Preserving biodiversity and ecosystem function in the Anthropocene is one of humanity's greatest challenges. Ecosystem‐based management and area closures are considered an effective way to maintain ecological processes, especially in marine systems. Although there is strong evidence that such measures positively affect community structure, their impact on the rate of key ecological processes remains unclear. Here, we provide evidence that marine protected areas enhance herbivory rates on coral reefs via direct and indirect pathways. Using meta‐analysis and a path‐analytical framework, we demonstrate that, on average, protected areas increase the species richness of herbivorous fishes, which, in turn, enhances browsing rates on macroalgae. However, in all three regions studied (the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean), a small subset of the herbivore assemblage accounted for the majority of browsing. Our results therefore indicate that ecosystem functioning on coral reefs may respond positively to both area closures and the protection of key species.

中文翻译：

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海洋保护区通过促进鱼类生物多样性来增强珊瑚礁的功能

在人类世时期，保护生物多样性和生态系统功能是人类面临的最大挑战之一。基于生态系统的管理和区域封闭被认为是维持生态过程的有效方法，尤其是在海洋系统中。尽管有充分的证据表明此类措施对社区结构产生了积极影响，但它们对关键生态过程速率的影响仍不清楚。在这里，我们提供的证据表明，海洋保护区通过直接和间接途径提高了珊瑚礁的食草率。使用荟萃分析和路径分析框架，我们证明了平均而言，保护区增加了草食性鱼类的物种丰富度，从而提高了大型藻类的浏览率。但是，在所有三个研究区域（大西洋，印度洋和太平洋），草食动物组合的一小部分占浏览的大部分。因此，我们的结果表明，在珊瑚礁上运行的生态系统可能对区域封闭和关键物种的保护都具有积极的作用。