Skip to main content

IMIS

A new integrated search interface will become available in the next phase of marineinfo.org.
For the time being, please use IMIS to search available data

 

[ report an error in this record ]basket (0): add | show Print this page

Macrobioerosion of dead branching Porites, 4 and 6 years after coral mass mortality
Carreiro-Silva, M.; McClanahan, T. R. (2012). Macrobioerosion of dead branching Porites, 4 and 6 years after coral mass mortality. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 458: 103-122. dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps09726
In: Marine Ecology Progress Series. Inter-Research: Oldendorf/Luhe. ISSN 0171-8630; e-ISSN 1616-1599, more
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 

Keywords
    Bioerosion
    Porites bernardi Gravier, 1909 [WoRMS]
    ISW, Kenya, Coast, Watamu
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    Calcium carbonate, climate disturbance, Kenya, marine protected areas, monitoring, pollution, reef framework, thermal anomaly

Authors  Top 
  • Carreiro-Silva, M.
  • McClanahan, T. R.

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.

All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors