Spatial variation in sea urchins, fish predators, and bioerosion rates on coral reefs of Belize

Brown-Saracino, Jocelyn; Peckol, P.; Curran, H. Allen; Robbart, Martha L.

doi:10.1007/s00338-006-0159-9

Cited by 52 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The Acropora thickets are interspersed with mixed coral stands dominated by Orbicella, Agaricia, Porites, and Millepora species, and areas of sandy bottom. Peckol et al (2003) and Brown-Saracino et al (2007) reported live coral cover (all species) in this area exceeding 43%. More recently, Busch et al (2016) reported an average value of * 30% live A. cervicornis coral cover (species specific) in the Acropora thickets sampled in this study.…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 82%

“…Despite Caribbean-wide declines, relatively abundant A. cervicornis and A. palmata populations have been reported in Honduras (Keck et al 2005;Purkis et al 2006), the Dominican Republic , Mexico (Larson et al 2014), Florida (Fort Lauderdale area; Vargas-Angel et al 2003), and Belize (Peckol et al 2003;Brown-Saracino et al 2007;Macintyre and Toscano 2007;Busch et al 2016). These studies have variably included general habitat surveys, quantification of percentage of algal and live coral coverage, Acropora colony sizes, number of Acropora colonies, fish and invertebrate population densities, imagebased spatial characterization, and disease prevalence, but none included genetic data.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Age and intraspecific diversity of resilient Acropora communities in Belize

et al. 2017

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The corals Acropora palmata and A. cervicornis are important Caribbean reef-builders that have faced significant mortality in recent decades. While many studies have focused on the recent demise of these species, data from areas where Acropora spp. have continued to thrive are limited. Understanding the genetic diversity, recruitment, and temporal continuity of healthy populations of these threatened Acropora spp. and the hybrid they form (''Acropora prolifera'') may provide insights into the demographic processes governing them. We studied three reef sites with abundant A. cervicornis, A. palmata, and hybrid Acropora populations offshore of Ambergris Caye, Belize at Coral Gardens, Manatee Channel, and Rocky Point. Samples were collected from all three Acropora taxa. We used microsatellite markers to determine: (1) genotypic diversity; (2) dominant reproductive mode supporting local recruitment; (3) minimum and maximum genet age estimates for all three acroporids; and (4) the history of hybrid colonization at these sites. We found that Acropora populations were highly clonal with local recruitment primarily occurring through asexual fragmentation. We also estimated the ages of 10 Acropora genets using recent methodology based on somatic mutation rates from genetic data. Results indicate minimum ages of 62-409 yr for A. cervicornis, 187-561 yr for A. palmata, and 156-281 yr for the Acropora hybrids at these sites. Our data indicate that existing A. cervicornis, A. palmata, and Acropora hybrid genets persisted during the 1980s Caribbean-wide Acropora spp. collapse, suggesting that these sites have been a refuge for Caribbean Acropora corals. Additionally, our data suggest that formation of extant hybrid Acropora genets pre-dates the widespread collapse of the parent taxa.

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Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age and intraspecific diversity of resilient Acropora communities in Belize

et al. 2017

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“…The bleached samples were dry sieved into fractions using a sieve stack (1000, 500, 250, 125 and 63 μm grades) and the fractions weighed. Carbonates were then removed by dissolution in 5% hydrochloric acid (HCl) until any visible reactions ceased (Brown-Saracino et al 2007, Gordon et al 2016. The remaining sediments were rinsed, dried, weighed, and sieved (as above) to determine the properties of the insoluble fraction of the sample (siliceous sediments).…”

Section: Benthic Sediment Loadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sediments and herbivory as sensitive indicators of coral reef degradation

Goatley¹,

Bonaldo²,

Fox³

et al. 2016

E&S

105

142

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ABSTRACT. Around the world, the decreasing health of coral reef ecosystems has highlighted the need to better understand the processes of reef degradation. The development of more sensitive tools, which complement traditional methods of monitoring coral reefs, may reveal earlier signs of degradation and provide an opportunity for pre-emptive responses. We identify new, sensitive metrics of ecosystem processes and benthic composition that allow us to quantify subtle, yet destabilizing, changes in the ecosystem state of an inshore coral reef on the Great Barrier Reef. Following severe climatic disturbances over the period 2011-2012, the herbivorous reef fish community of the reef did not change in terms of biomass or functional groups present. However, fish-based ecosystem processes showed marked changes, with grazing by herbivorous fishes declining by over 90%. On the benthos, algal turf lengths in the epilithic algal matrix increased more than 50% while benthic sediment loads increased 37-fold. The profound changes in processes, despite no visible change in ecosystem state, i.e., no shift to macroalgal dominance, suggest that although the reef has not undergone a visible regime-shift, the ecosystem is highly unstable, and may sit on an ecological knife-edge. Sensitive, process-based metrics of ecosystem state, such as grazing or browsing rates thus appear to be effective in detecting subtle signs of degradation and may be critical in identifying ecosystems at risk for the future.

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“…The maximum predicted value for piscivorous fish biomass in the region, 39 g/m 2 (Arias-Gonza´lez 1998), is assumed to be representative of a healthy reef state and is similar to modeled biomasses for this functional group. Values for sea urchin biomass reported by Brown-Saracino et al (2007) are in the range 36À258 g/m 2 , mostly comprising Echinometra spp. However, these values are much higher than biomass estimates for the MAR (10À40 g/m 2 ) reported by Newman et al (2006), who found Diadema antillarum to be the dominant sea urchin species.…”

Section: ''Healthy Reef'' Scenariomentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional-scale scenario modeling for coral reefs: a decision support tool to inform management of a complex system

Melbourne-Thomas¹,

Johnson²,

Fung³

et al. 2011

Ecological Applications

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Abstract. The worldwide decline of coral reefs threatens the livelihoods of coastal communities and puts at risk valuable ecosystem services provided by reefs. There is a pressing need for robust predictions of potential futures of coral reef and associated human systems under alternative management scenarios. Understanding and predicting the dynamics of coral reef systems at regional scales of tens to hundreds of kilometers is imperative, because reef systems are connected by physical and socioeconomic processes across regions and often across international boundaries. We present a spatially explicit regional-scale model of ecological dynamics for a general coral reef system. In designing our model as a tool for decision support, we gave precedence to portability and accessibility; the model can be parameterized for dissimilar coral reef systems in different parts of the world, and the model components and outputs are understandable for nonexperts. The model simulates local-scale dynamics, which are coupled across regions through larval connectivity between reefs. We validate our model using an instantiation for the Meso-American Reef system. The model realistically captures local and regional ecological dynamics and responds to external forcings in the form of harvesting, pollution, and physical damage (e.g., hurricanes, coral bleaching) to produce trajectories that largely fall within limits observed in the real system. Moreover, the model demonstrates behaviors that have relevance for management considerations. In particular, differences in larval supply between reef localities drive spatial variability in modeled reef community structure. Reef tracts for which recruitment is low are more vulnerable to natural disturbance and synergistic effects of anthropogenic stressors. Our approach provides a framework for projecting the likelihood of different reef futures at local to regional scales, with important applications for the management of complex coral reef systems.

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Spatial variation in sea urchins, fish predators, and bioerosion rates on coral reefs of Belize

Cited by 52 publications

References 32 publications

Age and intraspecific diversity of resilient Acropora communities in Belize

Age and intraspecific diversity of resilient Acropora communities in Belize

Sediments and herbivory as sensitive indicators of coral reef degradation

Regional-scale scenario modeling for coral reefs: a decision support tool to inform management of a complex system

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