Dataset Information

Effects of "Reduced" and "Business-As-Usual" CO2 Emission Scenarios on the Algal Territories of the Damselfish Pomacentrus wardi (Pomacentridae).

ABSTRACT: Turf algae are a very important component of coral reefs, featuring high growth and turnover rates, whilst covering large areas of substrate. As food for many organisms, turf algae have an important role in the ecosystem. Farming damselfish can modify the species composition and productivity of such algal assemblages, while defending them against intruders. Like all organisms however, turf algae and damselfishes have the potential to be affected by future changes in seawater (SW) temperature and pCO2. In this study, algal assemblages, in the presence and absence of farming Pomacentrus wardi were exposed to two combinations of SW temperature and pCO2 levels projected for the austral spring of 2100 (the B1 "reduced" and the A1FI "business-as-usual" CO2 emission scenarios) at Heron Island (GBR, Australia). These assemblages were dominated by the presence of red algae and non-epiphytic cyanobacteria, i.e. cyanobacteria that grow attached to the substrate rather than on filamentous algae. The endpoint algal composition was mostly controlled by the presence/absence of farming damselfish, despite a large variability found between the algal assemblages of individual fish. Different scenarios appeared to be responsible for a mild, species specific change in community composition, observable in some brown and green algae, but only in the absence of farming fish. Farming fish appeared unaffected by the conditions to which they were exposed. Algal biomass reductions were found under "reduced" CO2 emission, but not "business-as-usual" scenarios. This suggests that action taken to limit CO2 emissions may, if the majority of algae behave similarly across all seasons, reduce the potential for phase shifts that lead to algal dominated communities. At the same time the availability of food resources to damselfish and other herbivores would be smaller under "reduced" emission scenarios.

SUBMITTER: Bender D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4488243 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Effects of "Reduced" and "Business-As-Usual" CO2 Emission Scenarios on the Algal Territories of the Damselfish Pomacentrus wardi (Pomacentridae).

Bender Dorothea D Champ Connor Michael CM Kline David D Diaz-Pulido Guillermo G Dove Sophie S

PloS one 20150629 6

Turf algae are a very important component of coral reefs, featuring high growth and turnover rates, whilst covering large areas of substrate. As food for many organisms, turf algae have an important role in the ecosystem. Farming damselfish can modify the species composition and productivity of such algal assemblages, while defending them against intruders. Like all organisms however, turf algae and damselfishes have the potential to be affected by future changes in seawater (SW) temperature and ...[more]

PMID: 26121163

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Project description:Herbivory is a fundamental process determining reef resilience, and while algal farming damselfishes can help shape benthic assemblages, an understanding of their contribution to areas outside of defended territories is relatively unexplored. Here, we demonstrate how the farming damselfish Stegastes marginatus plays a dual role in benthic structuring by 1) contributing to persistence of the invasive macroalga Acanthophora spicifera within a Hawaiian marine protected area, where the macroalga occurred exclusively inside Stegastes territories, and 2) behaving as an opportunistic browser of the exotic alga outside their territorial borders. Greater than 50% of the biomass of tethered A. spicifera was consumed within one-hour when placed outside Stegastes territories, compared to <5% lost from tethers within territories or herbivore exclusion cages. In situ remote video revealed that tethered A. spicifera located outside territories was grazed primarily by the surgeonfish Acanthurus nigrofuscus (∼68% of total bites) and, surprisingly, by S. marginatus (∼27% of total bites) that left their territories to feed on this resource on 107 occasions during 400 min of filming. Further, for over half of those occurrences where S. marginatus grazed on the tethered macroalga outside of territories, they fed alongside conspecifics and other species, displaying little of the aggressiveness that characterizes this damselfish. These results show that S. marginatus plays a wider role in determining benthic assemblages than previously recognized, acting both as cultivators of a canopy-forming invasive macroalga within their territories, and as opportunistic browsers in neighboring sites. Consequently, S. marginatus can affect benthic species composition across their territory borders. These results provide a rare example of interspecific facilitation of an exotic alga by an indigenous marine fish. Accounting for fish behaviors more broadly is important to further our understanding of ecological processes that shape reef ecosystems to improve management of MPAs that often support extensive farming damselfish populations.

Dataset Information

Effects of "Reduced" and "Business-As-Usual" CO2 Emission Scenarios on the Algal Territories of the Damselfish Pomacentrus wardi (Pomacentridae).

Publications

Effects of "Reduced" and "Business-As-Usual" CO2 Emission Scenarios on the Algal Territories of the Damselfish Pomacentrus wardi (Pomacentridae).

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