About

Hunter Lenihan’s primary research interests lie in the fields of applied population and community ecology, especially in connection with fisheries management and restoration. He has collaborated with California fishing communities to design research projects intended to advance habitat-based fisheries management. He is also exploring ecological and oceanographic processes that regulate coral populations, particularly at a long-term project on the island of Moorea, in French Polynesia, with the goal of developing new techniques for coral reef restoration. In addition, Professor Lenihan is working with disease physiologists to isolate and cultivate disease-resistant abalone to be used as part of population enhancement efforts. He has also done extensive research within estuaries, at deep-sea hydrothermal vents, and in polar environments. His overall objective is to generate new ideas and methods for marine resource management and train young scientists interested in community-based research and management.

Research topics

• Biology
• Ecology
• Geography
• Organic chemistry
• Metallurgy
• Materials science
• Chemistry
• Environmental chemistry
• Fishery
• Environmental science
• Environmental resource management
• Demography

Selected publications

• Nitrogen enrichment determines coral mortality during a marine heatwave

  Marine Pollution Bulletin · 2025-09-30 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Vacuums of the sea: Ecological function of large coral reef benthic scavengers in suppressing crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) outbreaks

  Ideas in Ecology and Evolution · 2025-07-22 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Despite their drastic impacts on coral reefs, outbreaks of the coral-feeding seastar crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS), Acanthaster, have remained a scientific enigma. Significant efforts in coral reef conservation science have been dedicated to identifying natural predators able to exert demographic control on COTS and prevent population outbreaks. These efforts are motivated by empirical evidence showing that reefs within marine protected areas are less prone to COTS outbreaks than reefs open to fishing where potential COTS predators have been reduced or removed functionally from food webs. Research findings point towards COTS’ early life-stages as a major demographic bottleneck for COTS populations, with various reef fish and benthic organisms identified as preying upon the seastar. Yet, no species or species groups have been clearly identified as exerting enough top-down control to influence COTS population increases or prevent outbreaks. We report the benthic scavenging behavior of eagle rays (family Myliobatidae), a large-bodied predator, feeding in coral rubble fields of Kanaky New Caledonia, critical habitats where juvenile COTS find refuge and food and accumulate to produce population outbreaks. We argue that with their effective substrate-sucking feeding behavior, similar to vacuums of the sea, eagle rays may be a hitherto unidentified predator able to exert significant control on COTS populations. Eagle rays and other large benthic scavengers were previously neglected in the search for major COTS predators. Relatively little existing data show that eagle ray populations in Kanaky New Caledonia’s lagoon are more abundant inside than outside marine protected areas, which concords with the hypothesis that they could be responsible for the mitigation of COTS outbreaks as reported within reserves. We advocate for further investigations on the role of eagle rays and other large benthic scavengers in controlling COTS outbreaks, and the importance of preserving the unique ecological function of sea vacuums for coral reef conservation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Coral restoration for coastal resilience: Integrating ecology, hydrodynamics, and engineering at multiple scales

  UNC Libraries · 2025-03-19

  articleOpen access

  The loss of functional and accreting coral reefs reduces coastal protection and resilience for tropical coastlines. Coral restoration has potential for recovering healthy reefs that can mitigate risks from coastal hazards and increase sustainability. However, scaling up restoration to the large extent needed for coastal protection requires integrated application of principles from coastal engineering, hydrodynamics, and ecology across multiple spatial scales, as well as filling missing knowledge gaps across disciplines. This synthesis aims to identify how scientific understanding of multidisciplinary processes at interconnected scales can advance coral reef restoration. The work is placed within the context of a decision support framework to evaluate the design and effectiveness of coral restoration for coastal resilience. Successfully linking multidisciplinary science with restoration practice will ensure that future large‐scale coral reef restorations maximize protection for at‐risk coastal communities.

