Pandolfi, JBradbury, RogerSala, EnricHughes, TerrenceBjorndal, Karen ACooke, Richard GMcArdle, DeborahMcClenachan, LorenNewman, Marah J HParedes, GustavoWarner, Robert RJackson, Jeremy B C2015-12-132015-12-130036-8075http://hdl.handle.net/1885/74901Degradation of coral reef ecosystems began centuries ago, but there is no global summary of the magnitude of change. We complied records, extending back thousands of years, of the status and trends of seven major guilds of carnivores, herbivores, and architectural species from 14 regions. Large animals declined before small animals and architectural species, and Atlantic reefs declined before reefs in the Red Sea and Australia, but the trajectories of decline were markedly similar worldwide. All reefs were substantially degraded long before outbreaks of coral disease and bleaching. Regardless of these new threats, reefs will not survive without immediate protection from human exploitation over large spatial scales.Keywords: Climate change; Reefs; Coral reef ecosystems; Ecosystems; conservation; coral reef; degradation; global perspective; marine ecosystem; aquatic fauna; aquatic flora; article; Atlantic Ocean; Australia; bleaching; coral bleaching; coral reef; ecosystem; env200310.1126/science.10857062019-06-09