Coral mortality versus structural collapse as drivers of corallivorous butterflyfish decline |
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Authors: | N A J Graham S K Wilson M S Pratchett N V C Polunin M D Spalding |
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Institution: | (1) School of Marine Science & Technology, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK;(2) ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia;(3) Global Marine Team, The Nature Conservancy and Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1TN, UK |
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Abstract: | As climate change increasingly threatens biodiversity, identifying specific drivers of species loss as well as the attributes
of species most vulnerable to climatic disturbances is a key challenge to ecologists and conservationists. Here we assess
the effects of coral loss versus declines in structural complexity on obligate and facultative coral feeding butterflyfishes
on coral reefs in the central and western Indian Ocean. In the inner Seychelles, the abundance of the obligate coral feeding
group declined markedly in response to live coral mortality (r
2 = 0.48), but showed no further decline with respect to erosion of the physical matrix of the reef. Conversely, the facultative
feeding group showed no decline in response to live coral loss, reflecting their feeding versatility; however they did decline
in response to structural erosion of the reef framework (r
2 = 0.26). There were no significant changes in either obligate or facultative corallivore abundances at a reference location
(Chagos archipelago), highlighting that butterflyfish populations are stable in the absence of habitat disturbance. While
specialised coral dependant fishes are highly vulnerable to coral loss caused by climate-induced coral bleaching, the structural
collapse of dead coral colonies may have significant, but more variable, impacts across a wide range of fishes. If conservation
and mitigation planning are to be effective, there is a clear need to better understand the mechanisms of reef structural
collapse and the dynamics of system recovery following large-scale disturbance. |
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