Benthic communities on restored coral reefs confer equivalent aesthetic value to healthy reefs
Abstract Coral reefs are valuable ecosystems that provide diverse ecosystem services to people. For example, many reefs have exceptionally high tourism value, attracting visitors to experience their ecologically and visually rich reef habitat. However, human-induced degradation can alter ecosystem s...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-06373-3 |
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| author | Cut Aja Gita Alisa Tries B. Razak Nicolas Mouquet Nicholas A. J. Graham Christopher R. Hemingson David Mouillot Mars Coral Restoration Project monitoring team Beginer Subhan Neviaty P. Zamani Rindah Talitha Vida Timothy A. C. Lamont |
| author_facet | Cut Aja Gita Alisa Tries B. Razak Nicolas Mouquet Nicholas A. J. Graham Christopher R. Hemingson David Mouillot Mars Coral Restoration Project monitoring team Beginer Subhan Neviaty P. Zamani Rindah Talitha Vida Timothy A. C. Lamont |
| author_sort | Cut Aja Gita Alisa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Coral reefs are valuable ecosystems that provide diverse ecosystem services to people. For example, many reefs have exceptionally high tourism value, attracting visitors to experience their ecologically and visually rich reef habitat. However, human-induced degradation can alter ecosystem services, such as when damaged reefs lose their visual appeal. Coral restoration has become a common response to reef degradation, but restoration success is usually evaluated based on coral cover increases rather than ecosystem service recovery. Here, we quantify the aesthetic value of restored reefs at one of the world’s largest coral restoration projects, compared to nearby healthy and degraded reefs. Using deep learning models trained on people’s visual preferences, we estimated the aesthetic value of coral reef benthic photographs with high prediction accuracy (R2 = 0.95). Restored reefs exhibited aesthetic value that was statistically equivalent to healthy reefs and significantly higher than degraded reefs. High aesthetic value was primarily driven by colour diversity and live coral cover, which were both higher in healthy and restored reefs than degraded reefs. Taken together, these results demonstrate the recovery of aesthetic value towards a healthy state after large-scale restoration, indicating that coral restoration can support vital tourism services and well-being contributions to people. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-61c3f7087b5640c49febe652642b0b15 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-61c3f7087b5640c49febe652642b0b152025-08-20T04:01:23ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115111310.1038/s41598-025-06373-3Benthic communities on restored coral reefs confer equivalent aesthetic value to healthy reefsCut Aja Gita Alisa0Tries B. Razak1Nicolas Mouquet2Nicholas A. J. Graham3Christopher R. Hemingson4David Mouillot5Mars Coral Restoration Project monitoring teamBeginer Subhan6Neviaty P. Zamani7Rindah Talitha Vida8Timothy A. C. Lamont9Department of Marine Science and Technology, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, IPB UniversityDepartment of Marine Science and Technology, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, IPB UniversityMARBEC, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, Ifremer, IRDLancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster UniversityDepartment of Marine Science, Marine Science Institute, the University of Texas at AustinMARBEC, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, Ifremer, IRDDepartment of Marine Science and Technology, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, IPB UniversityDepartment of Marine Science and Technology, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, IPB UniversityDepartment of Marine Science and Technology, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, IPB UniversityLancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster UniversityAbstract Coral reefs are valuable ecosystems that provide diverse ecosystem services to people. For example, many reefs have exceptionally high tourism value, attracting visitors to experience their ecologically and visually rich reef habitat. However, human-induced degradation can alter ecosystem services, such as when damaged reefs lose their visual appeal. Coral restoration has become a common response to reef degradation, but restoration success is usually evaluated based on coral cover increases rather than ecosystem service recovery. Here, we quantify the aesthetic value of restored reefs at one of the world’s largest coral restoration projects, compared to nearby healthy and degraded reefs. Using deep learning models trained on people’s visual preferences, we estimated the aesthetic value of coral reef benthic photographs with high prediction accuracy (R2 = 0.95). Restored reefs exhibited aesthetic value that was statistically equivalent to healthy reefs and significantly higher than degraded reefs. High aesthetic value was primarily driven by colour diversity and live coral cover, which were both higher in healthy and restored reefs than degraded reefs. Taken together, these results demonstrate the recovery of aesthetic value towards a healthy state after large-scale restoration, indicating that coral restoration can support vital tourism services and well-being contributions to people.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-06373-3Aesthetic valueColoursCoral reefDeep learningRestoration |
| spellingShingle | Cut Aja Gita Alisa Tries B. Razak Nicolas Mouquet Nicholas A. J. Graham Christopher R. Hemingson David Mouillot Mars Coral Restoration Project monitoring team Beginer Subhan Neviaty P. Zamani Rindah Talitha Vida Timothy A. C. Lamont Benthic communities on restored coral reefs confer equivalent aesthetic value to healthy reefs Scientific Reports Aesthetic value Colours Coral reef Deep learning Restoration |
| title | Benthic communities on restored coral reefs confer equivalent aesthetic value to healthy reefs |
| title_full | Benthic communities on restored coral reefs confer equivalent aesthetic value to healthy reefs |
| title_fullStr | Benthic communities on restored coral reefs confer equivalent aesthetic value to healthy reefs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Benthic communities on restored coral reefs confer equivalent aesthetic value to healthy reefs |
| title_short | Benthic communities on restored coral reefs confer equivalent aesthetic value to healthy reefs |
| title_sort | benthic communities on restored coral reefs confer equivalent aesthetic value to healthy reefs |
| topic | Aesthetic value Colours Coral reef Deep learning Restoration |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-06373-3 |
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