Parrotfish corallivory on stress-tolerant corals in the Anthropocene.

Cumulative anthropogenic stressors on tropical reefs are modifying the physical and community structure of coral assemblages, altering the rich biological communities that depend on this critical habitat. As a consequence, new reef configurations are often characterized by low coral cover and a shif...

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Autores principales:	Víctor Huertas, Renato A Morais, Roberta M Bonaldo, David R Bellwood
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/4e72d47bbd304523ade2146fe316210e
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:4e72d47bbd304523ade2146fe316210e2021-12-02T20:08:25ZParrotfish corallivory on stress-tolerant corals in the Anthropocene.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0250725https://doaj.org/article/4e72d47bbd304523ade2146fe316210e2021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250725https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Cumulative anthropogenic stressors on tropical reefs are modifying the physical and community structure of coral assemblages, altering the rich biological communities that depend on this critical habitat. As a consequence, new reef configurations are often characterized by low coral cover and a shift in coral species towards massive and encrusting corals. Given that coral numbers are dwindling in these new reef systems, it is important to evaluate the potential influence of coral predation on these remaining corals. We examined the effect of a key group of coral predators (parrotfishes) on one of the emerging dominant coral taxa on Anthropocene reefs, massive Porites. Specifically, we evaluate whether the intensity of parrotfish predation on this key reef-building coral has changed in response to severe coral reef degradation. We found evidence that coral predation rates may have decreased, despite only minor changes in parrotfish abundance. However, higher scar densities on small Porites colonies, compared to large colonies, suggests that the observed decrease in scarring rates may be a reflection of colony-size specific rates of feeding scars. Reduced parrotfish corallivory may reflect the loss of small Porites colonies, or changing foraging opportunities for parrotfishes. The reduction in scar density on massive Porites suggests that the remaining stress-tolerant corals may have passed the vulnerable small colony stage. These results highlight the potential for shifts in ecological functions on ecosystems facing high levels of environmental stress.Víctor HuertasRenato A MoraisRoberta M BonaldoDavid R BellwoodPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 9, p e0250725 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Víctor Huertas Renato A Morais Roberta M Bonaldo David R Bellwood Parrotfish corallivory on stress-tolerant corals in the Anthropocene.
description	Cumulative anthropogenic stressors on tropical reefs are modifying the physical and community structure of coral assemblages, altering the rich biological communities that depend on this critical habitat. As a consequence, new reef configurations are often characterized by low coral cover and a shift in coral species towards massive and encrusting corals. Given that coral numbers are dwindling in these new reef systems, it is important to evaluate the potential influence of coral predation on these remaining corals. We examined the effect of a key group of coral predators (parrotfishes) on one of the emerging dominant coral taxa on Anthropocene reefs, massive Porites. Specifically, we evaluate whether the intensity of parrotfish predation on this key reef-building coral has changed in response to severe coral reef degradation. We found evidence that coral predation rates may have decreased, despite only minor changes in parrotfish abundance. However, higher scar densities on small Porites colonies, compared to large colonies, suggests that the observed decrease in scarring rates may be a reflection of colony-size specific rates of feeding scars. Reduced parrotfish corallivory may reflect the loss of small Porites colonies, or changing foraging opportunities for parrotfishes. The reduction in scar density on massive Porites suggests that the remaining stress-tolerant corals may have passed the vulnerable small colony stage. These results highlight the potential for shifts in ecological functions on ecosystems facing high levels of environmental stress.
format	article
author	Víctor Huertas Renato A Morais Roberta M Bonaldo David R Bellwood
author_facet	Víctor Huertas Renato A Morais Roberta M Bonaldo David R Bellwood
author_sort	Víctor Huertas
title	Parrotfish corallivory on stress-tolerant corals in the Anthropocene.
title_short	Parrotfish corallivory on stress-tolerant corals in the Anthropocene.
title_full	Parrotfish corallivory on stress-tolerant corals in the Anthropocene.
title_fullStr	Parrotfish corallivory on stress-tolerant corals in the Anthropocene.
title_full_unstemmed	Parrotfish corallivory on stress-tolerant corals in the Anthropocene.
title_sort	parrotfish corallivory on stress-tolerant corals in the anthropocene.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/4e72d47bbd304523ade2146fe316210e
work_keys_str_mv	AT victorhuertas parrotfishcorallivoryonstresstolerantcoralsintheanthropocene AT renatoamorais parrotfishcorallivoryonstresstolerantcoralsintheanthropocene AT robertambonaldo parrotfishcorallivoryonstresstolerantcoralsintheanthropocene AT davidrbellwood parrotfishcorallivoryonstresstolerantcoralsintheanthropocene
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Parrotfish corallivory on stress-tolerant corals in the Anthropocene.

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