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Positive association between epiphytes and competitiveness of the brown algal genus Lobophora against corals

Observations of coral–algal competition can provide valuable information about the state of coral reef ecosystems. Here, we report contact rates and apparent competition states for six shallow lagoonal reefs in Fiji. A total of 81.4% of examined coral perimeters were found to be in contact with alga...

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Autores principales: Eich, Andreas, Ford, Amanda K., Nugues, Maggy M., McAndrews, Ryan S., Wild, Christian, Ferse, Sebastian C.A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6369833/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30775176
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6380
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author Eich, Andreas
Ford, Amanda K.
Nugues, Maggy M.
McAndrews, Ryan S.
Wild, Christian
Ferse, Sebastian C.A.
author_facet Eich, Andreas
Ford, Amanda K.
Nugues, Maggy M.
McAndrews, Ryan S.
Wild, Christian
Ferse, Sebastian C.A.
author_sort Eich, Andreas
collection PubMed
description Observations of coral–algal competition can provide valuable information about the state of coral reef ecosystems. Here, we report contact rates and apparent competition states for six shallow lagoonal reefs in Fiji. A total of 81.4% of examined coral perimeters were found to be in contact with algae, with turf algae (54.7%) and macroalgae of the genus Lobophora (16.8%) representing the most frequently observed contacts. Turf algae competitiveness was low, with 21.8% of coral–turf contacts being won by the algae (i.e. overgrowth or bleaching of coral tissue). In contrast, Lobophora competitiveness against corals was high, with 62.5% of contacts being won by the alga. The presence of epiphytic algae on Lobophora was associated with significantly greater algal competitiveness against corals, with 75.8% and 21.1% of interactions recorded as algal wins in the presence and absence of epiphytes, respectively. Sedimentation rate, herbivorous fish biomass, and coral colony size did not have a significant effect on Lobophora–coral interactions. This research indicates a novel and important role of epiphytes in driving the outcome of coral–algal contacts.
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spelling pubmed-63698332019-02-15 Positive association between epiphytes and competitiveness of the brown algal genus Lobophora against corals Eich, Andreas Ford, Amanda K. Nugues, Maggy M. McAndrews, Ryan S. Wild, Christian Ferse, Sebastian C.A. PeerJ Conservation Biology Observations of coral–algal competition can provide valuable information about the state of coral reef ecosystems. Here, we report contact rates and apparent competition states for six shallow lagoonal reefs in Fiji. A total of 81.4% of examined coral perimeters were found to be in contact with algae, with turf algae (54.7%) and macroalgae of the genus Lobophora (16.8%) representing the most frequently observed contacts. Turf algae competitiveness was low, with 21.8% of coral–turf contacts being won by the algae (i.e. overgrowth or bleaching of coral tissue). In contrast, Lobophora competitiveness against corals was high, with 62.5% of contacts being won by the alga. The presence of epiphytic algae on Lobophora was associated with significantly greater algal competitiveness against corals, with 75.8% and 21.1% of interactions recorded as algal wins in the presence and absence of epiphytes, respectively. Sedimentation rate, herbivorous fish biomass, and coral colony size did not have a significant effect on Lobophora–coral interactions. This research indicates a novel and important role of epiphytes in driving the outcome of coral–algal contacts. PeerJ Inc. 2019-02-08 /pmc/articles/PMC6369833/ /pubmed/30775176 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6380 Text en © 2019 Eich et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Conservation Biology
Eich, Andreas
Ford, Amanda K.
Nugues, Maggy M.
McAndrews, Ryan S.
Wild, Christian
Ferse, Sebastian C.A.
Positive association between epiphytes and competitiveness of the brown algal genus Lobophora against corals
title Positive association between epiphytes and competitiveness of the brown algal genus Lobophora against corals
title_full Positive association between epiphytes and competitiveness of the brown algal genus Lobophora against corals
title_fullStr Positive association between epiphytes and competitiveness of the brown algal genus Lobophora against corals
title_full_unstemmed Positive association between epiphytes and competitiveness of the brown algal genus Lobophora against corals
title_short Positive association between epiphytes and competitiveness of the brown algal genus Lobophora against corals
title_sort positive association between epiphytes and competitiveness of the brown algal genus lobophora against corals
topic Conservation Biology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6369833/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30775176
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6380
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