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Threats to large brown algal forests in temperate seas: the overlooked role of native herbivorous fish.

ABSTRACT: Canopy-forming algae are declining globally due to multiple disturbances. This decline has recently been on the increase due to the spread of some tropical herbivorous fishes. This new phenomenon has drawn attention to the effects of fish herbivory in temperate areas, which have been assumed to be negligible compared to that of invertebrates, such as sea urchins. In this study, the impact of a Mediterranean native herbivorous fish (Sarpa salpa, salema) was assessed on the canopy-forming seaweed Cystoseira amentacea var. stricta. Cystoseira amentacea forms belts in the infralittoral fringe of wave-exposed shores, which has so far been considered a refuge from fish herbivory. To test the effects of salema feeding on natural C. amentacea belts, an innovative herbivore deterrent device was conceived. Salema had a significant effect on C. amentacea by decreasing algal size, biomass and fertility, by up to 97%. The results suggest that the contribution of salema feeding to the loss of Cystoseira forests in the Mediterranean may have been overlooked. In addition, the analysis of temporal and spatial patterns of salema landings in the Mediterranean Sea suggests that salema abundance may have increased recently. Thus, along with invertebrate herbivory and anthropogenic stressors, fish herbivory may also represent a potential threat to algal forests in temperate areas.

SUBMITTER: Gianni F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5519706 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Threats to large brown algal forests in temperate seas: the overlooked role of native herbivorous fish.

Gianni Fabrizio F Bartolini Fabrizio F Pey Alexis A Laurent Mathieu M Martins Gustavo M GM Airoldi Laura L Mangialajo Luisa L

Scientific reports 20170720 1

Canopy-forming algae are declining globally due to multiple disturbances. This decline has recently been on the increase due to the spread of some tropical herbivorous fishes. This new phenomenon has drawn attention to the effects of fish herbivory in temperate areas, which have been assumed to be negligible compared to that of invertebrates, such as sea urchins. In this study, the impact of a Mediterranean native herbivorous fish (Sarpa salpa, salema) was assessed on the canopy-forming seaweed ...[more]

PMID: 28729633

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Project description:Canopy-forming macroalgae, mainly those belonging to the order Fucales, form the so-called brown algal forests, which are among the most productive assemblages in shallow coastal zones. Their vertical, branching canopies increase nearshore primary production, provide nursery areas for juvenile fish, and sustain understory assemblages of smaller algae and both sessile and vagile fauna. The majority of benthic invertebrates inhabiting these forests have larval stages that spend some time floating freely or swimming in the plankton. Therefore, canopy-forming macroalgae play an important role as species collectors related to larval supply and hydrodynamic processes. During the past several decades, brown algal forests have significantly reduced their extension and coverage in the Mediterranean basin, due to multiple interacting natural and anthropogenic pressures, with negative consequences also for the related fauna. The aim of this research was to examine how differences in macrophyte abundance and structure, as well as environmental variables, affect the associated molluscan communities in the shallow northern Adriatic Sea. Sampling sites with well-developed vegetation cover dominated by different canopy-forming species were selected in the shallow infralittoral belt of the northern Adriatic Sea in the spring-summer period of the years 2019 and 2020. Our results confirm the importance of algal forests for molluscan assemblage, with a total of 68 taxa of molluscs found associated with macrophytes. Gastropods showed the highest richness and abundance, followed by bivalves. Mollusc richness and diversity (in terms of biotic indices) were not related with the degree of development of canopy-forming species (in terms of total cover and total volume), nor with the ecological status of benthic macroalgae at different depths. On the contrary, the variability in molluscan taxa abundances was explained by some environmental variables, such as temperature, pH, light, and nitrates concentration.

Project description:Marine herbivorous fish that feed primarily on macroalgae, such as those from the genus Kyphosus, are essential for maintaining coral health and abundance on tropical reefs. Here, deep metagenomic sequencing and assembly of gut compartment-specific samples from three sympatric, macroalgivorous Hawaiian kyphosid species have been used to connect host gut microbial taxa with predicted protein functional capacities likely to contribute to efficient macroalgal digestion. Bacterial community compositions, algal dietary sources, and predicted enzyme functionalities were analyzed in parallel for 16 metagenomes spanning the mid- and hindgut digestive regions of wild-caught fishes. Gene colocalization patterns of expanded carbohydrate (CAZy) and sulfatase (SulfAtlas) digestive enzyme families on assembled contigs were used to identify likely polysaccharide utilization locus associations and to visualize potential cooperative networks of extracellularly exported proteins targeting complex sulfated polysaccharides. These insights into the gut microbiota of herbivorous marine fish and their functional capabilities improve our understanding of the enzymes and microorganisms involved in digesting complex macroalgal sulfated polysaccharides. IMPORTANCE This work connects specific uncultured bacterial taxa with distinct polysaccharide digestion capabilities lacking in their marine vertebrate hosts, providing fresh insights into poorly understood processes for deconstructing complex sulfated polysaccharides and potential evolutionary mechanisms for microbial acquisition of expanded macroalgal utilization gene functions. Several thousand new marine-specific candidate enzyme sequences for polysaccharide utilization have been identified. These data provide foundational resources for future investigations into suppression of coral reef macroalgal overgrowth, fish host physiology, the use of macroalgal feedstocks in terrestrial and aquaculture animal feeds, and the bioconversion of macroalgae biomass into value-added commercial fuel and chemical products.

Dataset Information

Threats to large brown algal forests in temperate seas: the overlooked role of native herbivorous fish.

Publications

Threats to large brown algal forests in temperate seas: the overlooked role of native herbivorous fish.

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