Habitat degradation alters trophic pathways but not food chain length on shallow Caribbean coral reefs

Habitat degradation can affect trophic ecology by differentially affecting specialist and generalist species, and the number and type of interspecific relationships. However, the effects of habitat degradation on the trophic ecology of coral reefs have received limited attention. We compared the trophic structure and food chain length between two shallow Caribbean coral reefs similar in size and close to each other: one dominated by live coral and the other by macroalgae (i.e., degraded). We subjected samples of basal carbon sources (particulate organic matter and algae) and the same 48 species of consumers (invertebrates and fishes) from both reefs to stable isotope analyses, and determined the trophic position of consumers and relative importance of various carbon sources for herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores. We found that both reefs had similar food chain length and trophic structure, but different trophic pathways. On the coral-dominated reef, turf algae and epiphytes were the most important carbon source for all consumer categories, whereas on the degraded reef, particulate organic matter was a major carbon source for carnivores. Our results suggest that the trophic structure of the communities associated with these reefs is robust enough to adjust to conditions of degradation.