The trophic importance of algal turfs for coral reef fishes: the crustacean link

Kramer, Michael J.; Bellwood, Orpha; Bellwood, David R.

doi:10.1007/s00338-013-1009-1

Cited by 88 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…We were able to directly attribute the oceanic production signal in the herbivorous S. nigricans and C. sordidus in our study to assimilation of phytoplankton production. Herbivores often consume significant numbers of demersal crustaceans that live in benthic reef habitats (Kramer et al 2013), either incidentally or as a complementary feeding strategy to cope with low protein, plantbased diets (Cruz-Rivera and Hay 2000; Raubenheimer et al 2009). Many of these crustaceans move up into the water column at night to feed on phytoplankton and particulate organic matter, thereby providing another mechanism for transferring C fixed in the water column to herbivorous reef fishes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracing carbon flow through coral reef food webs using a compound-specific stable isotope approach

et al. 2015

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dietary C assimilation of a given species, even for highly mobile, generalist top predators. Microbially reworked detritus was an important secondary C source for most species. Seascape configuration played an important role in structuring resource utilization patterns. For instance, Lutjanus ehrenbergii showed a significant shift from a benthic macroalgal food web on shelf reefs (71 ± 13 % of dietary C) to a phytoplankton-based food web (72 ± 11 %) on oceanic reefs. Our work provides insights into the roles that diverse C sources play in the structure and function of coral reef ecosystems and illustrates a powerful fingerprinting method to develop and test nutritional frameworks for understanding resource utilization.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracing carbon flow through coral reef food webs using a compound-specific stable isotope approach

et al. 2015

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“…However, the value of this potential metric is limited because direct quantification of benthic sediments is difficult and time consuming (Purcell 1996). Sediments must be collected using specialized equipment (Purcell 1996, Kramer et al 2013) and processed over a period of weeks prior to weighing (Gordon et al 2016). Because very slight variations in sediment load have instantaneous and considerable impacts on herbivory (Bellwood and Fulton 2008, Goatley and Bellwood 2012, 2013, Clausing et al 2014, the most practical tool to measure changes in effective sediment load may therefore be rates of herbivory.…”

Section: Progressive Changes In Coral Reef Degradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sediments and herbivory as sensitive indicators of coral reef degradation

Goatley¹,

Bonaldo²,

Fox³

et al. 2016

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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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“…Other cryptic organisms can affect trophic links in consumer species with commonly accepted ecological roles. For example, consumption of copepods (Kramer et al, 2013) and high concentration of autotrophs (Clements et al, 2016) sourced within the epilithic algal matrix (EAM) by parrotfish raises questions about the main components of their nutrition. Exclusion of other trophic links such as connectivity to mangrove or seagrass habitats is also common, where grazers are known to make nocturnal migrations off coral reefs to avoid micropredation (Sikkel et al, 2017), or exploit foraging opportunities (Nagelkerken et al, 2000).…”

Section: Ecological Concepts Trophodynamics and Coral Reefsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Diet analysis is one of the most common methods in trophodynamic study along with direct observation of predator prey-relationships (Choat et al, 2004;Fox et al, 2009;Kramer et al, 2013;Young et al, 2015;Wen et al, 2016). Stomach contents can directly inform what a consumer ingests by examining the frequency of occurrence of species in stomach samples (Cortés, 1999).…”

Section: Diet Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trophodynamics as a Tool for Understanding Coral Reef Ecosystems

et al. 2018

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The increased frequency of publications concerning trophic ecology of coral reefs suggests a degree of interest in the role species and functional groups play in energy flow within these systems. Coral reef ecosystems are particularly complex, however, and assignment of trophic positions requires precise knowledge of mechanisms driving food webs and population dynamics. Competent analytical tools and empirical analysis are integral to defining ecosystem processes and avoiding misinterpretation of results. Here we examine the contribution of trophodynamics to informing ecological roles and understanding of coral reef ecology. Applied trophic studies of coral reefs were used to identify recent trends in methodology and analysis. Although research is increasing, clear definitions and scaling of studies is lacking. Trophodynamic studies will require more precise spatial and temporal data collection and analysis using multiple methods to fully explore the complex interactions within coral reef ecosystems.

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The trophic importance of algal turfs for coral reef fishes: the crustacean link

Cited by 88 publications

References 62 publications

Tracing carbon flow through coral reef food webs using a compound-specific stable isotope approach

Tracing carbon flow through coral reef food webs using a compound-specific stable isotope approach

Sediments and herbivory as sensitive indicators of coral reef degradation

Trophodynamics as a Tool for Understanding Coral Reef Ecosystems

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