Recruitment of biofouling communities in the coral reefs of Hengam Island (Persian Gulf): The interaction of nutrients and grazing

Document Type : (original research)

Authors

1 Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Natural Resources and Marine Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Noor, Iran

2 Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences and Technology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

3 Department of Marine Biology, Daryamgar Pars Company, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The coverage of Persian Gulf coral reefs has decreased in recent years due to global scale stressors such as global warming and acidification of oceans and local stressors such as ecotourism and coral diseases. This condition is often associated with the overgrowth of algae and other benthos and impairs the ability of coral communities to regenerate. However, the evidence suggests that coral reefs can essentially be recovered in the absence of stressors and destructive agents, provided that the larvae settle properly on the bed and among biofouling organisms competitors. Therefore, studying the interaction of nutrients and grazing as a precondition for coral larvae settlement is very important in determining the health of coral reefs and benthic population structure in management discussions. In order to determine the relative importance of nutrient and grazing on the settlement pattern of hermatypic corals and other epibenthic communities in the coral reefs of Hengam Island, experimental manipulations was designed and performed in four treatments in terms of nutrient s and grazing parameters. The beginning of this research was from autumn 1398 to the end of summer 1400 in four time periods of spring, summer, autumn and one year-period-panel on ceramic panels with a size of 20×20 cm for 21 months. The statistical results show the predominant effect of the nutrient parameter in controlling the subsidence of benthic communities compared to the grazing parameter in coral ecosystems of Hengam Island. This reflects the fact that the studied coral ecosystems of Hengam Island are mainly driven by a "bottom-up control" mechanism. According to the present study, it can be concluded that if by adjusting the global and local stressful conditions, the coral reefs of Hengam Island are in the direction of regeneration and restoration, the intensity of grazing in the case of s high levels of nutrients will not be able to remove algal biomass and competing biofoulings, and coral larvae will not be able to settle and spend post-settlement phase successfully.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1. Hixon, M.A., Pacala, S.W. and Sandin, S.A., Population regulation: historical context and contemporary challenges of open vs. closed systems. Ecology. 83: 1490-1508.
  2. Caley, M.J., Carr, M.H., Hixon, M.A., Hughes, T.P., Jones, G.P. and Menge, B.A., 1996. Recruitment and the local dynamics of open marine populations. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics. 27: 477-500.
  3. Wen, C.K.C., Almany, G.R., Williamson, D.H., Pratchett, M.S., Mannering, T.D., Evans, R.D., Leis, J.M., Srinivasan, M. and Jones, G.P., 2013. Recruitment hotspots boost the effectiveness of no-take marine reserves. Biological Conservation. 166: 124-131.
  4. Rasher, D., Engel, S., Bonito, V., Fraser, G.J., Montoya, J.P. and Hay, M.E., Effects of herbivory, nutrients, and reef protection on algal proliferation and coral growth on a tropical reef. Oecologia. 169(1): 187-198.
  5. Smith, J.E., Hunter, C.L. and Smith, C.M., 2010. The effects of top–down versus bottom–up control on benthic coral reef community structure. Oecologia. 163: 497-507.
  6. Birrel, C.L., McCook, L.J. and Bette, L.W., 2005. Effects of algal turfs and sediment on coral settlement. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 51: 408-414.
  7. Bento, R., Feary, D.A., Hoey, A.S. and Burt, J.A., 2017. Settlement Patterns of Corals and other Benthos on Reefs with Divergent Environments and Disturbances Histories around the Northeastern Arabian Peninsula. Frontiers in Marine Science. 1-12.
  8. McCook, L.J., Jompa, J. and Diaz-Pulido, G., 2001. Competition between corals and algae on coral reefs: a review of evidence and mechanisms. Coral Reefs. 19: 400-417.
  9. Grottoli, A.G., Rodrigues, L.J. and Palardy, J.E., 2006. Heterotrophic plasticity and resilience in bleached corals. Nature. 440: 1186-1189.
  10. Diaz-Pulido, G. and McCook, L.J., 2002. The fate of bleached corals: patterns and dynamics of algal recruitment. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 232: 115-128.
