Post-disturbance recovery pattern of subtidal soft corals-macroalgae mixed community and the role of water depth were investigated. The experiment was conducted in a subtidal rock wall of Munseom, Jeju Island, Korea for 2.5 years. Artificial disturbance was done at established treatment plots at depths of 10, 15 and 20 m and were then compared with undisturbed control plots. After disturbance, recovery of soft corals was very slow, whereas macroalgae quickly occupied the plots and reached a similar level as the control in 6 months, and this pattern was consistent at all water depths. This unbalanced speed of recovery caused higher macroalgae establishment than soft corals in treatment compared to control plots, indicating a possible phase shift in the community structure. This study provides an important implication for the necessity of monitoring the influence of disturbance at a larger scale, from a conservation perspective of soft corals in Jeju coast.

Introduction
Materials and Methods
    1. Study site
    2. Experimental design and data collection
    3. Data analysis
Results
    1. Recovery patterns of soft coral community
    2. Recovery patterns of macroalgal community
    3. Relative comparison between soft coral andmacroalgal coverage
Discussion
    1. Possible phase shift due to disturbance in softcorals and macroalgae mixed communities
    2. Function of water depth in the post-disturbancerecovery

• Junsu Kim(Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea)
• Seokwoo Hong(Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea)
• Kwon Mo Yang(Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea)
• Daniela Macias(Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea)
• Jeong Ha Kim(Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea) Corresponding author