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Context-Dependent Diversity-Effects of Seaweed Consumption on Coral Reefs in Kenya
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, PLoS ONE, Vol 10, Iss 12, p e0144204 (2015)
- Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- Consumers and prey diversity, their interactions, and subsequent effects on ecosystem function are important for ecological processes but not well understood in high diversity ecosystems such as coral reefs. Consequently, we tested the potential for diversity-effects with a series of surveys and experiments evaluating the influence of browsing herbivores on macroalgae in Kenya’s fringing reef ecosystem. We surveyed sites and undertook experiments in reefs subject to three levels of human fishing influence: open access fished reefs, small and recently established community-managed marine reserves, and larger, older government-managed marine reserves. Older marine reserves had a greater overall diversity of herbivores and browsers but this was not clearly associated with reduced macroalgal diversity or abundance. Experiments studying succession on hard substrata also found no effects of consumer diversity. Instead, overall browser abundance of either sea urchins or fishes was correlated with declines in macroalgal cover. An exception was that the absence of a key fish browser genus, Naso, which was correlated with the persistence of Sargassum in a marine reserve. Algal selectivity assays showed that macroalgae were consumed at variable rates, a product of strong species-specific feeding and low overlap in the selectivity of browsing fishes. We conclude that the effects of browser and herbivore diversity are less than the influences of key species, whose impacts emerge in different contexts that are influenced by fisheries management. Consequently, identifying key herbivore species and managing to protect them may assist protecting reef functions.
- Subjects :
- Fringing reef
lcsh:Medicine
Biology
Animals
Humans
Marine ecosystem
natural sciences
Biomass
Herbivory
Aquaculture of coral
lcsh:Science
Ecosystem
geography
Multidisciplinary
geography.geographical_feature_category
Resilience of coral reefs
Ecology
Coral Reefs
Marine reserve
lcsh:R
Fishes
Coral reef
Biodiversity
Seaweed
Kenya
Fishery
lcsh:Q
Environmental issues with coral reefs
Coral reef protection
human activities
Research Article
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 10
- Issue :
- 12
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PloS one
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....e14040b467f8a09704059370e3b52173