Herbivory effects of sea urchin species on a coral reef (Bora-Bora,  French Polynesia)

[en] Macroalgae are becoming dominant on coral reefs worldwide, replacing corals as key habitat formers. Incre menting consumption rates by herbivores, such as sea urchins, has been identified as a viable strategy for pro moting coral recovery. By means of a 28-day experiment, we assessed the grazing effects of the sea urchins, Tripneustes gratilla and Diadema setosum, on the macroalgal assemblages of shallow reefs at Bora-Bora (French Polynesia). In particular, each urchin species was either absent or maintained, using cages (n = 10), at a density of 5 individuals/m2. T. gratilla exerted stronger negative effects than D. setosum on all the examined macroalgae (i.e., Turbinaria ornata, Padina boryana, Halimeda spp, Dictyota spp). In addition, the grazing effects by T. gratilla on macroalgae emerged shortly after the start of the experiment, more rapidly than those of D. setosum. Despite an apparent lower food preference for T. ornata in D.setosum, all macroalgae were consumed by both species and the composition of the macroalgal assemblages (i.e., the proportion of each species) did not change after 28 days. Overall, our study suggests that herbivorous sea urchins, when at relatively high densities, could contribute to sustaining coral-dominance on coral reefs by keeping macroalgae under control.

Research Center/Unit :

FOCUS - Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch - ULiège

Disciplines :

Zoology

Author, co-author :

Krimou, Stéphanie

Gairin, Emma

Gautrand, Laura

Sowinski, Jérome

Trotier, Mila

Minier, Lana

Bischoff, Hugo

Sturny, Vincent

Maueau, Tehani

Waqalevu, Viliame

More authors (4 more)

Language :

English

Title :

Herbivory effects of sea urchin species on a coral reef (Bora-Bora, French Polynesia)

Publication date :

2023

Journal title :

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

ISSN :

0022-0981

Publisher :

Elsevier, Netherlands

Volume :

564

Pages :

151900

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Development Goals :

14. Life below water

Available on ORBi :

since 03 April 2023

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