Abstract
Threats to coral reefs may be manifested through an increase in macroalgae. Across the globe, phase-shifts from coral to macroalgal dominance have been reported from the Caribbean, Indian and Pacific Oceans. While the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is in relatively good condition, inshore reefs may exhibit over 50% macroalgal cover. However, our understanding of the processes preventing the macroalgal expansion remains uncertain. Using a remote video bioassay approach, this study quantified herbivory in three bays along the leeward margin of Orpheus Island. Despite significant with-in bay variation in herbivory there was no detectable statistical difference in the rates of herbivory among bays. Furthermore, of the 45 herbivore species recorded from the island, only three played a significant role in bioassay removal, Siganus canaliculatus, Siganus javus and Kyphosus vaigiensis, with only one species predominating in each bay. Reefs of the GBR may therefore be more vulnerable than previously thought, with the removal of macroalgae depending on just a few species, which exhibit considerable spatial variability in their feeding behaviour.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen G, Steene R, Humann P, Deloach N (2003) Reef fish identification: Tropical Pacific. New World Publications Inc, Florida
Anderson TA (1987) Utilization of algal cell fractions by the marine herbivore the luderick Girella tricuspidata (Quoy and Gaimard). J Fish Biol 31:221–228
Bellwood DR, Wainwright PC (2001) Locomotion in labrid fishes: implications for habitat use and cross-shelf biogeography of the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 20:139–150
Bellwood DR, Hughes TP, Hoey AS (2006) Sleeping functional group drives coral-reef recovery. Curr Biol 16:2434–2439
Bulleri F, Benedetti-Cecchi L (2006) Mechanisms of recovery and resilience of different components of mosaics of habitats on shallow rocky reefs. Oecologia 149:482–492
Ceccarelli DM, Jones GP, McCook LJ (2001) Territorial damselfish as determinants of benthic community structure on coral reefs. Oceanogr Mar Biol Annu Rev 39:355–389
Choat JH (1991) The biology of herbivorous fishes on coral reefs. In: Sale PF (ed) The ecology of Fishes on Coral Reefs. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 120–155
Choat JH, Clements KD, Robbins WD (2002) The trophic status of herbivorous fishes on coral reefs 1: Dietary analyses. Mar Biol 140:613–623
Choat JH, Robbins WD, Clements KD (2004) The trophic status of herbivorous fishes on coral reefs II. Food processing modes and trophodynamics. Mar Biol 145:445–454
Clements KD, Choat JH (1997) Comparison of herbivory in the closely-related marine fish genera Girella and Kyphosus. Mar Biol 127:579–586
Depczynski M, Bellwood DR (2003) The role of cryptobenthic reef fishes in coral reef trophodynamics. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 256:183–191
Ferreira CEL, Floeter SR, Gasparini JL, Ferreira BP, Joyeux JC (2004) Trophic structure patterns of Brazilian reef fishes: a latitudinal comparison. J Biogeogr 31:1093–1106
Floeter SR, Behrens MD, Ferreira CEL, Paddack MJ, Horn MH (2005) Geographical gradients of marine herbivorous fishes: patterns and processes. Mar Biol 147:1435–1447
Floeter SR, Rocha LA, Robertson DR, Joyeux JC, Smith-Vaniz WF, Edwards AJ, Barreiros JP, Ferreira CEL, Gasparini JL, Brito A, Falcon JM, Bowen BW, Bernardi G (2008) Atlantic reef fish biogeography and evolution. J Biogeogr 35:22–47
Fox RJ, Bellwood DR (2007) Quantifying herbivory across a coral reef depth gradient. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 339:49–59
Fox RJ, Bellwood DR (2008a) Direct versus indirect methods of quantifying herbivore grazing impact on a coral reef. Mar Biol 154:325–334
Fox RJ, Bellwood DR (2008b) Remote video bioassays reveal the potential feeding impact of the rabbitfish Siganus canaliculatus (f: Siganidae) on an inner-shelf reef of the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs [doi: 10.1007/s00338-008-0359-6]
Fulton CJ, Bellwood DR, Wainwright PC (2001) The relationship between swimming ability and habitat use in wrasses (Labridae). Mar Biol 139:25–33
Hay ME (1981) Herbivory, algal distribution, and the maintenance of between-habitat diversity on a tropical fringing reef. Am Nat 118:520–540
Hay ME (1984) Patterns of fish and urchin grazing on Caribbean coral reefs: are previous results typical. Ecology 65:446–454
Hobbs RJ, Cramer VA (2003) Natural ecosystems: Pattern and process in relation to local and landscape diversity in southwestern Australian woodlands. Plant Soil 257:371–378
Hoey AS, Bellwood DR (2008) Cross-shelf variation in the role of parrotfishes on the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 27:37–47
Holling CS (1973) Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 4:1–23
Holling CS (1992) Cross-scale morphology, geometry and dynamics of ecosystems. Ecol Monogr 62:447–502
Hughes TP, Baird AH, Bellwood DR, Card M, Connolly SR, Folke C, Grosberg R, Hoegh-Guldberg O, Jackson JB, Kleypas J, Lough JM, Marshall P, Nyström M, Palumbi SR, Pandolfi JM, Rosen B, Roughgarden J (2003) Climate change, human impacts, and the resilience of coral reefs. Science 301:929–933
