Abstract
Abstract With the potential adverse effects of climate change, it is essential to enhance the understanding of marine ecosystem dynamics, which can be driven by the co-evolutionary interaction between autotrophs and herbivores. This study looked into the autotroph-herbivore interactions in Malaysian waters, mainly to determine if autotroph nutritional quality significantly influences herbivore consumption rates. We documented the relative consumption rate of a generalist herbivore (Chanos chanos Forsskål) obtained from the Straits of Malacca through multiple feeding trials using 12 macroalgal species collected from different coastal areas of the Straits of Malacca, the Straits of Johor, and the South China Sea. The herbivore fed selectively on the tested macroalgal species, with the most and least consumed species having the lowest and highest total nitrogen content, respectively. Besides total nitrogen content, the least consumed species also had the highest total phenolic content. Interestingly, we observed that the herbivore generally preferred to consume filamentous macroalgae, especially those collected from the South China Sea. Overall, our findings demonstrated that the feeding behaviour of a generalist herbivore could be influenced by the nutritional quality of the autotrophs, which may depend directly or indirectly on other factors such as autotroph morphology and geography.
Highlights
The marine biome covers approximately three-fourths of the biosphere, providing essential ecosystem services such as habitats for species and carbon sequestration (Townsend et al 2018)
With the potential adverse effects of climate change, it is essential to enhance the understanding of marine ecosystem dynamics, which can be driven by the coevolutionary interaction between autotrophs and herbivores
This study looked into the autotroph-herbivore interactions in Malaysian waters, mainly to determine if autotroph nutritional quality significantly influences herbivore consumption rates
Summary
The marine biome covers approximately three-fourths of the biosphere, providing essential ecosystem services such as habitats for species and carbon sequestration (Townsend et al 2018). The shift in weather patterns due to climate change can lead to significant ecosystem changes, which are mostly negative. For instance, has been reported to cause a shift to dominance by invasive species and facilitate their invasions, and affecting the structure and function of ecosystems worldwide (Laffoley and Baxter 2016), including coastal and marine ecosystems in Malaysia (Bishop et al 2017). Species interactions take place in nature regularly, and one of the most dominant interactions is between autotrophs and herbivores. In the case of marine ecosystems, several studies demonstrated that autotroph characteristics largely influence the consumption patterns of herbivorous fish (Mantyka and Bellwood 2007; Schwartz et al 2016; Van Alstyne et al 2009). According to Elger and Lemoine (2005), autotroph palatability depends primarily on
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
