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Specialization in habitat use by coral reef damselfishes and their susceptibility to habitat loss.
Pratchett MS
,
Coker DJ
,
Jones GP
,
Munday PL
.
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While it is generally assumed that specialist species are more vulnerable to disturbance compared with generalist counterparts, this has rarely been tested in coastal marine ecosystems, which are increasingly subject to a wide range of natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Habitat specialists are expected to be more vulnerable to habitat loss because habitat availability exerts a greater limitation on population size, but it is also possible that specialist species may escape effects of disturbance if they use habitats that are generally resilient to disturbance. This study quantified specificity in use of different coral species by six coral-dwelling damselfishes (Chromis viridis, C. atripectoralis, Dascyllus aruanus, D. reticulatus, Pomacentrus moluccensis, and P. amboinensis) and related habitat specialization to proportional declines in their abundance following habitat degradation caused by outbreaks of the coral eating starfish, Acanthaster planci. The coral species preferred by most coral-dwelling damselfishes (e.g., Pocillopora damicornis) were frequently consumed by coral eating crown-of-thorns starfish, such that highly specialized damselfishes were disproportionately affected by coral depletion, despite using a narrower range of different coral species. Vulnerability of damselfishes to this disturbance was strongly correlated with both their reliance on corals and their degree of habitat specialization. Ongoing disturbances to coral reef ecosystems are expected, therefore, to lead to fundamental shifts in the community structure of fish communities where generalists are favored over highly specialist species.
Figure 1. Proportional use of 10 habitat categories by each of the six species of damselfishes in 1998 and 1999. Based on log-linear analyses, only Pomacentrus moluccensis exhibited significant differences in patterns of habitat use between years.
Figure 2. (a) Availability and (b) occupation (across all damselfishes) of predominant coral habitats used by coral-dwelling damselfishes at Lizard Island (northern Great Barrier Reef) in 1998 and 1999. “*†Indicates significant changes in availability and occupation between years.
Figure 3. Mean abundance ± SE of damselfishes in crest and slope habitats at sites affected by outbreaks of Acanthaster planci, versus unaffected (natural control) sites in 1998 and 1999.
Figure 4. Proportional declines in the abundance of coral-dwelling damselfishes relative to (a) the proportional use of dead coral habitat (considered to be indicative of coral dependence), and (b) the number of different coral species actually used (as a measure of specialization). Damselfishes that are almost always found within live corals (obligate coral-dwelling species) are indicated by filled circles, whereas damselfishes that use live corals but frequently use dead coral habitats (facultative coral-dwelling species) are indicated by open circles. Data were pooled across all sites and across zones.
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