Ecological drivers of parrotfish coral predation vary across spatial scales

Hannah S. Rempel; Kelly N. Bodwin; Deron E. Burkepile; Thomas C. Adam; Andrew H. Altieri; Emma M. Barton; Roxanne-Liana Francisca; Maurice C. Goodman; Rachael J. Lamore; Marilla Lippert; Marietta Marroquín; Tara C. ORourke; Peter D. VanderBloomer; Benjamin I. Ruttenberg

doi:10.3354/meps14633

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MEPS 740:145-160 (2024) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14633

Ecological drivers of parrotfish coral predation vary across spatial scales

Hannah S. Rempel^1,2,*, Kelly N. Bodwin³, Deron E. Burkepile^4,5, Thomas C. Adam⁴, Andrew H. Altieri^6,7, Emma M. Barton², Roxanne-Liana Francisca⁸, Maurice C. Goodman^2,9, Rachael J. Lamore², Marilla Lippert^2,9,10, Marietta Marroquín¹¹, Tara C. O’Rourke², Peter D. VanderBloomer², Benjamin I. Ruttenberg^2,10

¹Department of Marine Science, The University of Texas at Austin, Marine Science Institute, Port Aransas, TX 78373, USA
²Department of Biological Sciences, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA
³Department of Statistics, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA
⁴Marine Science Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
⁵Department of Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
⁶Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
⁷Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancón, Panamá 0801, Republic of Panamá
⁸Stichting Nationale Parken Bonaire Kralendijk, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands
⁹Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA
¹⁰Center for Coastal Marine Sciences, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407-0401, USA
¹¹ECOspiral, Xenimajuyú Community, Tecpán 4006, Guatemala

*Corresponding author: hannah.rempel@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: Parrotfishes (Labridae: Scarini) are widely recognized for their important functional role in reducing coral-algae competition by grazing algae, yet some species are also coral predators (corallivores) and thereby have direct negative impacts on corals they prey upon. To better understand the ecological drivers of parrotfish corallivory intensity, we compared patterns of relative predation scar size and abundance across spatial scales from individual coral colonies (<1 to several meters in size), to reefs within islands (1 to 10s of km), to 4 regions across the Greater Caribbean (100s to 1000s of km) including Panamá, Florida, St. Croix, and Bonaire. Across reef sites, there was a positive correlation of both parrotfish density and biomass with the relative coral area preyed upon, but not predation scar abundance. While there was no apparent site-level effect of coral cover on corallivory intensity, we found that the abundance of colonies preyed upon was positively correlated with both coral diversity and the proportional cover of frequently targeted coral taxa within localized 30 m² reef areas. At the scale of individual coral colonies, we found that while numerous coral taxa were preyed upon, corallivory was concentrated on a few species across regions, such as Orbicella spp., Porites spp., and Stephanocoenia intersepta. Our findings suggest that while increased parrotfish densities may result in an increased coral area preyed upon across reefs, corallivory intensity within reefs may decrease in response to declines in the cover of frequently targeted coral taxa and overall coral diversity.

Spanish and Papiamentu versions of the abstract are provided in the Supplement at www.int-res.com/articles/suppl/m740p145_supp.pdf

KEY WORDS: Corallivory · Parrotfish · Coral reef · Predation · Spatial scales · Ecosystem interactions

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Cite this article as: Rempel HS, Bodwin KN, Burkepile DE, Adam TC and others (2024) Ecological drivers of parrotfish coral predation vary across spatial scales. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 740:145-160. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14633

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