Two time losers: selective feeding by crown-of-thorns starfish on corals most affected by successive coral-bleaching episodes on western Australian coral reefs

Keesing, John K.; Thomson, Damian P.; Haywood, Michael D. E.; Babcock, Russell C.

doi:10.1007/s00227-019-3515-3

Cited by 27 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 47 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Behavioural switching from homing to roaming movements as outbreaks proceed and corals are consumed, or when live coral becomes limiting following widespread bleaching events (e.g. [15,54]), therefore emerges as a behavioural mechanism capable of explaining diffusion of localized aggregations of Acanthaster during population irruptions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Homing behaviour by destructive crown-of-thorns starfish is triggered by local availability of coral prey

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Corallivorous crown-of-thorns starfishes ( Acanthaster spp.) can decimate coral assemblages on Indo-Pacific coral reefs during population outbreaks. While initial drivers of population irruptions leading to outbreaks remain largely unknown, subsequent dispersal of outbreaks appears coincident with depletion of coral prey. Here, we used in situ time-lapse photography to characterize movement of the Pacific crown-of-thorns starfish ( Acanthaster cf. solaris ) in the northern and southern Great Barrier Reef in 2015, during the fourth recorded population outbreak of the starfish, but prior to widespread coral bleaching. Daily tracking of 58 individuals over a total of 1117 h revealed all starfish to move a minimum of 0.52 m, with around half of all tracked starfish showing negligible daily displacement (less than 1 m day −1 ), ranging up to a maximum of 19 m day −1 . Movement was primarily nocturnal and daily displacement varied spatially with variation in local availability of Acropora spp., which is the preferred coral prey. Two distinct behavioural modes emerged: (i) homing movement, whereby tracked paths (as tested against a random-walk-model) involved short displacement distances following distinct ‘outward' movement to Acropora prey (typically displaying ‘feeding scars') and ‘homebound' movement to nearby shelter; versus (ii) roaming movement, whereby individuals showed directional movement beyond initial tracking positions without return. Logistic modelling revealed more than half of all tracked starfish demonstrated homing when local abundance (percentage cover) of preferred Acropora coral prey was greater than 33%. Our results reveal facultative homing by Acanthaster with the prey-dependent behavioural switch to roaming forays providing a mechanism explaining localized aggregations and diffusion of these population irruptions as prey is locally depleted.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…are a major contributor to extensive, widespread and sustained coral loss throughout the Indo-Pacific (e.g. [11][12][13][14][15]). The ecological impacts of crown-of-thorns starfish are unequivocally linked to their feeding patterns [16].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Homing behaviour by destructive crown-of-thorns starfish is triggered by local availability of coral prey

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Drupella) and sea stars (e.g. CoTS, Culcita) through coral predation may reduce the resilience and recovery of corals to climate change stressors (Bruckner et al 2017, Shaver et al 2018, Bruckner & Coward 2019, Keesing et al 2019). Marine worms were not considered vulnerable to any stressor, except for Spirobranchus to ocean warming, owing to its dependence on live coral substrate and a range of coral-host associations (Strathmann et al 1984, DeVantier et al 1986, Dai & Yang 1995, Ben-Tzvi et al 2006, Rowley 2008, though increased water circulation close to the coral surface as caused by Spirobranchus may decrease host susceptibility to bleaching (Strathmann et al 1984), as posited for other coral-associated groups (Chase et al 2018).…”

Section: Vulnerability Rankingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(Muricidae) can have significant impacts on reef condition, documented to reduce live coral cover by >75% on some reefs (Turner 1994, Scott et al 2017a. Their effects can be even more significant following bleaching-induced coral mortality, which can impact coral resilience and recovery (Bruckner et al 2017, Keesing et al 2019, similar to other corallivorous gastropods, including Coralliophila (Muricidae) (Shaver et al 2018) and Dendropoma (Vermetidae) (Smalley 1984. While these gastropods are present on the GBR, such extensive impacts have not been documented (Cumming 2009).…”

Section: Case Study 3: Functional Impacts Of Recreational Spearfishing On the Great Barrier Reefmentioning

confidence: 99%

Priority species to support the functional integrity of coral reefs

Wolfe¹,

Anthony²,

Babcock³

et al. 2020

Oceanography and Marine Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ecosystem-based management on coral reefs has historically focussed on biodiversity conservation through the establishment of marine reserves, but it is increasingly recognised that a subset of species can be key to the maintenance of ecosystem processes and functioning. Specific provisions for these key taxa are essential to biodiversity conservation and resilience-based adaptive management. While a wealth of literature addresses ecosystem functioning on coral reefs, available information covers only a subset of specific taxa, ecological processes and environmental 180 KENNEDY WOLFE ET AL. stressors. What is lacking is a comparative assessment across the diverse range of coral reef species to synthesise available knowledge to inform science and management. Here we employed expert elicitation coupled with a literature review to generate the first comprehensive assessment of 70 taxonomically diverse and functionally distinct coral reef species from microbes to top predators to summarise reef functioning. Although our synthesis is largely through the lens of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, a particularly data-rich system, it is relevant to coral reefs in general. We use this assessment to evaluate which taxa drive processes that maintain a healthy reef and whether management of these taxa is considered a priority (i.e. are they vulnerable?) or is feasible (i.e. can they be managed?). Scientific certainty was scored to weight our recommendations, particularly when certainty was low. We use five case studies to highlight critical gaps in knowledge that limit our understanding of ecosystem functioning. To inform the development of novel management strategies and research objectives, we identify taxa that support positive interactions and enhance ecosystem performance, including those where these roles are currently underappreciated. We conclude that current initiatives effectively capture many priority taxa but that there is significant room to increase opportunities for underappreciated taxa in both science and management to maximally safeguard coral reef functioning.

show abstract

“…A CoTs outbreak also occurred in the 1970s [ 26 , 36 ], and other unreported events may have occurred in the intervening years [ 28 ]. Outbreaks of CoTs can cause widespread damage and coral loss on reefs [ 37 ], particularly after coral bleaching, when predation may target the thermally-tolerant surviving corals such as massive Porites [ 38 , 39 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coral reefs in the Gilbert Islands of Kiribati: Resistance, resilience, and recovery after more than a decade of multiple stressors

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Coral reefs are increasingly affected by a combination of acute and chronic disturbances from climate change and local stressors. The coral reefs of the Republic of Kiribati’s Gilbert Islands are exposed to frequent heat stress caused by central-Pacific type El Niño events, and may provide a glimpse into the future of coral reefs in other parts of the world, where the frequency of heat stress events will likely increase due to climate change. Reefs in the Gilbert Islands experienced a series of acute disturbances over the past fifteen years, including mass coral bleaching in 2004–2005 and 2009–2010, and an outbreak of the corallivorous sea star Acanthaster cf solaris, or Crown-of-Thorns (CoTs), in 2014. The local chronic pressures including nutrient loading, sedimentation and fishing vary within the island chain, with highest pressures on the reefs in urbanized South Tarawa Atoll. In this study, we examine how recovery from acute disturbances differs across a gradient of human influence in neighboring Tarawa and Abaiang Atolls from 2012 through 2018. Benthic cover and size frequency data suggests that local coral communities have adjusted to the heat stress via shifts in the community composition to more temperature-tolerant taxa and individuals. In densely populated South Tarawa, we document a phase shift to the weedy and less bleaching-sensitive coral Porites rus, which accounted for 81% of all coral cover by 2018. By contrast, in less populated Abaiang, coral communities remained comparatively more diverse (with higher percentages of Pocillopora and the octocoral Heliopora) after the disturbances, but reefs had lower overall hard coral cover (18%) and were dominated by turf algae (41%). The CoTs outbreak caused a decline in the cover and mean size of massive Porites, the only taxa that was a ‘winner’ of the coral bleaching events in Abaiang. Although there are signs of recovery, the long-term trajectory of the benthic communities in Abaiang is not yet clear. We suggest three scenarios: they may remain in their current state (dominated by turf algae), undergo a phase shift to dominance by the macroalgae Halimeda, or recover to dominance by thermally tolerant hard coral genera. These findings provide a rare glimpse at the future of coral reefs around the world and the ways they may be affected by climate change, which may allow scientists to better predict how other reefs will respond to increasing heat stress events across gradients of local human disturbance.

show abstract

Two time losers: selective feeding by crown-of-thorns starfish on corals most affected by successive coral-bleaching episodes on western Australian coral reefs

Cited by 27 publications

References 47 publications

Homing behaviour by destructive crown-of-thorns starfish is triggered by local availability of coral prey

Homing behaviour by destructive crown-of-thorns starfish is triggered by local availability of coral prey

Priority species to support the functional integrity of coral reefs

Coral reefs in the Gilbert Islands of Kiribati: Resistance, resilience, and recovery after more than a decade of multiple stressors

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About