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Consumers decrease variability across space and turnover through time during coral reef succession.

Jamie M McDevitt-Irwin1, Douglas J McCauley2, Daniel R Brumbaugh3,4

  • 1Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA. jamie.mcirwin@gmail.com.

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Large fish exclusion on coral reefs led to less diverse and more varied communities over time. This suggests fish are crucial for maintaining coral reef stability and resilience against environmental changes.

Keywords:
Beta diversityCommunity compositionCommunity developmentHerbivoresPredators

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Area of Science:

  • Marine Ecology
  • Coral Reef Ecology
  • Ecological Succession

Background:

  • Consumers significantly influence ecological succession, the change in community composition over time.
  • Declining consumer populations worldwide necessitate understanding their ecological roles, especially in threatened coral reef ecosystems.
  • Coral reef fishes are vital in structuring benthic succession, making their role critical for reef health.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how consumer (fish) exclusion impacts coral reef benthic community development and succession.
  • To determine the influence of fish feeding on community diversity, spatial variability, and temporal turnover.
  • To assess the role of fish in structuring coral reef communities during early succession.

Main Methods:

  • Deployment of 180 paired settlement tiles, with half caged to exclude large fishes (>15 cm) and half uncaged.
  • Monitoring of benthic community development on tiles at Palmyra Atoll over one and three years.
  • Analysis of community composition, alpha diversity, and beta diversity (spatial and temporal) between caged and uncaged treatments.

Main Results:

  • Fish exclusion resulted in lower alpha diversity and higher spatial beta diversity (divergent communities) on tiles.
  • Excluding fish led to increased temporal beta diversity, indicating less predictable successional trajectories.
  • The difference between caged and uncaged tiles diminished over time, suggesting fish influence is strongest in early succession.
  • Benthic fish feeding homogenizes community composition, favoring crustose coralline algae dominance.

Conclusions:

  • Loss of large fishes, potentially due to overfishing, can lead to more spatially and temporally variable benthic communities.
  • Increased community variability may negatively impact ecosystem function and coral reef resilience.
  • Fish play a critical role in maintaining coral reef community structure, diversity, and predictable successional pathways.