Ecological versatility and its importance for the distribution and abundance of coral reef wrasses

Berkström, Charlotte; Jones, Geoffrey P.; McCormick, Mark I.; Srinivasan, Maya

doi:10.3354/meps09788

Cited by 27 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 64 publications

(76 reference statements)

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“…; Berkström et al. ). Here, we reveal that marked interspecific variations in the local abundance of coral reef butterflyfishes at Lord Howe Island are weakly correlated to the geographic range size of species, but unrelated to levels of feeding specialization.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Abundance, diversity, and feeding behavior of coral reef butterflyfishes at Lord Howe Island

Pratchett

Hoey

Cvitanovic

et al. 2014

Ecology and Evolution

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Endemic species are assumed to have a high risk of extinction because their restricted geographic range is often associated with low abundance and high ecological specialization. This study examines the abundance of Chaetodon butterflyfishes at Lord Howe Island in the south-west Pacific, and compares interspecific differences in local abundance to the feeding behavior and geographic range of these species. Contrary to expected correlations between abundance and geographic range, the single most abundant species of butterflyfish was Chaetodon tricinctus, which is endemic to Lord Howe Island and adjacent reefs; densities of C. tricinctus (14.1 ± 2.1 SE fish per 200m2) were >3 times higher than the next most abundant butterflyfish (Chaetodon melannotus), and even more abundant than many other geographically widespread species. Dietary breadth for the five dominant butterflyfishes at Lord Howe Island was weakly and generally negative correlated with abundance. The endemic C. tricinctus was a distinct outlier in this relationship, though our extensive feeding observations suggest some issues with the measurements of dietary breadth for this species. Field observations revealed that all bites taken on benthic substrates by C. tricinctus were from scleractinian corals, but adults rarely, if ever, took bites from the benthos, suggesting that they may be feeding nocturnally and/or using mid-water prey, such as plankton. Alternatively, the energetic demands of C. tricinctus may be fundamentally different to other coral-feeding butterflyfishes. Neither dietary specialization nor geographic range accounts for interspecific variation in abundance of coral reef butterflyfishes at Lord Howe Island, while much more work on the foraging behavior and population dynamics of C. tricinctus will be required to understand its’ abundance at this location.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…, ; Berkström et al. ) does not always support the theory. An alternative explanation is that extinction filtering promotes persistence of species with compensatory relationships between range size, ecological specialization and population size that reduce the risk of extinction (e.g., Johnson ; Williams et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Abundance, diversity, and feeding behavior of coral reef butterflyfishes at Lord Howe Island

Pratchett

Hoey

Cvitanovic

et al. 2014

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Berkström et al . ); so, the presence or absence of a statistical relationship between niche breadth and range size might be dependent on the niche axis measured (Harcourt et al . ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Niche breadth predicts geographical range size: a general ecological pattern

Slatyer

Hirst

Sexton³

2013

Ecology Letters

711

731

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The range of resources that a species uses (i.e. its niche breadth) might determine the geographical area it can occupy, but consensus on whether a niche breadth-range size relationship generally exists among species has been slow to emerge. The validity of this hypothesis is a key question in ecology in that it proposes a mechanism for commonness and rarity, and if true, may help predict species' vulnerability to extinction. We identified 64 studies that measured niche breadth and range size, and we used a meta-analytic approach to test for the presence of a niche breadth-range size relationship. We found a significant positive relationship between range size and environmental tolerance breadth (z = 0.49), habitat breadth (z = 0.45), and diet breadth (z = 0.28). The overall positive effect persisted even when incorporating sampling effects. Despite significant variability in the strength of the relationship among studies, the general positive relationship suggests that specialist species might be disproportionately vulnerable to habitat loss and climate change due to synergistic effects of a narrow niche and small range size. An understanding of the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that drive and cause deviations from this niche breadth-range size pattern is an important future research goal.

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“…shallow coral reef habitats that are either sheltered (back reef = triangles) or exposed (crest = circles) to wave energy across six reefs spanning a 40-km cross-shelf cline on the northern Great Barrier Reef. (b) Within reef crests on the outer Great Barrier Reef that are fully exposed to oceanic wave energy, one species of Thalassoma (all species of this genus are denoted by filled circles) with a high pectoral fin aspect ratio had a density more than five times higher than the next most abundant species (another Thalassoma), and over ten times higher than any other labrid genera (open circles) in this habitat Berkström, Jones, McCormick, & Srinivasan, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global ecological success of Thalassoma fishes in extreme coral reef habitats

Fulton

Wainwright

Hoey

et al. 2016

Ecology and Evolution

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Phenotypic adaptations can allow organisms to relax abiotic selection and facilitate their ecological success in challenging habitats, yet we have relatively little data for the prevalence of this phenomenon at macroecological scales. Using data on the relative abundance of coral reef wrasses and parrotfishes (f. Labridae) spread across three ocean basins and the Red Sea, we reveal the consistent global dominance of extreme wave‐swept habitats by fishes in the genus Thalassoma, with abundances up to 15 times higher than any other labrid. A key locomotor modification—a winged pectoral fin that facilitates efficient underwater flight in high‐flow environments—is likely to have underpinned this global success, as numerical dominance by Thalassoma was contingent upon the presence of high‐intensity wave energy. The ecological success of the most abundant species also varied with species richness and the presence of congeneric competitors. While several fish taxa have independently evolved winged pectoral fins, Thalassoma appears to have combined efficient high‐speed swimming (to relax abiotic selection) with trophic versatility (to maximize exploitation of rich resources) to exploit and dominate extreme coral reef habitats around the world.

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Ecological versatility and its importance for the distribution and abundance of coral reef wrasses

Cited by 27 publications

References 64 publications

Abundance, diversity, and feeding behavior of coral reef butterflyfishes at Lord Howe Island

Abundance, diversity, and feeding behavior of coral reef butterflyfishes at Lord Howe Island

Niche breadth predicts geographical range size: a general ecological pattern

Global ecological success of Thalassoma fishes in extreme coral reef habitats

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