Abstract
Corallivory causes considerable damage to coral reefs and can exacerbate other disturbances. Among coral predators, Drupella spp. are considered as delayer of coral recovery in the Republic of Maldives, although little information is available on their ecology. Thus, we aimed to assess their population structure, feeding behaviour and spatial distribution around 2 years after a coral bleaching event in 2016. Biological and environmental data were collected using belt and line intercept transects in six shallow reefs in Maldives. The snails occurred in aggregations with a maximum of 62 individuals and exhibited a preference for branching corals. Yet, the gastropods showed a high plasticity in adapting feeding preferences to prey availability. Drupella spp. were homogenously distributed in the study area with an average of 9.04 ± 19.72 ind/200 m2. However, their occurrence was significantly different at the reef scale with the highest densities found in locations with higher coral cover. The impact of Drupella spp. appeared to be minimal with the population suffering from the loss of coral cover. We suggest that monitoring programs collect temporal- and spatial-scale data on non-outbreaking populations or non-aggregating populations to understand the dynamics of predation related to the co-occurrence of anthropogenic and natural impacts.
Highlights
Coral reefs are among the most diverse and dynamic ecosystems on the planet, and critically important for providing ecological goods and services to human communities (Williams et al, 2019; Woodhead et al, 2019)
We suggest that monitoring programs collect temporal- and spatialscale data on non-outbreaking populations or nonaggregating populations to understand the dynamics of predation related to the co-occurrence of anthropogenic and natural impacts
Other corallivores have been reported for the reduction in coral cover, among those, Drupella spp. feed exclusively on living coral tissue and is known to cause large-scale disturbances to coral reef ecosystems (e.g. Bruckner et al, 2017; Koido et al, 2017)
Summary
Coral reefs are among the most diverse and dynamic ecosystems on the planet, and critically important for providing ecological goods and services to human communities (Williams et al, 2019; Woodhead et al, 2019). Reefs are continuously deteriorating due to anthropogenic and natural disturbances such as global climate change, coral predators, and extreme weather events (De’ath et al, 2012; Hoegh-Guldberg et al, 2017; Hughes et al, 2017a, b; Rice et al, 2019). Anthropogenic disturbances are reported to exacerbate the negative effects of coral predation (Rice et al, 2019). The crownof-thorns seastar, Acanthaster spp., have been reported to cause high coral mortality during outbreaks, reducing coral cover up to 80% (Pratchett et al, 2014, 2017) with an increased effect during temperature-induced coral bleaching (Saponari et al, 2018). Other corallivores have been reported for the reduction in coral cover, among those, Drupella spp. feed exclusively on living coral tissue and is known to cause large-scale disturbances to coral reef ecosystems Other corallivores have been reported for the reduction in coral cover, among those, Drupella spp. feed exclusively on living coral tissue and is known to cause large-scale disturbances to coral reef ecosystems (e.g. Bruckner et al, 2017; Koido et al, 2017)
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