  PublisherDOI

• Decline of a North American rocky intertidal foundation species linked to extreme dry, downslope Santa Ana winds

  Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution · 2024-02-15 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access

  Foundation species are essential to ecosystem function, but their role as habitat providers is predicated on their spatial dominance. Worldwide, kelps, seagrasses, corals, and other marine foundation species have declined. This is true also for rockweeds, the canopy-forming analog of subtidal kelp forests in temperate rocky intertidal ecosystems. On the west coast of North America, dense beds of the rockweed Silvetia compressa occur across large biogeographic regions, benefitting numerous species by ameliorating physical stress caused by sun exposure, desiccation, heat, and wave disturbance. Like many rockweed species, Silvetia is long-lived, slow-growing, and short-dispersing – characteristics that reduce its resilience to disturbance. Using a generalized additive mixed-effects model with explicit spatial effects, we analyzed canopy cover data from 30 sites spanning 18 years, and we tested the hypothesis that Silvetia population trends are tightly linked to atmospheric climate conditions, particularly Santa Ana wind events (SAWs): strong, hot, and dry downslope winds that originate inland and move offshore. We found that the rockweed had declined markedly, particularly at sites south of the major biogeographic break, Point Conception (PC), including the California Channel Islands and southern California mainland, and a highly significant negative effect of dewpoint depression, a measure of moisture content in the atmosphere, on Silvetia cover across all three regions in this study. Our results suggest that any increases in the frequency or intensity of SAWs are likely to lead to large declines and possible extirpation of Silvetia , as well as the important ecological services the species provides.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Regional differences in fishing behavior determine whether a marine reserve network enhances fishery yield

  Scientific Reports · 2024-01-12 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  A network of marine reserves can enhance yield in depleted fisheries by protecting populations, particularly large, old spawners that supply larvae for interspersed fishing grounds. The ability of marine reserves to enhance sustainable fisheries is much less evident. We report empirical evidence of a marine reserve network improving yield regionally for a sustainable spiny lobster fishery, apparently through the spillover of adult lobsters and behavioral adaptation by the fishing fleet. Results of a Before-After, Control-Impact analysis found catch, effort, and Catch-Per-Unit Effort increased after the establishment of marine reserves in the northern region of the fishery where fishers responded by fishing intensively at reserve borders, but declined in the southern region where they vacated once productive fishing grounds. The adaptation of the northern region of the fishery may have been aided by a history of collaboration between fishers, scientists, and managers, highlighting the value of collaborative research and education programs for preparing fisheries to operate productively within a seascape that includes a large marine reserve network.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Corals survive severe bleaching event in refuges related to taxa, colony size, and water depth

  Scientific Reports · 2024-04-18 · 19 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Marine heatwaves are increasing in frequency and duration, threatening tropical reef ecosystems through intensified coral bleaching events. We examined a strikingly variable spatial pattern of bleaching in Moorea, French Polynesia following a heatwave that lasted from November 2018 to July 2019. In July 2019, four months after the onset of bleaching, we surveyed > 5000 individual colonies of the two dominant coral genera, Pocillopora and Acropora, at 10 m and 17 m water depths, at six forereef sites around the island where temperature was measured. We found severe bleaching increased with colony size for both coral genera, but Acropora bleached more severely than Pocillopora overall. Acropora bleached more at 10 m than 17 m, likely due to higher light availability at 10 m compared to 17 m, or greater daily temperature fluctuation at depth. Bleaching in Pocillopora corals did not differ with depth but instead varied with the interaction of colony size and Accumulated Heat Stress (AHS), in that larger colonies (> 30 cm) were more sensitive to AHS than mid-size (10-29 cm) or small colonies (5-9 cm). Our findings provide insight into complex interactions among coral taxa, colony size, and water depth that produce high spatial variation in bleaching and related coral mortality.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Introduction: Honoring the contribution of Charles H. Peterson (1946–2020) to the field of marine ecology

  Ecosphere · 2023-06-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Ecological science addresses a wide variety of research questions, ranging from purely academic to narrowly applied. Major advances in ecology have occurred when fundamental ecological theories were used to formulate questions designed to address pressing practical problems, especially the impacts of human activities in natural ecosystems (e.g., Murdoch, 1994; Tilman et al., 2002; Vitousek et al., 1997). Marine ecologists have played an especially important role in assessing the ecological impacts of anthropogenic disturbances, as well as enhancing our capacity to conserve, manage, and restore marine ecosystems (e.g., Bertness et al., 2014; Jackson et al., 2001; Schmitt & Osenberg, 1996). Charles H. “Pete” Peterson (1946–2020) was a trailblazer and leader in testing, developing, and, most importantly, applying ecological theory to meet environmental challenges (Figure 1). In doing so, he made substantial contributions to ecological science and scholarship. At a time when few academic ecologists wanted to conduct applied studies, Pete performed those studies at a high level of rigor and demonstrated how ecology could be advanced through the application of theory. Pete's rigorous approach to study design, statistical analysis, and interpretation of results showed the flaws in often biased approaches that were being advanced by industry scientists. Pete passed away on October 24, 2020, at his home in Pine Knoll Shores, NC, USA. To help honor Pete's important contributions to ecology we have assembled this Special Feature of Ecosphere in which we present an impressive set of papers that report new results in applied marine ecological science that were inspired by Pete's research, teaching, and mentorship. Inspection of the history of natural science indicates that marine community ecology emerged primarily with the intent to address marine resource management challenges, initially the trophic links between marine benthic invertebrate communities and exploited demersal fish populations in northern Europe (Petersen, 1914). A deeper appreciation of that history reveals how local ecological knowledge helped Pacific Island people manage nearshore marine fisheries sustainably for over a millennium (Johannes, 1981). Yet, as recently as the 1980s, researchers working in applied marine ecology were too often labeled as industry consultants, as nonacademics. Judging from the poor quality of some applied work, the criticism was warranted. Criticism of applied ecology overlapped with a major reexamination, a critique, of ecology captured by Peters (1991). This intradisciplinary assessment followed a transition, led by Professors Joseph Connell (1961) and Robert Paine (1966), in which a qualitative natural-history-based approach, heavily reliant on correlative relationships between community patterns and environmental conditions, evolved to a more theory-driven, mechanistic, and experiment-based form of ecology (e.g., Peterson, 1982). Peters' critique in 1991 initiated the expansion of ecological synthesis science as a means to broaden the generality of research questions and seek answers to the toughest problems we face, including global-scale extinctions, habitat loss, and climate change. Out of these transformative periods emerged a greater appreciation for well-executed applied ecology. Pete Peterson was a leader in this renaissance, especially in the marine environment (e.g., Christensen et al., 1996; Lubchenco et al., 1991). Pete was an exceptionally creative and productive scientist, who made key contributions to many aspects, or subdisciplines, in ecology and marine science. He was highly interdisciplinary in his thinking and general methodological approach. Pete obtained a BA in Biology at Princeton University in 1968 before receiving an MS in Zoology (1970) and a PhD in Biology (1972) working with Professor Connell at the University of California, Santa Barbara. After a brief stint at the University of Maryland (Baltimore County), Pete moved to The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he taught, advised, and conducted research until he retired in 2019. Over the past half-century, Pete fundamentally transformed our understanding of marine ecosystems while also applying his research to solving environmental problems. He published over 200 peer-reviewed papers, and his research contributed conceptually to ecology, marine biology, environmental sciences, fisheries ecology, restoration ecology, and conservation biology. Trained as a benthic ecologist, Pete used coastal soft-sediment habitats as models to explore how key ecological processes such as competition, recruitment, and predation structure communities. He studied benthic boundary layer systems and fluid dynamics, at small and large spatial scales, to disentangle complex physical–biological processes. Pete examined how habitat created by seagrass beds, salt marshes, oyster reefs, beaches, deep-sea hydrothermal vent organisms, and Antarctic crustaceans influences marine communities and produces ecosystem services. Pete's research advanced basic ecological science, but some of his most profound contributions were in applied marine and fisheries ecology, a field he was influential in establishing. In the latter stages of his career, Pete's work touched on almost every aspect of marine conservation and restoration ecology. He recognized, long before many others, that fishing caused a plethora of ecological disturbances and worked tirelessly to develop sustainable fishing practices and management strategies (Botsford et al., 1997; Jackson et al., 2001; Lotze et al., 2006; Myers et al., 2007; Peterson et al., 1987, 2000, 2003a). He highlighted that oil spilled in coastal marine ecosystems triggers cascades of long-lasting ecological effects (Peterson et al., 2003b). Pete's exceptional capacity to integrate and synthesize ideas across disciplines led to his recognizing that restoring molluscan populations decimated by red tides