Physiological traits related to water status and photosynthesis biophysically link plant performance to environmental conditions like light and water availability. By approaching the concept of species’ niches from a trait-based perspective, physiological traits can be used to characterize how trait syndromes diverge to limit direct resource competition and promote resource partitioning in sympatric species. Such traits could...

Ecology Letters (2012) Abstract Caribbean reef corals have declined precipitously since the 1980s due to regional episodes of bleaching, disease and algal overgrowth, but the extent of earlier degradation due to localised historical disturbances such as land clearing and overfishing remains unresolved. We analysed coral and molluscan fossil assemblages from reefs near Bocas del Toro, Panama to construct a timeline of ecologica...