Macroalgal browsing on a heavily degraded, urbanized equatorial reef system

Abstract The removal of macroalgal biomass is critical to the health of coral reef ecosystems. Previous studies on relatively intact reefs with diverse and abundant fish communities have quantified rapid removal of macroalgae by herbivorous fishes, yet how these findings relate to degraded reef syst...

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Autores principales:	Andrew G. Bauman, Andrew S. Hoey, Glenn Dunshea, David A. Feary, Jeffrey Low, Peter A. Todd
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/6d912ef77c514ae6ab0a509fcbbcf56e
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:6d912ef77c514ae6ab0a509fcbbcf56e2021-12-02T12:32:53ZMacroalgal browsing on a heavily degraded, urbanized equatorial reef system10.1038/s41598-017-08873-32045-2322https://doaj.org/article/6d912ef77c514ae6ab0a509fcbbcf56e2017-08-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-08873-3https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract The removal of macroalgal biomass is critical to the health of coral reef ecosystems. Previous studies on relatively intact reefs with diverse and abundant fish communities have quantified rapid removal of macroalgae by herbivorous fishes, yet how these findings relate to degraded reef systems where fish diversity and abundance are markedly lower and algal biomass substantially higher, is unclear. We surveyed roving herbivorous fish communities and quantified their capacity to remove the dominant macroalga Sargassum ilicifolium on seven reefs in Singapore; a heavily degraded urbanized reef system. The diversity and abundance of herbivorous fishes was extremely low, with eight species and a mean abundance ~1.1 individuals 60 m−2 recorded across reefs. Consumption of S. ilicifolium varied with distance from Singapore’s main port with consumption being 3- to 17-fold higher on reefs furthest from the port (Pulau Satumu: 4.18 g h−1; Kusu Island: 2.38 g h−1) than reefs closer to the port (0.35–0.78 g h−1). Video observations revealed a single species, Siganus virgatus, was almost solely responsible for removing S. ilicifolium biomass, accounting for 83% of the mass-standardized bites. Despite low herbivore diversity and intense urbanization, macroalgal removal by fishes on some Singaporean reefs was directly comparable to rates reported for other inshore Indo-Pacific reefs.Andrew G. BaumanAndrew S. HoeyGlenn DunsheaDavid A. FearyJeffrey LowPeter A. ToddNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-8 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Andrew G. Bauman Andrew S. Hoey Glenn Dunshea David A. Feary Jeffrey Low Peter A. Todd Macroalgal browsing on a heavily degraded, urbanized equatorial reef system
description	Abstract The removal of macroalgal biomass is critical to the health of coral reef ecosystems. Previous studies on relatively intact reefs with diverse and abundant fish communities have quantified rapid removal of macroalgae by herbivorous fishes, yet how these findings relate to degraded reef systems where fish diversity and abundance are markedly lower and algal biomass substantially higher, is unclear. We surveyed roving herbivorous fish communities and quantified their capacity to remove the dominant macroalga Sargassum ilicifolium on seven reefs in Singapore; a heavily degraded urbanized reef system. The diversity and abundance of herbivorous fishes was extremely low, with eight species and a mean abundance ~1.1 individuals 60 m−2 recorded across reefs. Consumption of S. ilicifolium varied with distance from Singapore’s main port with consumption being 3- to 17-fold higher on reefs furthest from the port (Pulau Satumu: 4.18 g h−1; Kusu Island: 2.38 g h−1) than reefs closer to the port (0.35–0.78 g h−1). Video observations revealed a single species, Siganus virgatus, was almost solely responsible for removing S. ilicifolium biomass, accounting for 83% of the mass-standardized bites. Despite low herbivore diversity and intense urbanization, macroalgal removal by fishes on some Singaporean reefs was directly comparable to rates reported for other inshore Indo-Pacific reefs.
format	article
author	Andrew G. Bauman Andrew S. Hoey Glenn Dunshea David A. Feary Jeffrey Low Peter A. Todd
author_facet	Andrew G. Bauman Andrew S. Hoey Glenn Dunshea David A. Feary Jeffrey Low Peter A. Todd
author_sort	Andrew G. Bauman
title	Macroalgal browsing on a heavily degraded, urbanized equatorial reef system
title_short	Macroalgal browsing on a heavily degraded, urbanized equatorial reef system
title_full	Macroalgal browsing on a heavily degraded, urbanized equatorial reef system
title_fullStr	Macroalgal browsing on a heavily degraded, urbanized equatorial reef system
title_full_unstemmed	Macroalgal browsing on a heavily degraded, urbanized equatorial reef system
title_sort	macroalgal browsing on a heavily degraded, urbanized equatorial reef system
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/6d912ef77c514ae6ab0a509fcbbcf56e
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Macroalgal browsing on a heavily degraded, urbanized equatorial reef system

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