Reef‐building corals, like many long‐lived organisms, experience environmental change as a combination of separate but concurrent processes, some of which are gradual yet long‐lasting, while others are more acute but short‐lived. For corals, some chronic environmental stressors, such as rising temperature and ocean acidification, are thought to induce gradual changes in colonies' vital rates. Meanwhile, other environmental changes, such as the intensification of tropical cyclones, change the disturbance regime that corals experience. Here, we use a physiologically structured population model to explore how chronic environmental stressors that impact the vital rates of individual coral colonies interact with the intensity and magnitude of disturbance to affect coral population dynamics and cover. We find that, when disturbances are relatively benign, intraspecific density dependence driven by space competition partially buffers coral populations against gradual changes in vital rates. However, the impact of chronic stressors is amplified in more highly disturbed environments, because disturbance weakens the buffering effect of space competition. We also show that coral cover is more sensitive to changes in colony growth and mortality than to external recruitment, at least in open populations, and that space competition and size structure mediate the extent and pace of coral population recovery following a large‐scale mortality event. Understanding the complex interplay among chronic environmental stressors, mass‐mortality events, and population size structure sharpens our ability to manage and to restore coral‐reef ecosystems in an increasingly disturbed future.

中文翻译：

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在受干扰的环境中，石质珊瑚种群对生命率的变化更为敏感

像许多长寿生物一样，造礁珊瑚经历了环境变化，这些过程是相互独立但并存的过程的结合，其中一些过程是渐进而持久的，而另一些则更为急性但寿命短。对于珊瑚来说，一些长期的环境压力，例如温度升高和海洋酸化，被认为会引起殖民地生命率的逐渐变化。同时，其他环境变化，例如热带气旋的加剧，也改变了珊瑚所经历的干扰机制。在这里，我们使用一种生理结构的种群模型来探索影响单个珊瑚群落生命率的慢性环境压力因子如何与扰动的强度和大小相互作用，从而影响珊瑚种群的动态和覆盖度。我们发现 当干扰相对温和时，由空间竞争驱动的种内密度依赖性部分地抑制了珊瑚种群免受生命率逐渐变化的影响。但是，慢性应激源的影响在受更严重干扰的环境中会放大，因为干扰会削弱空间竞争的缓冲作用。我们还表明，至少在开放种群中，珊瑚覆盖比对外部种群的吸收更敏感于殖民地生长和死亡率的变化，而且空间竞争和规模结构可以调节大规模死亡事件后珊瑚种群恢复的程度和速度。 。了解慢性环境压力因素，大规模死亡事件之间的复杂相互作用，