  11. Birrel, C.L., McCook, L.J., Willis, B.L. and Diaz Pulido, G.A., 2008. Effects of benthic algae on the replenishment of corals and the implications for the resilience of coral reefs. Oceanography and Marine Biology. 46: 25-63.
  12. Suchley, A. and Alvarez-Filip, L., 2017. Herbivory facilitates growth of a key reef- building Caribbean coral. Ecology and Evolution. 7: 11246-11256.
  13. Lapointe, B.E., 1999. Simultaneous top-down and bottom-up forces control macroalgal blooms on coral reefs (reply to the comment by Hughes et al.). Limnology and Oceanography. 44: 1586-1592.
  14. Hughes, T., Szmant, A.M., Steneck, R., Carpenter, R. and Miller, S., 1999. Algal blooms on coral reefs: what are the causes? Limnology and Oceanography. 44: 1583-1586.
  15. Littler, M.M. and Littler, D.S., 1997. Disease-induced mass mortality of crustose coralline algae on coral reefs provides rationale for the conservation of herbivorous fish stocks. In: Proceedings of the Eighth International Coral Reef Symposium. 1: 719-724.
  16. Lapointe, B.E., 1997. Nutrient thresholds for bottom-up control of macroalgal blooms on coral reefs in Jamaica and southeast Florida. Limnology and Oceanography. 42: 1119-1131.
  17.  Larned, S.T., 1998. Nitrogen- versus phosphorus-limited growth and sources of nutrients for coral reef macroalgae. Marine Biology. 132: 409-421.
  18. Posey, M., Powell, C., Cahoon, L. and Lindquist, D., 1995. Top-down vs. bottom-up control of benthic community composition on an intertidal tide flat. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 185: 19-31.
  19. Lewis, S.M., 1986. The role of herbivorous fishes in the organization of a Caribbean reef community. Ecological Monographs. 56: 183-200.
  20. Carpenter, R.C., 1986. Partitioning herbivory and its effects on coral reef algal communities. Ecological Monographs. 56: 345-363.
  21. Pawlik, J.R., Chanas, B., Toonen, R.J. and Fenical, W., 1995. Defenses of Caribbean sponges against predatory reef fish.1. Chemical deterrence. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 127: 183-194.
  22. Littler, M.M. and Littler, D.S., 2007. Assessment of coral reefs using herbivory/nutrient assays and indicator groups of benthic primary producers: a critical synthesis, proposed protocols, and critique of management strategies. Aquatic Conservation Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 17(2): 195-215.
  23. Maghsoudlou, A., Eghtesadi Araghi, P., Wilson, S., Taylor, O. and Medio, D., 2008. Status of coral reefs in the ROPME sea area (The Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea), Publisher: AIMS: http://www.reefbase. org/resource_center/publication/statusreport.aspx?refid=27173. Editors: Clive Wilkinson. 79-90.
  24. Sheppard, C., Al-Husain, M., Al-Jmali, F., Al-Yamani, F., Baldwin, R., Bishop, J., Benzoni, F., Dutrieux, E., Dulvy, N.K., Durvasula, S.R.V., Jones, D.A., Louhland, R., Medio, D., Nithyanandan, M., Pilling, G.M., Polikarpov, I., Price, A.R.G., Purkis, S., Riegl, B., Saburova, M., Samimi Namin, K., Taylor, O., Wilson, S. and Zainal, K., 2010. A Gulf: A young sea in decline. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 60: 13-38.
  25. Riegl, B., Cavalcante, G., Bauman, A., Feary, D.A. and Steiner, Purkis, S., 2017. Demographic mechanisms of reef coral species winnowing from communities under increased environmental stress. Frontiers in Marine Science. 4: 1-16.
  26. Ali Dast Salimi, M., Qavam Mustafavi, P., Abi, G. and Fatemi, S.M.R., 2018. Report on the presence of Clathria sp sponge on living coral colonies in Kish Island, Persian Gulf. Journal of Animal environment. 11 (4): 377-380. (In Persian)
  27. Dehghani, H., Qavam Mustafavi, P., Fatemi, S.M.R. and Fallah-Mehrabadi, J., 2017. The use of specific primers in investigating the diversity of zooxanthellae symbiotic algae with hermatypic corals in Hemgan Island-Persian Gulf. Journal of Animal environment. 9(1): 173-178. (In Persian)
  28. Nejatkhah-Manavi, P., Rezaei Marnani, H. and Dehghani, H., 2009. Identification and estimation of the density of hard corals in the intertidal zone of Hamgam Island in the Persian Gulf, Marine Biology Scientific Research Journal. 6: 27-37. (In Persian)
  29. Bauman, A.G., Baird, A.H. and Cavalcante, G.H., 2011. Coral reproduction in the world’s warmest reefs: southern Persian Gulf (Dubai, United Arab Emirates). Coral Reefs. 1-9.
  30. Bauman, A.G., Baird, A.H., Burt, J.A., Pratchett, M.S. and Feary, D.A., 2014. Patterns of coral settlement in an extreme environment: the southern Persian Gulf (Dubai, United Arab Emirates). Marine Ecology Progress Series. 499: 115-126.
