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Acute effects of removing large fish from a near-pristine coral reef |
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| Authors: | Douglas J McCauley Fiorenza Micheli Hillary S Young Derek P Tittensor Daniel R Brumbaugh Elizabeth M P Madin Katherine E Holmes Jennifer E Smith Heike K Lotze Paul A DeSalles Suzanne N Arnold Boris Worm |
| Institution: | 1. Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, 93950, USA 2. Biology Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA 3. Biology Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3H 4J1, Canada 4. Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, 10024, USA 5. Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060, USA 6. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA 7. Marine Program, Wildlife Conservation Society, Kavieng, New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea 8. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA 9. Darling Marine Center, University of Maine, Walpole, ME, 04573, USA |
| Abstract: | Large animals are severely depleted in many ecosystems, yet we are only beginning to understand the ecological implications of their loss. To empirically measure the short-term effects of removing large animals from an ocean ecosystem, we used exclosures to remove large fish from a near-pristine coral reef at Palmyra Atoll, Central Pacific Ocean. We identified a range of effects that followed from the removal of these large fish. These effects were revealed within weeks of their removal. Removing large fish (1) altered the behavior of prey fish; (2) reduced rates of herbivory on certain species of reef algae; (3) had both direct positive (reduced mortality of coral recruits) and indirect negative (through reduced grazing pressure on competitive algae) impacts on recruiting corals; and (4) tended to decrease abundances of small mobile benthic invertebrates. Results of this kind help advance our understanding of the ecological importance of large animals in ecosystems. |
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