PHOTOSYNTHETIC SYMBIONTS AND ENERGY SUPPLY DETERMINE OCTOCORAL BIODIVERSITY IN CORAL REEFS

Many coral reef organisms live in symbiotic relationships with photosynthetic microalgae. This symbiosis extends the energy resources available to reef organisms, thereby potentially influencing biodiversity. In octocorals, about one-half of the taxa contain photosynthetic symbionts while the rest do not, and thus octocorals are an ideal model to assess the relationships between biodiversity, spatial and environmental factors, and photosynthetic symbionts. Data collected from 1106 sites on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, between 12° and 24° S showed that taxa with photosynthetic symbionts (phototrophs) had higher abundances, wider ranges, and a wider spread of locations than taxa without symbionts (heterotrophs). In phototrophic assemblages, spatial turnover comprised both exchange and loss of taxa, and their richness was high across a broad range of environmental conditions. In contrast, heterotrophs were uncommon, had short ranges, and were located where energy supply was highest and disturbance lowest. Turnover between heterotrophic assemblages comprised taxonomic loss rather than exchange of taxa. The biodiversity patterns and differences between phototrophic and heterotrophic octocorals are similar to those recorded in more spatially limited studies of phototrophic sponges and hard corals, and heterotrophic sponges. This study therefore suggests that the association, or not, with photosynthetic symbionts, and spatial and environmental factors related to energy supply and disturbance are principal drivers of biodiversity, community composition, and ranges of coral reef benthos.