  31. Howells, E.J., Abrego, D., Vaughan, G.O. and Burt, J.A., 2014. Coral spawning in the Gulf of Oman and relationship to latitudinal variation in spawning season in the northwest Indian Ocean. Scientific Reports. 1-6.
  32. Kennedy, E.V., Ordoñez, A., Lewis, B.E. and Diaz Pulido, G., 2017. Comparison of recruitment tile materials for monitoring coralline algae responses to a changing climate. Marine Ecology Progress Series. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12076. 129-144.
  33. Strickland, J.D.H. and Parson, T.R., 1972. A practical handbook of seawater analysis. Information Canada, Ottava (ICD). 310 p.
  34. Kohler, K.E. and Gill, S.M., 2006. Coral Point Count with Excel extensions (CPCe): A Visual Basic program for the determination of coral and substrate coverage using random point count methodology. Computers & Geosciences. 32: 1259-1261.
  35. Bauman, A.G., Guest, J.R., Dunshea, G., Low, J., Todd, P.A. and Steinberg, P.D., 2015. Coral settlement on a highly disturbed equatorial reef system. PLoS ONE 10: e0127874. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127874.
  36. Ghazilou, A., Kouchaknejad, E., Ershadifar, K. and Negarestan, H., 2018. Investigating the role of fish in preventing the replacement of herbaceous algae in the coral environments of Chabahar Bay. Research project, approved number 14-035-01-011-395. Ministry of Science. Research and Technology. National Institute of Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences. Research Institute Marine Science. 1-39. (In Persian)
  37. Glassom, D., Zakai, D. and Chadwick-Furman, N.E., 2004. Coral recruitment: a spatio-temporal analysis along the coastline of Eilat, northern Red Sea. Marine Biology. 144: 641-651. doi: 10.1007/s00227-003-1243-0.
  38. Abelson, A., Olinky, R. and Gaines, S., 2005. Coral recruitment to the reefs of Eilat, Red Sea: temporal and spatial variation, and possible effects of anthropogenic disturbances. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 50: 576-582. doi: 10.1016/j. marpolbul.2005.02.021.
  39. Green, D.H. and Edmunds, P.J., 2011. Spatio-temporal variability of coral recruitment on shallow reefs in St. John, US Virgin Islands. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 397: 220-229. doi: 10.1016/j. jembe.2010.12. 004.
  40. Sawall, Y., Jompa, J., Litaay, M., Maddusila, A. and Richter, C., 2013. Coral recruitment and potential recovery of eutrophied and blast fishing impacted reefs in Spermonde Archipelago, Indonesia. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 74: 374-382. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.06. 022.
  41. Colvard, N.B. and Edmunds, P.J., 2011. Decadal-scale changes in abundance of non-scleractinian invertebrates on a Caribbean coral reef. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 397: 153-160. doi: 10.1016/ j.jembe. 2010.11.015.
  42. Luter, H.M., Duckworth, A.R., Wolff, C.W., Evans Illidge, E. and Whalan, S., 2016. Recruitment variability of coral reef sessile communities of the far north great barrier reef. PLoS ONE 11: e0153184. doi: 10.1371/journal. pone.0153184.
  43. McClanahan, T.R., Sala, E., Stickels, P.A., Cokos, B.A., Baker, A.C., Starger, C.J. and Jones IV, S.H., 2003. Interaction between nutrients and herbivory in controlling algal communities and coral condition on Glover’s Reef, Belize. Marine Ecology Progress. 261: 135-147.
  44. Duran, A., Collado-Vides, L. and Deron, E.B., Seasonal regulation of herbivory and nutrient effects on macroalgal recruitment and succession in a Florida coral reef. PeerJ. DOI 10.7717/peerj.2643. 1-22.
  45. Olive, P.J.W., 1995. Annual breeding cycles in marine invertebrates and environmental temperature: probing the proximate and ultimate causes of reproductive synchrony. Journal of thermal biology. 20: 79-90.
  46. Sokołowski, A., Ziółkowska, M., Balazy, P., Kukliński, P. and Plichta, I., 2017. Seasonal and multi-annual patterns of colonisation and growth of sessile benthic fauna on artificial substrates in the brackish low-diversity system of the Baltic Sea. Hydrobiologia. 790: 183-200.
  47. Littler, M.M. and Littler, D.S., 1984. Models of tropical reef biogenesis: the contribution of algae. In: Round, F.E. and Chapman, D.J., (Eds.). Progress in Phycological Research. Biopress, Bristol. 3: 323-364.
  48. Mwachireya, S.A., Nzioka, A.M. and Mutiso, D.N., 2017. Coral Recruit-Algae Interactions in Coral Reef Lagoons Are Mediated by Riverine Influences. International Journal of Ecology. 1-10.
Journal of Animal Environment
Volume 15, Issue 2
August 2023
Pages 293-306

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics