Macrobioerosion of dead branching Porites, 4 and 6 years after coral mass mortality

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 458:103-122 (2012) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09726 Macrobioerosion of dead branching Porites, 4 and 6 years after coral mass mortality M. Carreiro-Silva1,*, T. R. McClanahan2 1Center of IMAR of the University of Azores, Department of Oceanography and Fisheries & LarSyS – Associated Laboratory, Horta 9901-862, Portugal 2Marine Programs, Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York 10460, USA *Email: mcsilva@uac.pt ABSTRACT: Internal bioerosion by macroborers (polychaetes, sipunculans, bivalves, and sponges) was investigated in dead Porites branches collected from 8 coral reefs along the Kenyan coast, 4 and 6 yr after the 1998 mass mortality of corals. Levels of nutrients, benthic cover, and numbers of grazing and invertebrate-eating fish and sea urchins were measured and evaluated for their influence on macrobioerosion. The macroboring community composition was influenced by the grazer composition on each reef; worms were the major macroboring agent where sea urchin biomass was high, and sponges were the dominant agent where herbivorous fish biomass was high. Bivalves accounted for a small proportion of the internal bioerosion and were not measurably influenced by consumers or water quality. The total macrobioerosion rates in Porites branches ranged from 534 ± 70 to 1134 ± 44 g CaCO3 m−2 (4 yr after the coral death) and 837 ± 111 to 2149 ± 314 g CaCO3 m−2 (6 yr after the coral death). The macrobioerosion rates were linearly and positively correlated with chlorophyll a concentrations (chl a) in the water column 4 and 6 yr after the coral death. Sponge boring rates were also positively correlated to chl a 6 yr after coral death but not after the initial 4 yr. Consequently, the macrobioerosion rates responded to nutrient status, but the community of borers changed with the dominant grazers, which in turn were influenced by fisheries management. KEY WORDS: Calcium carbonate · Climate disturbance · Kenya · Marine protected areas · Monitoring · Pollution · Reef framework · Thermal anomaly Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Carreiro-Silva M, McClanahan TR (2012) Macrobioerosion of dead branching Porites, 4 and 6 years after coral mass mortality. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 458:103-122. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09726 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 458. Online publication date: July 03, 2012 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2012 Inter-Research.