No abstract

The influence of grazing, sedimentation and phytoplankton cell lysis on the dynamics of a coastal pelagic ecosystem in the Southern Bight of the North Sea was studied during spring/summer 1992. Diatoms in the > 8 pm size fraction dominated during early spring, due to size-differential control by microzooplankton. This diatom spring bloom became silicate depleted and declined by sedimentation. A Phaeocystis bloom developed in early summer. Phytoplankton cell lysis was the major loss factor for Phaeocystjs, accounting for 75% of the decline of the bloom. Bacterial production was positively correlated with phytoplankton cell lysis, and bacterial carbon demand could be supplied by cell lysis. This illustrates the importance of phytoplankton cell lysis in providing energy for the microbial loop. A new method (nicotine addit~on technique) was used to estimate mesozooplankton grazing on microzooplankton. h4esozooplankton appeared to prefer microzooplankton as a food source, though there occasionally was substantial grazing on phytoplankton. We conclude that grazing and sedimentation, as well as call lysis, are structuring mechanisms for algal bloom dynamics.

Over the past decades numerous studies have reported declines in stony corals and, in many cases, phase shifts to fleshy macroalgae. However, long-term studies documenting changes in other benthic reef organisms are scarce. Here, we studied changes in cover of corals, algal turfs, benthic cyanobacterial mats, macroalgae, sponges and crustose coralline algae at four reef sites of the Caribbean islands of Curaçao and Bonaire over a time span of 40 yr. Permanent 9 m 2 quadrats at 10, 20, 30 and 40 m depth were photographed at 3-to 6-yr intervals from 1973 to 2013. The temporal and spatial dynamics in the six dominant benthic groups were assessed based on image point-analysis. Our results show consistent patterns of benthic community change with a decrease in the cover of calcifying organisms across all sites and depths from 32.6 (1973) to 9.2% (2013) for corals and from 6.4 to 1% for crustose coralline algae. Initially, coral cover was replaced by algal turfs increasing from 24.5 (1973) to 38% around the early 1990s. Fleshy macroalgae, still absent in 1973, also proliferated covering 12% of the substratum approximately 20 yr later. However, these new dominants largely declined in abundance from 2002 to 2013 (11 and 2%, respectively), marking the rise of benthic cyanobacterial mats. Cyanobacterial mats became the most dominant benthic component increasing from a mere 7.1 (2002) to 22.2% (2013). The observed increase was paralleled by a small but significant increase in sponge cover (0.5 to 2.3%). Strikingly, this pattern of degradation and phase change occurred over the reef slope down to mesophotic depths of 40 m. These findings suggest that reefs dominated by algae may be less stable than previously thought and that the next phase may be the dominance of slimy cyanobacterial mats with some sponges.

Tropical coral reefs are among the most biologically diverse and economically important ecosystems on earth. Nevertheless, we found dramatic changes in coral communities on the reef slopes of Curaçao and Bonaire since 1973. Cover and abundance declined for virtually all coral species. The data show a shift from communities dominated by framework building species (e.g., Orbicella spp.) to communities consisting of small opportunistic, phenotypically plastic, species, including few remaining structural colonies. Madracis mirabilis, Porites astreoides, Diploria strigosa, and Agaricia lamarcki are at present modest winners in the coral assemblage, although overall cover declined also for these species. Increased frequency and intensity of events inducing coral mortality and ongoing reduction in suitable hard substratum, provided by the remnants of large colony building species, could reduce the chance of these species to remain winners in the longer run. The observed loss in coral cover and the shift from larger structural to smaller opportunistic species reduced reef carbonate production by 67% and therewith, in combination with a trend toward smaller coral colonies, reef complexity. Alarmingly, reefs at upper-mesophotic depths (30-40 m) did not escape the general degradation of the coral community. The negative effects are larger around densely populated areas where local stressors are adding to degradation caused, for instance, by region wide mass bleaching. Without proper conservation and management this already dramatic degradation will continue and turn more and more coral species into losers.