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PeerJ
2016 Jan 01;4:e1578. doi: 10.7717/peerj.1578.
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Trophic ecology of sea urchins in coral-rocky reef systems, Ecuador.
Cabanillas-Terán N
,
Loor-Andrade P
,
Rodríguez-Barreras R
,
Cortés J
.
Abstract
Sea urchins are important grazers and influence reef development in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP). Diadema mexicanum and Eucidaris thouarsii are the most important sea urchins on the Ecuadorian coastal reefs. This study provided a trophic scenario for these two species of echinoids in the coral-rocky reef bottoms of the Ecuadorian coast, using stable isotopes. We evaluated the relative proportion of algal resources assimilated, and trophic niche of the two sea urchins in the most southern coral-rocky reefs of the ETP in two sites with different disturbance level. Bayesian models were used to estimate the contribution of algal sources, niche breadth, and trophic overlap between the two species. The sea urchins behaved as opportunistic feeders, although they showed differential resource assimilation. Eucidaris thouarsii is the dominant species in disturbed environments; likewise, their niche amplitude was broader than that of D. mexicanum when conditions were not optimal. However, there was no niche overlap between the species. The Stable Isotope Analysis in R (SIAR) indicated that both sea urchins shared limiting resources in the disturbed area, mainly Dictyota spp. (contributions of up to 85% for D. mexicanum and up to 75% for E. thouarsii). The Stable Isotope Bayesian Ellipses in R (SIBER) analysis results indicated less interspecific competition in the undisturbed site. Our results suggested a trophic niche partitioning between sympatric sea urchin species in coastal areas of the ETP, but the limitation of resources could lead to trophic overlap and stronger habitat degradation.
Figure 1. Study area and sampling sites in the coast of Ecuador: Los Ahorcados (LA) and Perpetuo Socorro (PS).
Figure 2. Contribution rates of algae to the diet of the two sea urchin species.Results are shown as 25, 75 and 95% of credibility intervals. (A) Represents the contribution for Diadema mexicanum in Los Ahorcados (LA), (B) for Eucidaris thouarsii in LA, (C) D. mexicanumin Perpetuo Socorro (PS), and (D) E. thouarsii in PS.
Figure 3. Isotope niche breadth of the echinoids, D. mexicanum (circles) and E. thouarsii (triangles) in Los Ahorcados (white symbols and solid line) and Perpetuo Socorro (black symbols and dotted line).
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