The role of in situ coral nurseries in supporting mobile invertebrate epifauna

Wee, Shi Yi Crystle; Sam, Shu Qin; Sim, Wan Ting; Ng, Chin Soon Lionel; Taira, Daisuke; Afiq‐Rosli, Lutfi; Kikuzawa, Yuichi Preslie; Toh, Tai Chong; Chou, Loke Ming

doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2019.125710

Cited by 21 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Coral cryptofauna are composed of metazoan organisms living in inter-and intra-skeletal structures of hard corals, including dead corals and coral rubble (Enochs, 2011), and play an important role in maintaining coral reef functionality by capturing and recycling nutrients and providing biomass to upper trophic levels (Richter et al, 2001;Enochs, 2011;Kramer, Bellwood & Bellwood, 2013). Coral cryptofauna inhabit a variety of marine environments and have been used as proxies for benthic diversity in past studies (Takada, Abe & Shibuno, 2007;Enochs, 2011;Takada et al, 2014;Wee et al, 2019). Rubble cryptofaunal surveys can allow comparisons of the animal community living at each location in order to evaluate differences in biodiversity.…”

Section: Coral Outplanting and Restoration Efforts In Okinawamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The two datasets can be considered complementary, as the information they give integrate each other at different spatial scales and for different components of the coral reef community. Sampling coral rubble can provide a variety of data including abundances and diversity of cyptofaunal groups that are often overlooked when dealing with reef restoration, although rubble fauna data have been used before to study biodiversity in different environments (Takada et al, 2014) as well as in coral nurseries (Wee et al, 2019).…”

Section: Rubble Cryptofauna Vs Living Coral Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coral cover and rubble cryptofauna abundance and diversity at outplanted reefs in Okinawa, Japan

Biondi

Masucci

Reimer

2020

PeerJ

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Global climate change is leading to damage and loss of coral reef ecosystems. On subtropical Okinawa Island in southwestern Japan, the prefectural government is working on coral reef restoration by outplanting coral colonies from family Acroporidae back to reefs after initially farming colonies inside protected nurseries. In order to establish a baseline for future comparisons, in this study we documented the current status of reefs undergoing outplanting at Okinawa Island, and nearby locations where no human manipulation has occurred. We examined three sites on the coast of Onna Village on the west coast of the island; each site included an outplanted and control location. We used (1) coral rubble sampling to measure and compare abundance and diversity of rubble cryptofauna; and (2) coral reef monitoring using Line Intercept Transects to track live coral coverage. Results showed that rubble shape had a positive correlation with the numbers of animals found within rubble themselves and may therefore constitute a reliable abundance predictor. Each outplanted location did not show differences with the corresponding control location in terms of rubble cryptofauna abundance, but outplanted locations had significantly lower coral coverage. Overall, differences between sites (Maeganeku1, Maeganeku2 and Manza, each including both outplanted and control locations) were significant, for both rubble cryptofauna and coral coverage. We recommend (1) to outplant colonies from more stress-resistant genera in place of Acropora, and (2) to conduct regular surveys to monitor the situation closely. With a lack of baseline data preceding impacts, rigorous monitoring over time can highlight trends towards increases or decreases in evaluated variables, allowing to obtain a clearer idea of the effects of transplants and on the trajectory of impacts due to climate change and local stressors . Finally, we also recommend (3) to establish conservation and sustainable practices that could aid the ongoing restoration efforts such as installing anchoring buoys to reduce impacts from anchoring, which could reduce coral mortality of both outplanted and native coral colonies.

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Section: Coral Outplanting and Restoration Efforts In Okinawamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Rubble Cryptofauna Vs Living Coral Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Coral cover and rubble cryptofauna abundance and diversity at outplanted reefs in Okinawa, Japan

Biondi

Masucci

Reimer

2020

PeerJ

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“…Most studies evaluating factors that support or endanger biodiversity are based on the relation between reef fishes and corals, underestimating the importance of small invertebrates that compose the greatest number of species associated with corals (Stella et al, 2010(Stella et al, , 2011. Even if some studies have evaluated the influence of invertebrates, habitat structure has been characterized qualitatively (Wee et al, 2019) or simplified to only one structural variable (Vytopil & Willis, 2001). Efforts to quantify multiple elements of habitat structure influencing the associated fauna on corals are scarce, except for Stella et al (2010) and Nogueira et al (2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of habitat structure on the mollusc assemblage in Mussismilia corals: evaluation of the influence of different coral growth morphology

2021

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Habitat structure increases richness and abundance of species in many environments by providing easy access to resources and refuge from predators. In coral reefs, corals are habitat for many organisms and differences in their morphologies may act as variation in habitat structure for associated fauna. In the present study, we investigate whether there are differences in the richness and abundance of molluscs associated with three species of Mussismilia corals exhibiting different growth morphologies, in two different reef areas of the Bahia state. Mussismilia harttii has a meandroid pattern, M. hispida is a massive coral, M. braziliensis also has a massive growth pattern with crevices at the corallum base. Coral characteristics were measured in the laboratory. Significant differences were identified for richness among coral species – higher values were reported in colonies of M. harttii and no significant statistical differences were observed between M. braziliensis and M. hispida. Considering the density of associated molluscs, the same pattern was found. The results are in accordance with previous studies and indicate the importance of M. harttii as a key habitat to maintain a richer and more abundant associated fauna. The internal volume of interpolypal space is an important factor influencing the richness and density of associated species.

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“…For example, coral cryptofauna composed of metazoan organisms living in inter-and intra-skeletal structures of hard corals (Enochs 2011) are extremely important in maintaining trophic systems and hence coral reef functionality due to their capability to capture and recycle nutrients (Richter et al 2001;Enochs 2011). Coral rubble cryptofauna have been used as proxies for benthic diversity, and studies have shown that many cryptic species live within rubble in different environments (Takada, Abe & Shibuno 2007;Enochs 2011;Takada et al 2014) including coral nurseries (Wee et al 2019). Rubble cryptofauna surveys can allow comparisons of the animal community living at each location in order to evaluate differences in biodiversity and examine the effects of coral restoration on these communities.…”

Section: Restoration In Okinawamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The two datasets can be considered complementary, as the information they give integrate well each other at different spatial scales and for different components of the coral reef community. Sampling coral rubble can provide a variety of data including abundances and diversity of cyptofaunal groups that are often overlooked when dealing with reef restoration, although rubble fauna data have been used before to study biodiversity in different environments (Takada et al 2014) as well as in coral nurseries (Wee et al 2019).…”

Section: Rubble Cryptofauna Vs Living Coral Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Supplemental Information 2: Specimen From Rubble Cryptofauna. Scale = 1mm

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Global climate change is leading to damage and loss of coral reef ecosystems. On subtropical Okinawa Island in southwestern Japan, the prefectural government is working on coral reef restoration by outplanting coral colonies from family Acroporidae back to reefs after initially farming colonies inside protected nurseries. In this study we evaluated the ongoing restoration efforts by comparing outplanted locations with nearby control locations with no restoration activity. We examined 3 sites on the coast of Onna Village on the west coast of the island; each site included an outplanted and control location. We used 1) coral rubble sampling to evaluate and compare abundance and diversity of rubble cryptofauna; and 2) coral reef monitoring using photograph transects to track live coral coverage. Results showed that rubble shape had a positive correlation with the numbers of animals found within rubble themselves and may therefore constitute a reliable abundance predictor. Outplanted locations did not show differences with the controls in rubble cryptofauna abundance, but had significantly lower coral coverage. Differences between sites were significant, for both rubble cryptofauna and coral coverage.We recommend; 1) to evaluate outplanting colonies from more stress-resistant genera in place of Acropora, 2) to conduct regular surveys to monitor the situation closely, and 3) to establish conservation and sustainable practices that could aid restoration efforts, reducing coral mortality of both outplanted and native colonies.

show abstract

The role of in situ coral nurseries in supporting mobile invertebrate epifauna

Cited by 21 publications

References 59 publications

Coral cover and rubble cryptofauna abundance and diversity at outplanted reefs in Okinawa, Japan

Coral cover and rubble cryptofauna abundance and diversity at outplanted reefs in Okinawa, Japan

Effects of habitat structure on the mollusc assemblage in Mussismilia corals: evaluation of the influence of different coral growth morphology

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