Wild C et al. (2014), Turf algae-mediated coral damage in coastal ree...

ECB-ART-43646

PeerJ 2014 Jan 01;2:e571. doi: 10.7717/peerj.571.

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Turf algae-mediated coral damage in coastal reefs of Belize, Central America.

Wild C , Jantzen C , Kremb SG .

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Many coral reefs in the Caribbean experienced substantial changes in their benthic community composition during the last decades. This often resulted in phase shifts from scleractinian coral dominance to that by other benthic invertebrate or algae. However, knowledge about how the related role of coral-algae contacts may negatively affect corals is scarce. Therefore, benthic community composition, abundance of algae grazers, and the abundance and character of coral-algae contacts were assessed in situ at 13 Belizean reef sites distributed along a distance gradient to the Belizean mainland (12-70 km): Mesoamerican Barrier Reef (inshore), Turneffe Atoll (inner and outer midshore), and Lighthouse Reef (offshore). In situ surveys revealed significantly higher benthic cover by scleractinian corals at the remote Lighthouse Reef (26-29%) when compared to the other sites (4-19%). The abundance of herbivorous fish and the sea urchin Diadema antillarum significantly increased towards the offshore reef sites, while the occurrence of direct coral-algae contacts consequently increased significantly with decreasing distance to shore. About 60% of these algae contacts were harmful (exhibiting coral tissue damage, pigmentation change, or overgrowth) for corals (mainly genera Orbicella and Agaricia), particularly when filamentous turf algae were involved. These findings provide support to the hypothesis that (turf) algae-mediated coral damage occurs in Belizean coastal, near-shore coral reefs.

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Genes referenced: impact LOC100887844

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References [+] :

Eckman, Life and death beneath macrophyte canopies: effects of understory kelps on growth rates and survival of marine, benthic suspension feeders. 1991, Pubmed

	Figure 1. Summary of transect sites.The numbers next to dots refer to order of station names (Table 1), along a distance gradient to shore; distance groups: inshore (site 1–4), inner midshore (site 5–8, 13), outer midshore (site 9–10), offshore (site 11–12).
	Figure 2. Exemplary photographs of coral-algae contacts observed during the transect surveys.(A) no visible impact on Orbicella sp. by turf and coralline red algae, (B) pigment change of Siderastrea sp. next to filamentous red algae, (C) overgrowth of Agaricia agaricites by brown alga Dictyota sp., (D) overgrowth of Agaricia agaricites by green alga Halimeda sp.
	Figure 3. Benthic cover of scleractinian corals and algae along with their contact frequency and D. antillarum abundances (per 100 m−2 seafloor area) at the three reef complexes (Barrier Reef, inshore; Turneffe Atoll, midshore; Lighthouse Reef, offshore) in increasing distance to shore.Values are means ± SE.
	Figure 4. Benthic cover of corals and algae, including herbivorous fishes (in ranks) and number of coral-algae contacts in relation to shore distance (measured as relative distance to population centre Belize City).