Spatial patterns of coral survivorship: impacts of adult proximity versus other drivers of localized mortality
Species-specific enemies may promote prey coexistence through negative distance- and density-dependent survival of juveniles near conspecific adults. We tested this mechanism by transplanting juvenile-sized fragments of the brooding corals Pocillopora damicornis and Seriatopora hystrix 3, 12, 24 and...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2015-11-01
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| Series: | PeerJ |
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/1440.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797419625741287424 |
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| author | David A. Gibbs Mark E. Hay |
| author_facet | David A. Gibbs Mark E. Hay |
| author_sort | David A. Gibbs |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Species-specific enemies may promote prey coexistence through negative distance- and density-dependent survival of juveniles near conspecific adults. We tested this mechanism by transplanting juvenile-sized fragments of the brooding corals Pocillopora damicornis and Seriatopora hystrix 3, 12, 24 and 182 cm up- and down-current of conspecific adults and monitoring their survival and condition over time. We also characterized the spatial distribution of P. damicornis and S. hystrix within replicate plots on three Fijian reef flats and measured the distribution of small colonies within 2 m of larger colonies of each species. Juvenile-sized transplants exhibited no differences in survivorship as a function of distance from adult P. damicornis or S. hystrix. Additionally, both P. damicornis and S. hystrix were aggregated rather than overdispersed on natural reefs. However, a pattern of juveniles being aggregated near adults while larger (and probably older) colonies were not suggests that greater mortality near large adults could occur over longer periods of time or that size-dependent mortality was occurring. While we found minimal evidence of greater mortality of small colonies near adult conspecifics in our transplant experiments, we did document hot-spots of species-specific corallivory. We detected spatially localized and temporally persistent predation on P. damicornis by the territorial triggerfish Balistapus undulatus. This patchy predation did not occur for S. hystrix. This variable selective regime in an otherwise more uniform environment could be one mechanism maintaining diversity of corals on Indo-Pacific reefs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:49:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3fb4dde34b8648479560d373b6486fd3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:49:57Z |
| publishDate | 2015-11-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-3fb4dde34b8648479560d373b6486fd32023-12-03T10:28:06ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592015-11-013e144010.7717/peerj.1440Spatial patterns of coral survivorship: impacts of adult proximity versus other drivers of localized mortalityDavid A. Gibbs0Mark E. Hay1School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United StatesSchool of Biology and Aquatic Chemical Ecology Center, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United StatesSpecies-specific enemies may promote prey coexistence through negative distance- and density-dependent survival of juveniles near conspecific adults. We tested this mechanism by transplanting juvenile-sized fragments of the brooding corals Pocillopora damicornis and Seriatopora hystrix 3, 12, 24 and 182 cm up- and down-current of conspecific adults and monitoring their survival and condition over time. We also characterized the spatial distribution of P. damicornis and S. hystrix within replicate plots on three Fijian reef flats and measured the distribution of small colonies within 2 m of larger colonies of each species. Juvenile-sized transplants exhibited no differences in survivorship as a function of distance from adult P. damicornis or S. hystrix. Additionally, both P. damicornis and S. hystrix were aggregated rather than overdispersed on natural reefs. However, a pattern of juveniles being aggregated near adults while larger (and probably older) colonies were not suggests that greater mortality near large adults could occur over longer periods of time or that size-dependent mortality was occurring. While we found minimal evidence of greater mortality of small colonies near adult conspecifics in our transplant experiments, we did document hot-spots of species-specific corallivory. We detected spatially localized and temporally persistent predation on P. damicornis by the territorial triggerfish Balistapus undulatus. This patchy predation did not occur for S. hystrix. This variable selective regime in an otherwise more uniform environment could be one mechanism maintaining diversity of corals on Indo-Pacific reefs.https://peerj.com/articles/1440.pdfPocilloporaSeriatoporaJanzen–Connell hypothesisBalistapusPredation |
| spellingShingle | David A. Gibbs Mark E. Hay Spatial patterns of coral survivorship: impacts of adult proximity versus other drivers of localized mortality PeerJ Pocillopora Seriatopora Janzen–Connell hypothesis Balistapus Predation |
| title | Spatial patterns of coral survivorship: impacts of adult proximity versus other drivers of localized mortality |
| title_full | Spatial patterns of coral survivorship: impacts of adult proximity versus other drivers of localized mortality |
| title_fullStr | Spatial patterns of coral survivorship: impacts of adult proximity versus other drivers of localized mortality |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatial patterns of coral survivorship: impacts of adult proximity versus other drivers of localized mortality |
| title_short | Spatial patterns of coral survivorship: impacts of adult proximity versus other drivers of localized mortality |
| title_sort | spatial patterns of coral survivorship impacts of adult proximity versus other drivers of localized mortality |
| topic | Pocillopora Seriatopora Janzen–Connell hypothesis Balistapus Predation |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/1440.pdf |
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