Hughes TP, Bellwood DR, Folke C, Steneck RS, Wilson J (2005) New paradigms for supporting the resilience of marine ecosystems. Trends Ecol Evol 20:380–386
Hughes TP, Rodrigues MJ, Bellwood DR, Ceccarelli D, Hoegh-Guldberg O, McCook L, Moltschaniwskyj N, Pratchett MS, Steneck RS, Willis B (2007) Phase shifts, herbivory, and the resilience of coral; reefs to climate change. Curr Biol 17:1–6
Kulbicki M, Guillemot N, Amand M (2005) A general approach to length–weight relationships for New Caledonian lagoon fishes. Cybium 29:235–252
Lewis SM, Wainwright PC (1985) Herbivore abundance and grazing intensity on a Caribbean coral reef. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 87:215–228
Loreau M, Naeem S, Inchausti P, Bengtsson J, Grime JP, Hector A, Hooper DU, Huston MA, Raffaelli D, Schmid B, Tilman D, Wardle DA (2004) Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: current knowledge and future challenges. Science 26:804–808
Mantyka CS, Bellwood DR (2007a) Direct evaluation of macroalgal removal by herbivorous coral reef fishes. Coral Reefs 26:435–442
Mantyka CS, Bellwood DR (2007b) Macroalgal grazing selectivity among herbivorous coral reef fishes. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 352:177–185
McCook LJ (1997) Effects of herbivory on zonation of Sargassum spp. within fringing reefs of the central Great Barrier Reef. Mar Biol 129:713–722
McManus JW (2001) Coral Reefs. In: Steele JH, Thorpe SA, Turekian KK (eds) Encyclopedia of ocean sciences. Academic Press, London
McManus JW, Polsenberg JF (2004) Coral-algal phase shifts on coral reefs: ecological and environmental aspects. Prog Oceanogr 60:263–279
Moran D, Clements KD (2002) Diet and endogenous carbohydrates in the temperate marine herbivorous fish Kyphosis sydneyanus. J Fish Biol 60:1190–1203
Nyström M, Folke C (2001) Spatial resilience on coral reefs. Ecosystems 4:406–417
Nyström M, Folke C, Moberg F (2000) Coral reef disturbance and resilience in a human-dominated environment. Trends Ecol Evol 15:413–417
Pandolfi JM (2002) Coral community dynamics at multiple scales. Coral Reefs 21:13–23
Paul VJ, Nelson SG, Sanger HR (1990) Feeding preferences of adult and juvenile rabbitfish Siganus argentus in relation to chemical defences of tropical seaweeds. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 33:255–264
Peterson G, Allen CR, Holling CS (1998) Ecological resilience, biodiversity and scale. Ecosystems 1:6–18
Petraitis PS, Latham RE (1999) The importance of scale in testing the origins of alternative community states. Ecology 80:429–442
Randall JE, Allen GR, Steene RC (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press, Bathurst
Reinthal PN, Manintyre IG (1994) Spatial and temporal variations in grazing pressure by herbivorous fishes: Tobacco Reef, Belize. Atoll Res Bull 425:1–11
Rimmer DW (1986) Changes in diet and the development of microbial digestion in juvenile buffalo bream Kyphosus cornellii. Mar Biol 93:443–448
Russ GR (1984a) Distribution and abundance of herbivorous grazing fishes in the central Great Barrier Reef. I Levels of variability across the entire continental shelf. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 20:23–34
Russ GR (1984b) Distribution and abundance of herbivorous grazing fishes in the central Great Barrier Reef. II Patterns of zonation of mid-shelf and outer shelf reefs. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 20:35–44
Russ GR (2003) Grazer biomass correlates more strongly with production than with biomass of algal turfs on a coral reef. Coral Reefs 22:63–67
Sachet MH, Dahl AL (eds) (1974) Comparative investigations of tropical reef ecosystems: background for an integrated coral reefs program. Atoll Res Bull 172:1–196
Tscharntke T, Klein AM, Kruess A, Steffan-Dewenter I, Thies C (2005) Landscape perspectives on agricultural intensification and biodiversity: ecosystem service management. Ecol Lett 8:857–874
Tsuda RT, Bryan PG (1973) Food preference of juvenile Siganus rostratus and S. spinus in Guam. Copeia 1973:604–608
Willmott ME, Clements KD, Wells RMG (2005) The influence of diet and gastrointestinal fermentation on key enzymes of substrate utilization in marine teleost fish. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 317:97–108
Wilson SK, Bellwood DR, Choat JH, Furnas MJ (2003) Detritus in the epilithic algal matrix and its use by coral reef fishes. Oceanogr Mar Biol Ann Rev 41:279–309
Acknowledgements
We thank C. A. Ryen, D. J. Coker, R. M. Bonaldo and the staff of Orpheus Island Research Station for invaluable field assistance; A. Gonzalez-Cabello, A. S. Hoey and S. Wismer for statistical advice; R. M. Bonaldo, J. L. Johansen, K. A. Steward, S. Wismer and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments. This study was supported by the Australian Research Council, the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre and the Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by Biology Editor Mark McCormick
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cvitanovic, C., Bellwood, D.R. Local variation in herbivore feeding activity on an inshore reef of the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 28, 127–133 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-008-0433-0
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-008-0433-0