Predators drive community structure in coral reef fish assemblages

A E Boaden,M J Kingsford

doi:10.1890/es14-00292.1

Abstract

The importance of top‐down effects in structuring ecological communities has been widely debated by ecologists. One way in which to examine these processes is to study the secondary effects of predator removal on communities. This study examined the role of predatory fishes in structuring communities of coral reef fishes, by using a network of marine reserves (the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park) as a natural experiment. We hypothesized that reefs with high densities of piscivores (marine reserves) would have distinct fish communities from those where piscivores have been depleted through fishing, due to variation in predation pressure. We predicted that predator depletion would result in “prey release”, and a corresponding increase in prey densities along a gradient of fishing intensity, causing a change in the community composition of reef fishes. To address this, fish counts and habitat surveys were conducted at four locations on the Great Barrier Reef. At each location, comparisons were made amongst three marine park zones that varied in their exposure to fishing practices; no‐ take marine reserves, limited fishing areas, and open fishing areas.The density and biomass of predators varied consistently among zones at each location. Furthermore, we found strong evidence for prey release at all four locations, resulting in distinct fish assemblages amongst zones. Reefs open to fishing had much lower densities of piscivores, and higher densities of prey and herbivorous fishes compared to marine reserves. This broad pattern was consistent amongst locations, and persisted at the level of species, trophic groups, families and communities. Habitat characteristics did not vary significantly amongst zones in a consistent manner amongst locations. Although habitat relationships were strong for specialist species such as butterflyfishes, densities of predators were stronger predictors of prey density for most species, and the trophic composition of reef fish communities differed significantly amongst zones at all locations. Results from this study support the concept that top‐down effects can be strong divers of prey populations and influence community structure in highly diverse systems. These data emphasize the vital role of predators, and reinforce the importance of preserving and restoring top‐down trophic interactions in ecological systems.

Highlights

Predators perform crucial roles in both marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and the pervasive loss of apex predators is of global conservation concern
We demonstrate that the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) is the ideal template on which to test the importance of top-down effects on coral reefs for a number of reasons
The density of all piscivores combined was a minimum of two times greater in no-take marine reserves as compared to other zones in both the Capricorn Bunkers, and Whitsundays, whilst at the Palm Islands piscivore density was greatest in the open fishing zones, and at the Ribbon Reefs no significant differences in piscivore density occurred amongst zones

Summary

Introduction

Predators perform crucial roles in both marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and the pervasive loss of apex predators is of global conservation concern. Trophic cascades typically involve interactions between predators, primary consumers and primary producers, and by definition must include three or more trophic levels which are connected by predation (Paine 1980, 1988, Pinnegar et al 2000). Implicit in this concept is the notion that removal of top predators could result in changes to the community structure of an ecosystem. Since overexploitation of species and habitat degradation are the leading causes of species extinctions, it is critical to determine the relative importance of top-down effects across a wide range of habitats (Dulvy et al 2003, Wilson et al 2008)

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