Current and future trophic interactions in tropical shallow-reef lagoon habitats
Calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) sediments are the dominant form of CaCO 3 on coral reefs accumulating in lagoon and inter-reefal areas. Owing to their mineralogy and a range of physical parameters, tropical CaCO 3 sediments are predicted to be more sensitive to dissolution driven by ocean acidification...
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:147569 2023-05-15T17:51:06+02:00 Current and future trophic interactions in tropical shallow-reef lagoon habitats Wolfe, K Deaker, DJ Graba-Landry, A Champion, C Dove, S Lee, R Byrne, M 2021 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-02017-2 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/147569 en eng Springer-Verlag http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-02017-2 Wolfe, K and Deaker, DJ and Graba-Landry, A and Champion, C and Dove, S and Lee, R and Byrne, M, Current and future trophic interactions in tropical shallow-reef lagoon habitats, Coral Reefs, 40 pp. 83-96. ISSN 0722-4028 (2021) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/147569 Environmental Sciences Climate change impacts and adaptation Ecological impacts of climate change and ecological adaptation Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2021 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-02017-2 2021-12-06T23:17:59Z Calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) sediments are the dominant form of CaCO 3 on coral reefs accumulating in lagoon and inter-reefal areas. Owing to their mineralogy and a range of physical parameters, tropical CaCO 3 sediments are predicted to be more sensitive to dissolution driven by ocean acidification than the skeleton of living reef organisms. How this scales up to impact infaunal organisms, which are an important food source for higher trophic levels, and thereby ecosystem functioning, is not well explored. We combined seasonal field surveys in a shallow-reef lagoon ecosystem on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, with stable isotope analyses and a tank-based experiment to examine the potential top-down influence of the deposit-feeding sea cucumber, Stichopus herrmanni , on this infaunal community under current and future ocean pH. Densities of surface-sediment meiofauna were lowest in winter and spring, with harpacticoid copepods (38%) and nematodes (27%) the dominant taxa. Stable isotope analyses showed that S. herrmanni had a top-down influence on meiofauna and microphytes with a distinct δ 13 C and δ 15 N trophic position that was homogenous across seasons and locations. Tanks that mimicked sandy shallow-reef lagoon habitats were used to examine the effects of ocean acidification (elevated p CO 2 ) on this trophic interaction. We used outdoor control (sediment only) and experimental (sediment plus S. herrmanni ) tanks maintained at present-day and near-future p CO 2 (+ 570 atm) for 24days, which fluctuated with the diel p CO 2 cycle. In sediment-only tanks, copepods were > twofold more abundant at elevated p CO 2 , with no negative effects documented for any meiofauna group. When included in the community, top-down control by S. herrmanni counteracted the positive effects of low pH on meiofaunal abundance. We highlight a novel perspective in coral reef trophodynamics between surface-sediment meiofauna and deposit-feeding sea cucumbers, and posit that community shifts may occur in shallow-reef lagoon habitats in a future ocean with implications for the functioning of coral reefs from the bottom up. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ocean acidification Copepods eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Coral Reefs 40 1 83 96 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental Sciences Climate change impacts and adaptation Ecological impacts of climate change and ecological adaptation |
spellingShingle |
Environmental Sciences Climate change impacts and adaptation Ecological impacts of climate change and ecological adaptation Wolfe, K Deaker, DJ Graba-Landry, A Champion, C Dove, S Lee, R Byrne, M Current and future trophic interactions in tropical shallow-reef lagoon habitats |
topic_facet |
Environmental Sciences Climate change impacts and adaptation Ecological impacts of climate change and ecological adaptation |
description |
Calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) sediments are the dominant form of CaCO 3 on coral reefs accumulating in lagoon and inter-reefal areas. Owing to their mineralogy and a range of physical parameters, tropical CaCO 3 sediments are predicted to be more sensitive to dissolution driven by ocean acidification than the skeleton of living reef organisms. How this scales up to impact infaunal organisms, which are an important food source for higher trophic levels, and thereby ecosystem functioning, is not well explored. We combined seasonal field surveys in a shallow-reef lagoon ecosystem on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, with stable isotope analyses and a tank-based experiment to examine the potential top-down influence of the deposit-feeding sea cucumber, Stichopus herrmanni , on this infaunal community under current and future ocean pH. Densities of surface-sediment meiofauna were lowest in winter and spring, with harpacticoid copepods (38%) and nematodes (27%) the dominant taxa. Stable isotope analyses showed that S. herrmanni had a top-down influence on meiofauna and microphytes with a distinct δ 13 C and δ 15 N trophic position that was homogenous across seasons and locations. Tanks that mimicked sandy shallow-reef lagoon habitats were used to examine the effects of ocean acidification (elevated p CO 2 ) on this trophic interaction. We used outdoor control (sediment only) and experimental (sediment plus S. herrmanni ) tanks maintained at present-day and near-future p CO 2 (+ 570 atm) for 24days, which fluctuated with the diel p CO 2 cycle. In sediment-only tanks, copepods were > twofold more abundant at elevated p CO 2 , with no negative effects documented for any meiofauna group. When included in the community, top-down control by S. herrmanni counteracted the positive effects of low pH on meiofaunal abundance. We highlight a novel perspective in coral reef trophodynamics between surface-sediment meiofauna and deposit-feeding sea cucumbers, and posit that community shifts may occur in shallow-reef lagoon habitats in a future ocean with implications for the functioning of coral reefs from the bottom up. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wolfe, K Deaker, DJ Graba-Landry, A Champion, C Dove, S Lee, R Byrne, M |
author_facet |
Wolfe, K Deaker, DJ Graba-Landry, A Champion, C Dove, S Lee, R Byrne, M |
author_sort |
Wolfe, K |
title |
Current and future trophic interactions in tropical shallow-reef lagoon habitats |
title_short |
Current and future trophic interactions in tropical shallow-reef lagoon habitats |
title_full |
Current and future trophic interactions in tropical shallow-reef lagoon habitats |
title_fullStr |
Current and future trophic interactions in tropical shallow-reef lagoon habitats |
title_full_unstemmed |
Current and future trophic interactions in tropical shallow-reef lagoon habitats |
title_sort |
current and future trophic interactions in tropical shallow-reef lagoon habitats |
publisher |
Springer-Verlag |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-02017-2 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/147569 |
genre |
Ocean acidification Copepods |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification Copepods |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-02017-2 Wolfe, K and Deaker, DJ and Graba-Landry, A and Champion, C and Dove, S and Lee, R and Byrne, M, Current and future trophic interactions in tropical shallow-reef lagoon habitats, Coral Reefs, 40 pp. 83-96. ISSN 0722-4028 (2021) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/147569 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-02017-2 |
container_title |
Coral Reefs |
container_volume |
40 |
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1 |
container_start_page |
83 |
op_container_end_page |
96 |
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1766158134533947392 |