Long term relationship between farming damselfish, predators, competitors and benthic habitat on coral reefs of Moorea Island.
Sci Rep
; 11(1): 14548, 2021 07 15.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34267281
ABSTRACT
Understanding the processes that shape biodiversity is essential for effective environmental management. Across the world's coral reefs, algal farming damselfish (Stegastes sp.) modify the surrounding benthic community through their creation of algae "farms". Using a long-term monitoring dataset (2005-2019) from Moorea Island, French Polynesia, we investigated whether the density of dusky damselfish (Stegastes nigricans) is associated with benthic habitat composition, the density of predators and/or competitors, and whether the survey area was inside or outside of a Marine Protected Area (MPA). We found no evidence that benthic cover or number of competitors were associated with dusky damselfish densities, both inside and outside MPAs. In contrast, fluctuations in dusky damselfish densities were negatively associated with the density of predators (e.g. Serranidae, Muraenidae and Scorpaenidae) in the preceding year in non-MPA areas, and both within and outside of MPAs when predator densities were high (2005-2010). These results suggest that healthy predator populations may be important for regulating the abundances of keystone species, such as algal farming damselfish, especially when predator densities are high.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Comportamento Predatório
/
Perciformes
/
Recifes de Corais
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article