Biodiversity, ecological structure, and change in the sponge community of different geomorphological zones of the barrier fore reef at <scp>C</scp>arrie <scp>B</scp>ow <scp>C</scp>ay, <scp>B</scp>elize

Villamizar, Estrella; Díaz, María Cristina; Rützler, Klaus; Nóbrega, Renato De

doi:10.1111/maec.12099

Cited by 41 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…However, the Belize study also surveyed 3 additional, deeper zones, extending to depths of 30 m. Like the Florida study, the Belize study reported large increases in octocoral cover in the shallowest surveys, but an expansion of the sponge community overall. Most relevant to this review, they found no statistical differences in sponge species richness, average density, diversity and evenness indices across all 4 depth zones (Villamizar et al 2014). Surveys conducted on deep mesophotic reefs and walls (> 60 m) reported some of the highest sponge cover data (Garcia-Sais 2010, Lesser & Slattery 2011), but compare Liddell et al (1997) for much lower cover data for Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas.…”

Section: Evidence For Food Limitation From Sponge Distributions and Amentioning

confidence: 64%

“…The same study did find increasing sponge abundances on Cuba 'deep forereefs,' but those surveys were limited to depths of 10 to 18 m, which are likely to be the shallowest depths unaffected by storm-induced shear on Florida reefs (Schmahl 1990). Another long-term survey study published in the same year for Carrie Bow Cay, Belize, from data collected in 2009, provides an interesting comparison (Villamizar et al 2014). The shallowest site in the Belize study, the 'low relief spur and groove' site, is at the same depth (10 to 15 m) as that considered 'deep forereef' in the Florida study (Ruzicka et al 2013).…”

Section: Evidence For Food Limitation From Sponge Distributions and Amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, the importance of sponges on coral reefs worldwide is attracting more attention as the relative abundance of reef-building corals has declined (Bell et al 2013). On Caribbean reefs in particular, sponge communities have greater diversity and biomass than any other benthic organisms (Diaz & Rützler 2001) and sponge abundance is increasing (McMurray et al 2010, Colvard & Edmunds 2011, Ruzicka et al 2013, Villamizar et al 2014. Second, the topic of bottom-up control is made more complex because of the mechanisms by which Caribbean sponges gain nutrition: in addition to suspension feeding on particles that include picophytoplankton and bacteria (Reiswig 1974, Trussell et al 2006, sponges may also absorb dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (Reiswig 1981, Maldonado et al 2012, or may rely to some extent on photosymbionts (Erwin & Thacker 2008, Freeman et al 2013.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A review of evidence for food limitation of sponges on Caribbean reefs

Pawlik¹,

McMurray²,

Erwin³

et al. 2015

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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The diversity and biomass of sponges on Caribbean reefs exceeds that of all other benthic organisms. Wilkinson & Cheshire (1990; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 67:285−294) summarized evidence that sponge communities on Caribbean reefs were different from those on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, reflecting food limitation of the latter, but not of the former. Since then, we have learned much about the ecology of sponges, and the concept of food limitation has recently reemerged, seemingly without substantive reference to past inter-oceanic comparisons or pioneering studies of sponge physiology. Here, we review the literature in an attempt to correct this digression. Based on current knowledge of sponge nutrition and bottom-up resource gradients (particulate food, dissolved organic carbon [DOC], light, turbulence), we predict 4 patterns of sponge abundance that would suggest food limitation on Caribbean reefs. After a critical review of survey data, correlative studies and manipulative experiments, we can find no evidence for food limitation. Although there is good evidence for higher availability of picoplankton at greater depths, sponge abundance does not mirror this gradient, suggesting that other sources of nutrition are also important, and particulate food is not a limiting factor. Recent studies have renewed interest in the uptake of DOC by both high and low microbial abundance sponge species, suggesting that the absence of bottom-up effects for sponges on Caribbean reefs may be attributable to this mysterious, and likely ubiquitous, food source. The recent unambiguous demonstration of topdown effects of predation on sponge community composition across the Caribbean may owe its clarity to the relative lack of confounding influences of abiotic and bottom-up effects in this study system.

