Dataset Information

Linking variation in planktonic primary production to coral reef fish growth and condition.

ABSTRACT: Within low-nutrient tropical oceans, islands and atolls with higher primary production support higher fish biomass and reef organism abundance. External energy subsidies can be delivered onto reefs via a range of physical mechanisms. However, the influence of spatial variation in primary production on reef fish growth and condition is largely unknown. It is not yet clear how energy subsidies interact with reef depth and slope. Here we test the hypothesis that with increased proximity to deep-water oceanic nutrient sources, or at sites with shallower reef slopes, parameters of fish growth and condition will be higher. Contrary to expectations, we found no association between fish growth rate and sites with higher mean chlorophyll-a values. There were no differences in fish δ ¹⁵N or δ ¹³C values between depths. The relationship between fish condition and primary production was influenced by depth, driven by increased fish condition at shallow depths within a primary production 'hotspot' site. Carbon δ ¹³C was depleted with increasing primary production, and interacted with reef slope. Our results indicate that variable primary production did not influence growth rates in planktivorous Chromis fieldi within 10-17.5 m depth, but show site-specific variation in reef physical characteristics influencing fish carbon isotopic composition.

SUBMITTER: Roche RC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9428543 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Linking variation in planktonic primary production to coral reef fish growth and condition.

Roche Ronan C RC Heenan Adel A Taylor Brett M BM Schwarz Jill N JN Fox Michael D MD Southworth Lucy K LK Williams Gareth J GJ Turner John R JR

Royal Society open science 20220831 8

Within low-nutrient tropical oceans, islands and atolls with higher primary production support higher fish biomass and reef organism abundance. External energy subsidies can be delivered onto reefs via a range of physical mechanisms. However, the influence of spatial variation in primary production on reef fish growth and condition is largely unknown. It is not yet clear how energy subsidies interact with reef depth and slope. Here we test the hypothesis that with increased proximity to deep-wat ...[more]

PMID: 36061523

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Project description:In Tayrona National Natural Park (Colombian Caribbean), abiotic factors such as light intensity, water temperature, and nutrient availability are subjected to high temporal variability due to seasonal coastal upwelling. These factors are the major drivers controlling coral reef primary production as one of the key ecosystem services. This offers the opportunity to assess the effects of abiotic factors on reef productivity. We therefore quantified primary net (Pn ) and gross production (Pg ) of the dominant local primary producers (scleractinian corals, macroalgae, algal turfs, crustose coralline algae, and microphytobenthos) at a water current/wave-exposed and-sheltered site in an exemplary bay of Tayrona National Natural Park. A series of short-term incubations was conducted to quantify O2 fluxes of the different primary producers during non-upwelling and the upwelling event 2011/2012, and generalized linear models were used to analyze group-specific O2 production, their contribution to benthic O2 fluxes, and total daily benthic O2 production. At the organism level, scleractinian corals showed highest Pn and Pg rates during non-upwelling (16 and 19 mmol O2 m(-2) specimen area h(-1)), and corals and algal turfs dominated the primary production during upwelling (12 and 19 mmol O2 m(-2) specimen area h(-1), respectively). At the ecosystem level, corals contributed most to total Pn and Pg during non-upwelling, while during upwelling, corals contributed most to Pn and Pg only at the exposed site and macroalgae at the sheltered site, respectively. Despite the significant spatial and temporal differences in individual productivity of the investigated groups and their different contribution to reef productivity, differences for daily ecosystem productivity were only present for Pg at exposed with higher O2 fluxes during non-upwelling compared to upwelling. Our findings therefore indicate that total benthic primary productivity of local autotrophic reef communities is relatively stable despite the pronounced fluctuations of environmental key parameters. This may result in higher resilience against anthropogenic disturbances and climate change and Tayrona National Natural Park should therefore be considered as a conservation priority area.

Dataset Information

Linking variation in planktonic primary production to coral reef fish growth and condition.

Publications

Linking variation in planktonic primary production to coral reef fish growth and condition.

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