Species-specific effects of herbivorous fishes on the establishment of the macroalga Lobophora on coral reefs
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14310%2F20%3A00116983" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14310/20:00116983 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13262" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13262</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps13262" target="_blank" >10.3354/meps13262</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Species-specific effects of herbivorous fishes on the establishment of the macroalga Lobophora on coral reefs
Original language description
Herbivory is a key ecosystem function that influences ecosystem trajectories. However, interactions between plants and herbivores are species-specific and change throughout the plants' lifetime. On coral reefs, herbivorous fishes reduce competition between corals and macroalgae through their grazing activity, thereby regulating the ecosystem state. Grazing vulnerability of marine algae generally decreases with increasing algal size. Therefore, the removal of newly settled recruits by herbivorous fish is likely important in preventing macroalgal blooms and reducing competition with corals. We studied the grazing susceptibility of recruits of the brown macroalga Lobophora to multiple fish species through a combination of feeding observations and manipulative in situ and ex situ experiments. Further, we recorded short-term Lobophora growth patterns and adult survival over 9 wk. Lobophora recruits were more susceptible to herbivory than adults, likely owing to their smaller size. However, recruit mortality was driven by only 3 of the studied species: Acanthurus nigrofuscus, Scarus niger and Chlorurus spilurus, whereas other common herbivores did not remove any Lobophora recruits. Our data also suggest variable growth and recruitment among months. These findings point to a possible increase in grazing resistance with age for Lobophora. As such, a decrease in grazing pressure by key fish species controlling Lobophora recruits could permit Lobophora to establish more grazingtolerant adult populations.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
10618 - Ecology
Result continuities
Project
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Continuities
I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace
Others
Publication year
2020
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Marine Ecology Progress Series
ISSN
0171-8630
e-ISSN
1616-1599
Volume of the periodical
637
Issue of the periodical within the volume
MAR 5 2020
Country of publishing house
DE - GERMANY
Number of pages
14
Pages from-to
1-14
UT code for WoS article
000521739800001
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-85081962286