousa AI, Tulloch VJD, Turschwell MP, Villarreal-Rosas J, Brown CJ (2024) Enabling conservation theories of change. Nature Sustainability 7:73-81 (see blog)​
  • Brown CJ, Campbell MD, Collier CJ, Turschwell MP, Saunders MI, Connolly RM (2024) Speeding up recovery of coastal habitats through management interventions that address constraints on dispersal and recruitment. Proceedings Royal Society B 291:20241065 PDF
  • ​Gilby BL, Goodridge-Gaines LA, Henderson CJ, Borland HP, Coates-Marnane J, Connolly RM, Maxwell PS, Mosman JD, Olds AD, Perry HJ, Saeck E, Tsoi WY (2024) Optimising landscape-scale coastal monitoring and reporting through predicted versus observed animal abundance models. ICES Journal of Marine Science PDF
  • Rasmussen JA, Ingleton T, Bennett WW, Pearson RM, McAneney CA, Foulsham E, Hanslow D, Scanes PR,  Connolly RM (2024) The effects of estuarine outflows on coastal marine ecosystem in New South Wales, Australia. Marine Pollution Bulletin 208:116915 PDF
  • Leduc D, Clark MR, Rowden AA, Hyman J, Dambacher JM, Dunstan PK, Connolly RM, Fulton EA, Hosack GR, O’Hara T, Parr JM, Schlacher TA, Woolley SNC (2024) Moving towards an operational framework for defining serious harm for management of seabed mining. Ocean and Coastal Management 255:107252 PDF
  • Griffiths LL, Williams J, Buelow CA, Tulloch VJ, Turschwell MP, Campbell MD, Harasti D,  Malcolm HA, Connolly RM, Brown CJ (2024) A data driven approach to multiple stressor impact assessment for a marine protected area network. Conservation Biology 38:e14177 (link to publication) 

2023
  • ​Ostrowski A, Connolly RM, Brown CJ, Sievers M (2023) Stressor fluctuations alter mechanisms of seagrass community responses relative to static stressors. Science of the Total Environment 900:165865 PDF

​2022​​
  • Ostrowski A, Connolly RM, Brown CJ, Sievers M (2022) Fluctuating fortunes: stressor synchronicity and fluctuating intensity influence biological impacts. Ecology Letters 25:2611-2623 PDF
  • Ouyang X, Connolly RM, Lee SY (2022) Revised global estimates of resilience to sea level rise for tidal marshes. Environmental Challenges 9:100593 PDF
  • Turschwell MP, Connolly SR, Schafer RB, de Laender F, Campbell MD, Mantyka-Pringle C, Jackson M, Kattwinkel M, Sievers M, Ashauer R, Cote IM, Connolly RM, van den Brink PJ, Brown CJ (2022) Interactive effects of multiple stressors vary with consumer interactions, stressor dynamics and magnitude. Ecology Letters 25:1483-1496 PDF


2021
  • ​Sheaves M, Mattone C, Connolly RM, Hernandez S, Nagelkerken I, Murray N, Ronan M, Waltham NJ, Bradley M (2021) Ecological constraint mapping: understanding outcome-limiting bottlenecks for improved environmental decision-making in marine and coastal environments. Frontiers in Marine Science 8:717448 ​PDF
  • ​Pearson RM, Schlacher TA, Jinks KI, Olds AD, Brown CJ, Connolly RM (2021) Disturbance type determines how connectivity shapes ecosystem resilience. Scientific Reports 11:1188 PDF
  • Giffin AL, Brown CJ, Nalau J, Mackey BG, Connolly RM (2020) Marine and coastal ecosystem-based adaptation in Asia and Oceania: review of approaches and integration with marine spatial planning. Pacific Conservation Biology 27:104-117 PDF

2020​
  • Connolly RM, Connolly FN, Hayes MA (2020) Oil spill from the Era: mangroves taking eons to recover. Marine Pollution Bulletin 153: 110965 PDF
  • Ostrowski A, Connolly RM, Sievers M (2020) Evaluating multiple stressor research in coastal wetlands: a systematic review. Marine Environmental Research 164:105239 PDF
  • Jinks KI, Brown CJ, Schlacher TA, Olds AD, Engelhard SL, Pearson RM, Connolly RM (2020) Being well-connected pays in a disturbed world: enhanced herbivory in better linked habitats. Diversity 12:424 PDF
  • Brown CJ, Taylor W, Wabnitz CC, Connolly RM (2020) Dependency of Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef’s tropical fisheries on reef-associated fish. Scientific Reports 10:17801 PDF
  • Sievers M, Roy Chowdhury M, Adame MF, Bhadury P, Bhargava R, Buelow C, Friess DA, Ghosh A, Hayes MA, McClure E, Pearson RM, Turschwell MP, Worthington TA, Connolly RM (2020) Indian Sundarbans mangrove forest considered Endangered under Red List of Ecosystems, but there is cause for optimism. Biological Conservation 251: 108751 PDF
  • Hafezi M, Sahin O, Stewart RA, Connolly RM, Mackey B, Ware D (2020) Adaptation strategies for coral reef ecosystems in Small Island Developing States: integrated modelling of local pressures and long-term climate changes. Journal of Cleaner Production 253:119864 PDF

2018
  • Connolly RM, Smith TM, Maxwell PS, Olds AD, Macreadie PI, Sherman CD (2018) Highly disturbed populations of seagrass show increased resilience but lower genotypic diversity. Frontiers in Plant Science 9:894 doi: 10.3389/fpls.2018.00894 PDF
  • Connolly RM, Jackson EL, Macreadie PI, Maxwell PS, O’Brien KR (2018) Seagrass dynamics and resilience. In: Larkum AWD, Kendrick GA, Ralph PJ. Seagrasses of Australia. Chapter 7. pp 197-212. Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-71352-6 PDF

2015
  • Maxwell PS, Pitt KA, Olds AD, Rissik D, Connolly RM (2015) Identifying habitats at risk: simple models can reveal complex ecosystem dynamics. Ecological Applications 25:573-587 PDF

2014
  • Maxwell PS, Pitt KA, Burfeind DD, Olds AD, Babcock RC, Connolly RM (2014) Phenotypic plasticity promotes persistence following severe events: physiological and morphological responses of seagrass to flooding. Journal of Ecology 102:54-64 PDF

2013
  • Olds AD, Albert S, Maxwell PS, Pitt KA, Connolly RM (2013) Mangrove-reef connectivity promotes the effectiveness of marine reserves across the western Pacific. Global Ecology and Biogeography 22:1040-1049 PDF

2012
  • Olds AD, Pitt KA, Maxwell PS, Connolly RM (2012) Synergistic effects of reserves and connectivity on ecological resilience. Journal of Applied Ecology 49:1195-1203 PDF​