DOI: 10.5061/dryad.4sh45
title: Data from: Evaluating management strategies to optimise coral reef ecosystem services

description: Earlier declines in marine resources, combined with current fishing
 pressures and devastating coral mortality in 2015, have resulted in a
 degraded coral reef ecosystem state at Puakō in West Hawaiʹi. Changes to
 resource management are needed to facilitate recovery of ecosystem
 functions and services. We developed a customised ecosystem model to
 evaluate the performance of alternative management scenarios at Puakō in
 the provisioning of ecosystem services to human users (marine tourists,
 recreational fishers) and enhancing the reef's ability to recover
 from pressures (resilience). Outcomes of the continuation of current
 management plus five alternative management scenarios were compared under
 both high and low coral-bleaching related mortality over a 15-year time
 span. Current management is not adequate to prevent further declines in
 marine resources. Fishing effort is already above the multispecies
 sustainable yield, and, at its current level, will likely lead to a shift
 to algal-dominated reefs and greater abundance of undesirable fish
 species. Scenarios banning all gears other than line fishing, or
 prohibiting take of herbivorous fishes, were most effective at enhancing
 reef structure and resilience, dive tourism, and the recreational fishery.
 Allowing only line fishing generated the most balanced trade-off between
 stakeholders, with positive gains in both ecosystem resilience and dive
 tourism, while only moderately decreasing fishery value within the area.
 Synthesis and applications. Our customised ecosystem model projects the
 impacts of multiple, simultaneous pressures on a reef ecosystem.
 Trade-offs of alternative approaches identified by local managers were
 quantified based on indicators for different ecosystem services (e.g.
 ecosystem resilience, recreation, food). This approach informs managers of
 potential conflicts among stakeholders and provides guidance on approaches
 that better balance conservation objectives and stakeholders’ interests.
 Our results indicate that a combination of reducing land-based pollution
 and allowing only line fishing generated the most balanced trade-off
 between stakeholders and will enhance reef recovery from the detrimental
 effects of coral bleaching events that are expected over the next 15
 years.
description: Ecopath Input Data - 3
 tablesThese data include:
 Table 1: Functional groups and vital rates. For each functional group it
 states, a number, trophic level, biomass (t/km2), the production to
 biomass ratio (per year), consumption to biomass ration (per year), the
 ecotrophic efficiency (unitless) and the production to consumption ratio.
 Table 2: Diet matrix. Each row is a prey group and each column is a
 predator. The values in the matrix are the proportions of prey items in
 the diet of the predator. Table 3: Vulnerability Matrix. Each row
 represents a prey group and each column a predator group. The values
 represent the vulnerability of that prey group to the predator. A high
 value represents a top-down control and a low value represents a bottom-up
 control.EcopathInputData.xlsxModel Output Data SetThese data are the results of the EwE model output and were used to create the figures in the MS. The columns represent the alternative scenarios and the values are the model output biomass data per functional group. The first cluster (columns B-H) represent the biomass at the end of the simulations with a severe (50%) bleaching-related coral mortality and the second cluster (columns J-P) represent the biomass at the end of the simulations with a low (10%) bleaching-related coral mortality.OuputDataSet.xlsx