in coastal North Carolina was critical to local fishers while also providing novel insights into population connectivity and recruitment limitation (Peterson et al., 1996). His work on oyster reef management and restoration ignited a major research emphasis that is now global in scale (Beck et al., 2011; Lenihan & Peterson, 1998). His many contributions to marine conservation were widely recognized and awarded, resulting in a Pew Fellowship and several prizes. Pete spent a large proportion of his career actively shaping policy and engaging in management on a range of environmental issues. He interacted well with politicians, water people, managers, program administrators, and the lay public. Pete served on numerous international and national advisory committees, including ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea), GLOBEC (Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics), NSF (National Science Foundation), and NCEAS (National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis). He was equally proud of his work on the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission, just one of the several environmental commissions in the state that Pete served on over the past several decades. North Carolina's coastal habitats and resources are more resilient thanks to Pete's tireless efforts and dedication. Above all, Pete was an educator, mentor, and naturalist. His ability to articulate difficult concepts in the classroom and in the field coupled with his enthusiasm for teaching inspired and enabled many to pursue careers in marine ecology. His passion for nature, whether fishing, birding, or walking with his friends and students, was immense and provided purpose for his scholarly pursuits. He especially liked his daily swims in North Carolinas' Bogue Sound. While rigorous, demanding, and often intense in his mentorship, Pete was always a strong advocate for his students and colleagues. Pete leaves behind a large network of former students, postdocs, and colleagues whose careers he helped shape. Many of those students, postdocs, and colleagues collaborated on this Special Feature that presents 16 papers encompassing a wide spectrum of applied marine ecological research inspired by Pete's examples. These papers are dedicated to the important legacy that Pete built over a long, very productive, and impactful career. Our Special Feature presents papers that report new and exciting results from a suite of important research topics that Pete helped to develop and promote, often with seminal and high-impact publications. Four papers focus on the ecological implications and impacts of anthropogenic disturbance in coastal ecosystems. Swinea and Fodrie (2021) examine the role sustainable fisheries play in the recovery of coastal human societies from catastrophic disturbance, in this case, the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Fegley and Michel (2021) advance the way we should quantify the loss and recovery of ecosystem services on beaches degraded by oil spills. Pete played a big role in advancing beach ecology, a fact articulated by Emery et al. (2022), who report on how tides drive cyclical patterns of habitat partitioning by beach invertebrate species. Finally, Donaher et al. (2021) examine how facilitation by bivalves mediates the recovery of seagrass beds from disturbance. Another set of papers examines the role of seagrass as a coastal foundation species, but with a focus on trophic interactions, especially top-down effects on community dynamics. Namba and Nakaoka (2021) examine the influence of environmental conditions on the top-down control of eelgrass populations by herbivores in coastal Japan. Wong and Dowd (2021) explore how the functional traits of component species determine the level of secondary production in eelgrass communities. Alternatively, Geraldi et al. (2022) examine the effects of top-down control on foundation species, in this case the influence of predation on oyster abundance on subtidal oyster reefs. Pete was one of the first researchers to consider the role of landscape processes in driving marine population and community dynamics. To celebrate that research, Van Hoeck et al. (2021) develop a new technique to improve coastal management, specifically the population enhancement of target species, a model system that Pete often used to test both basic ecological theory and as a means to improve management outcomes. Linking land to sea, Gehman et al. (2021) uncover the influence that land use patterns have on estuarine ecosystems by modifying parasite–host interactions. Geissinger et al. (2022) introduce the use of stable isotopes as a technique to examine patterns of habitat use by the little-known, burrowing wrymouth that inhabit nearshore soft-sediment habitats along the US Pacific and Atlantic coasts. A final set of papers helps to advance restoration ecology, a topic of great interest and importance to Pete. Butler et al. (2021) reveal the role sponges play in helping to facilitate coral restoration. Grabowski et al. (2022) and Powers and Grabowski (2023) revisit and extend our understanding of the role that habitat structure, location, and hydrodynamics play in successful oyster restoration efforts. Paxton et al. (2022) provide a framework for better incorporating ecological principles, adaptive management, and experiments in the siting, design, construction, and evaluation of artificial reefs in the coastal ocean. To wrap up the Special Feature, Smith et al. (2022) and Lenihan et al. (2022) report on the ecological impacts of fishing and the use of marine reserves and collaborative fishery research in recovering, restoring, and managing coastal marine fisheries. In summary, the papers in our Special Feature represent a great tribute to the legacy of Charles H. Peterson and are research contributions that would have made him proud.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Regional differences in fishing behavior determine whether a marine reserve network enhances fishery yield