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Section: Evidence For Food Limitation From Sponge Distributions and Amentioning

confidence: 64%

Section: Evidence For Food Limitation From Sponge Distributions and Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A review of evidence for food limitation of sponges on Caribbean reefs

Pawlik¹,

McMurray²,

Erwin³

et al. 2015

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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show abstract

“…The authors then provide an example (Villamizar et al 2014) of shallow versus deep sponge populations in Belize (to depths of 30 m) to support their argument that there are no differences in diversity and abundance. However, the data in Lesser & Slattery (2013), from the same site, showed a significant break between shallow and deep reefs at 30 m, with respect to sponge diversity and abundance.…”

Section: Sponge Distributions and Abundancesmentioning

confidence: 86%

Trophic ecology of sponges from shallow to mesophotic depths (3 to 150 m): Comment on Pawlik et al. (2015)

Pawlik¹,

McMurray²,

Erwin³

et al. 2015

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Pawlik et al. (2015; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 519:265−283) proposed 4 hypotheses regarding the influence of food limitation on growth and distribution of Caribbean sponges: (1) increasing sponge cover as particulate organic carbon increases with depth, (2) replacement of high microbial abundance sponges with low microbial abundance sponges at depth, (3) dominance of sponges with photosymbionts above the photosynthetic compensation point, and (4) sponge morphologies that reflect adaptations to feeding. Pawlik et al. (2015) concluded that there is no evidence of food limitation (i.e. bottom-up control), and that predation is the primary process that determines the growth, biomass and biodiversity of sponges on Caribbean coral reefs. Here, we address the conclusions of Pawlik et al. (2015) in the context of the observational, correlational, and manipulative studies they utilized in their analysis. We argue that both top-down (predation pressure) and bottom-up (food limitation) processes influence the distribution of sponges on coral reefs, that these factors vary in time and space, and that only when multifactorial manipulative experiments are undertaken will the magnitude of the roles of predation and food limitation be understood.

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“…Sponges are now the dominant benthic animals on most reefs, and there is evidence that sponge abundance is increasing (2)(3)(4)(5). Predation is important in this ecosystem; spongivores such as angelfishes and parrotfishes selectively feed on chemically undefended sponge species (6).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical defenses and resource trade-offs structure sponge communities on Caribbean coral reefs

Loh

Pawlik

2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

145

196

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Ecological studies have rarely been performed at the community level across a large biogeographic region. Sponges are now the primary habitat-forming organisms on Caribbean coral reefs. Recent species-level investigations have demonstrated that predatory fishes (angelfishes and some parrotfishes) differentially graze sponges that lack chemical defenses, while co-occurring, palatable species heal, grow, reproduce, or recruit at faster rates than defended species. Our prediction, based on resource allocation theory, was that predator removal would result in a greater proportion of palatable species in the sponge community on overfished reefs. We tested this prediction by performing surveys of sponge and fish community composition on reefs having different levels of fishing intensity across the Caribbean. A total of 109 sponge species was recorded from 69 sites, with the 10 most common species comprising 51.0% of sponge cover (3.6-7.7% per species). Nonmetric multidimensional scaling indicated that the species composition of sponge communities depended more on the abundance of sponge-eating fishes than geographic location. Across all sites, multiple-regression analyses revealed that spongivore abundance explained 32.8% of the variation in the proportion of palatable sponges, but when data were limited to geographically adjacent locations with strongly contrasting levels of fishing pressure (Cayman Islands and Jamaica; Curaçao, Bonaire, and Martinique), the adjusted R 2 values were much higher (76.5% and 94.6%, respectively). Overfishing of Caribbean coral reefs, particularly by fish trapping, removes sponge predators and is likely to result in greater competition for space between fastergrowing palatable sponges and endangered reef-building corals.chemical ecology | indirect effects | community structure | marine protected areas | trophic dynamics

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Biodiversity, ecological structure, and change in the sponge community of different geomorphological zones of the barrier fore reef at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Cited by 41 publications

References 12 publications

A review of evidence for food limitation of sponges on Caribbean reefs

A review of evidence for food limitation of sponges on Caribbean reefs

Trophic ecology of sponges from shallow to mesophotic depths (3 to 150 m): Comment on Pawlik et al. (2015)

Chemical defenses and resource trade-offs structure sponge communities on Caribbean coral reefs

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