MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 458:103-122 (2012) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09726 Macrobioerosion of dead branching Porites, 4 and 6 years after coral mass mortality M. Carreiro-Silva1,*, T. R. McClanahan2 1Center of IMAR of the University of Azores, Department of Oceanography and Fisheries & LarSyS – Associated Laboratory, Horta 9901-862, Portugal 2Marine Programs, Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York 10460, USA *Email: mcsilva@uac.pt ABSTRACT: Internal bioerosion by macroborers (polychaetes, sipunculans, bivalves, and sponges) was investigated in dead Porites branches collected from 8 coral reefs along the Kenyan coast, 4 and 6 yr after the 1998 mass mortality of corals. Levels of nutrients, benthic cover, and numbers of grazing and invertebrate-eating fish and sea urchins were measured and evaluated for their influence on macrobioerosion. The macroboring community composition was influenced by the grazer composition on each reef; worms were the major macroboring agent where sea urchin biomass was high, and sponges were the dominant agent where herbivorous fish biomass was high. Bivalves accounted for a small proportion of the internal bioerosion and were not measurably influenced by consumers or water quality. The total macrobioerosion rates in Porites branches ranged from 534 ± 70 to 1134 ± 44 g CaCO3 m−2 (4 yr after the coral death) and 837 ± 111 to 2149 ± 314 g CaCO3 m−2 (6 yr after the coral death). The macrobioerosion rates were linearly and positively correlated with chlorophyll a concentrations (chl a) in the water column 4 and 6 yr after the coral death. Sponge boring rates were also positively correlated to chl a 6 yr after coral death but not after the initial 4 yr. Consequently, the macrobioerosion rates responded to nutrient status, but the community of borers changed with the dominant grazers, which in turn were influenced by fisheries management. KEY WORDS: Calcium carbonate · Climate disturbance · Kenya · Marine protected areas · Monitoring · Pollution · Reef framework · Thermal anomaly Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Carreiro-Silva M, McClanahan TR (2012) Macrobioerosion of dead branching Porites, 4 and 6 years after coral mass mortality. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 458:103-122. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09726 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 458. Online publication date: July 03, 2012 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2012 Inter-Research.