  Research Square · 2023-04-12

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Model simulations show that a network of marine reserves can enhance yield in depleted fisheries by protecting populations, particularly large, old spawners that supply larvae for interspersed fishing grounds. The ability of marine reserves to enhance sustainable fisheries is much less evident. We report empirical evidence of a marine reserve network improving yield for a sustainable spiny lobster fishery, apparently through the spillover of adult lobsters and behavioral adaptation by the fishing fleet. Results of a Before-After, Control-Impact analysis found catch, effort, and Catch-Per-Unit Effort increased after the establishment of marine reserves in the northern region of the fishery where fishers responded by fishing intensively at reserve borders, but declined in the southern region where they vacated once productive fishing grounds. Our results highlight the value of collaborative research and education programs involving diverse stakeholders for preparing fisheries to operate productively within a seascape that includes a large marine reserve network.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Aging of Copper Nanoparticles in the Marine Environment Regulates Toxicity for a Coastal Phytoplankton Species

  Environmental Science & Technology · 2023-04-21 · 23 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Environmental conditions in aquatic ecosystems transform toxic chemicals over time, influencing their bioavailability and toxicity. Using an environmentally relevant methodology, we tested how exposure to seawater for 1-15 weeks influenced the accumulation and toxicity of copper nanoparticles (nano-Cu) in a marine phytoplankton species. Nano-Cu rapidly agglomerated in seawater and then decreased in size due to Cu dissolution. Dissolution rates declined during weeks 1-4 and remained low until 15 weeks, when the large agglomerates that had formed began to rapidly dissolve again. Marine phytoplankton species were exposed for 5-day periods to nano-Cu aged from 1 to 15 weeks at concentrations from 0.01 to 20 ppm. Toxicity to phytoplankton, measured as change in population growth rate, decreased significantly with particle aging from 0 to 4 weeks but increased substantially in the 15-week treatment due apparently to elevated Cu dissolution of reagglomerated particles. Results indicate that the transformation, fate, and toxicity of nano-Cu in marine ecosystems are influenced by a highly dynamic physicochemical aging process.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Coral reef structural complexity loss exposes coastlines to waves

  Scientific Reports · 2023-01-30 · 40 citations

  articleOpen access

  Coral reefs offer natural coastal protection by attenuating incoming waves. Here we combine unique coral disturbance-recovery observations with hydrodynamic models to quantify how structural complexity dissipates incoming wave energy. We find that if the structural complexity of healthy coral reefs conditions is halved, extreme wave run-up heights that occur once in a 100-years will become 50 times more frequent, threatening reef-backed coastal communities with increased waves, erosion, and flooding.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Fiorenza Micheli

  Stanford University

  129 shared

• Rod Fujita

  Environmental Defense Fund

  98 shared

• Mark Spalding

  University of Cambridge

  98 shared

• Dennis Heinemann

  Marine Mammal Commission

  98 shared

• Robert S. Steneck

  University of Maine

  92 shared

• Elizabeth R. Selig

  91 shared

• Reg Watson

  University of Tasmania

  91 shared

• Helen Fox

  Coral Reef Alliance

  91 shared

Education

• PhD (Marine Science), Marine Science

  University of North Carolina

  1996

• Masters of Science, Marine Science

  Moss Landing Marine Laboratories

  1992

• Bachelor of Science (Conservation of Natural Resources), College of Natural Resources

  University of California Berkeley

  1986

• Associate of Arts, General Education

  Pasadena City College

  1981