Differential Occupation of Available Coral Hosts by Coral-Dwelling Damselfish (Pomacentridae) on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Sites and Surveys
2.2. Data Analysis
2.2.1. Reefscape Prevalence of Fish–Coral Interactions
2.2.2. Effects of Colony Position and Structure on Damselfish’s Occupancy
2.2.3. Effects of Colony Position and Structure on the Biomass of Damselfish
3. Results
3.1. Range of Damselfish’s Occupations across the Great Barrier Reef (GBR)
3.2. Patterns of Damselfish Biomass across Reefs on Occupied Colonies
3.3. Colony Orientation as a Determinant of Damselfish’s Occupation and Group Biomass
3.4. Colony Structure as a Determinant of Damselfish’s Occupation and Biomass
4. Discussion
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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(a) Reef Seascape Surveys: | Description of Data |
---|---|
Sampling: 50 × 5 m belt transects n =3097 colonies on 51 sites spread among 22 reefs, including sheltered (n = 28 sites) and exposed (n = 23 sites) sites, and sand patches (n = 11 sites), reef flat (n = 5 sites), reef crest (n = 12 sites), reef wall (n = 5 sites), and reef slope (n =18 sites) habitats. | |
Latitude | Sites grouped by latitude: Far north (12.3° S to 10.5° S), North (12.3° S), Central (14.7° S to 18.9° S) and South (One Tree Island, 23.5° S) |
Aspect | Exposed locations (high water flow, mainly eastern side of GBR reefs) vs sheltered locations (low water flow, mainly western side of GBR reefs) |
Habitat Zone | Lagoon sand patch, reef flat, reef crest, reef wall, and reef slope/base |
Benthic cover [51] | Percentage cover measured on four 10 m line intercept transects at each site using the following categories: Isopora, Montipora, tabular Acropora, staghorn Acropora, other Acropora, Pocillopora damicornis, Seriatopora, Stylophora, other pocilloporids, Mussidae, Faviidae, Poritidae, other scleractinians, soft corals, and other sessile fauna |
Coral Species | Acropora intermedia, Acropora spathulata, Pocillopora damicornis, Seriatopora hystrix, and Stylophora pistillata |
(b) Colony orientation:Sampling: Digital photos of n = 226 colonies on 15 sites on 11 exposed and sheltered reefs | |
Colony Orientation [52] (Position of Coral on Substratum) | Crevice—colony grew within a crack in the reef matrix; Open—colony is on flat reef benthos without any obvious shading by competitors; Sand—colony grew above a sand patch; Underhang—colony was shaded by reef matrix or other colonies |
(c) Colony structure:Sampling: Digital photos of n = 226 colonies on 15 sites on 11 exposed and sheltered reefs | |
Colony Diameter | Average of the longest colony diameter dimension and the diameter perpendicular to that dimension |
Planar Area | Digitally traced along colony perimeter |
Colony Height | Distance from top of coral colony to substrate |
Branch Width | Average width of branches (n = 5 branches colony−1) located throughout the colony |
Branch Spacing | Average distance between branches (n = 5 branches colony−1) located throughout the colony |
Isolation | Distance to nearest branching, columnar, tabular, or foliaceous colony |
Comparison | p-Value |
---|---|
A. intermedia – A. spathulata | 0.5089 |
A. intermedia – P. damicornis | 0.0050 |
A. intermedia – S. hystrix | 0.9996 |
A. intermedia – S. pistillata | 0.0131 |
A. spathulata – P. damicornis | 0.8963 |
A. spathulata – S. hystrix | 0.4492 |
A. spathulata – S. pistillata | 0.9588 |
P. damicornis – S. hystrix | <0.001 |
Aspect | Coral Species | n | Average Biomass (g) per Coral Species per Site Aspect | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C. viridis | D. aruanus | D. reticulatus | P. amboinensis | P. moluccensis | |||
Sheltered | A. intermedia | 38 | 0.92 ± 0.79 | 2.21 ± 0.96 | 0.94 ± 0.89 | 1.06 ± 0.31 | 2.80 ± 0.54 |
A. spathulata | 30 | 4.66 ± 2.03 | 0.60 ± 0.48 | 0.17 ± 0.17 | 0.09 ± 0.06 | 5.70 ± 0.96 | |
P. damicornis | 233 | 0.52 ± 0.22 | 5.00 ± 0.79 | 0.26 ± 0.14 | 0.84 ± 0.12 | 3.89 ± 0.34 | |
S. hystrix | 147 | 2.63 ± 1.10 | 8.49 ± 1.15 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 0.63 ± 0.11 | 2.47 ± 0.34 | |
S. pistillata | 179 | 0.22 ± 0.02 | 4.72 ± 0.64 | 0.36 ± 0.12 | 0.50 ± 0.99 | 4.74 ± 0.51 | |
Exposed | A. intermedia | 16 | 0.19 ± 0.19 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 0.24 ± 0.13 | 3.91 ± 1.06 |
A. spathulata | 6 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 9.18 ± 3.31 | |
P. damicornis | 86 | 0.24 ± 0.23 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 1.52 ± 1.03 | 0.48 ± 0.16 | 6.45 ± 1.00 | |
S. hystrix | 42 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 0.04 ± 0.04 | 0.84 ± 0.22 | 5.38 ± 0.89 | |
S. pistillata | 121 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | 0.18 ± 0.12 | 0.22 ± 0.11 | 0.75 ± 0.16 | 5.79 ± 0.50 |
Coral Species | n | Isolation | Branch Spacing | Colony Diameter | Planar Area | Colony Height | Branch Width |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A. intermedia | 22 | <0.001 | 0.527 | 0.019 | <0.001 | 0.068 | 0.185 |
A. spathulata | 32 | 0.099 | 0.357 | 0.020 | <0.001 | 0.008 | 0.416 |
P. damicornis | 66 | 0.014 | 0.002 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.423 |
S. hystrix | 44 | 0.002 | <0.001 | 0.304 | 0.809 | 0.018 | 0.198 |
S. pistillata | 62 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.734 | 0.357 | 0.015 | <0.001 |
All colonies | 226 | <0.001 | 0.007 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.176 |
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Chase, T.J.; Hoogenboom, M.O. Differential Occupation of Available Coral Hosts by Coral-Dwelling Damselfish (Pomacentridae) on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Diversity 2019, 11, 219. https://doi.org/10.3390/d11110219
Chase TJ, Hoogenboom MO. Differential Occupation of Available Coral Hosts by Coral-Dwelling Damselfish (Pomacentridae) on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Diversity. 2019; 11(11):219. https://doi.org/10.3390/d11110219
Chicago/Turabian StyleChase, Tory J, and Mia O Hoogenboom. 2019. "Differential Occupation of Available Coral Hosts by Coral-Dwelling Damselfish (Pomacentridae) on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef" Diversity 11, no. 11: 219. https://doi.org/10.3390/d11110219