Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-2-2019
Publication Title
Biology Letters
Keywords
Risk effects, Coral reefs, Predator-prey interactions, Herbivory, Sargassum
ISSN
1744-957X
Volume
15
First Page
20190409
Abstract
Non-consumptive fear effects are an important determinant of foraging decisions by consumers across a range of ecosystems. However, how fear effects associated with the presence of predators interact with those associated with habitat structure remain unclear. Here, we used predator fish models (Plectropomus leopardus) and experimental patches of the macroalga Sargassum ilicifolium of varying densities to investigate how predator- and habitat-associated fear effects influence herbivory on coral reefs. We found the removal of macroalgal biomass (i.e. herbivory) was shaped by the interaction between predator- and habitat-associated fear effects. Rates of macroalgal removal declined with increasing macroalgal density, likely due to increased visual occlusion by denser macroalgae patches and reduced ability of herbivorous fishes to detect the predators. The presence of the predator model reduced herbivory within low macroalgal density plots, but not within medium- and high-density macroalgal plots. Our results suggest that fear effects due to predator presence were greatest at low macroalgal density, yet these effects were lost at higher densities possibly due to greater predation risk associated with habitat structure and/or the inability of herbivorous fishes to detect the predator model.
Additional Comments
This research was supported by the Singapore National Research Foundation, Prime Minister's Office, Singapore under the Marine Science Research and Development Programme and the AXA Postdoctoral Fellowship (A.G.B.).
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
NSUWorks Citation
Andrew G. Bauman, Jovena C. L. Seah, Fraser A. Januchowski-Hartley, Andrew S. Hoey, Jenny Fong, and Peter A. Todd. 2019. Fear effects associated with predator presence and habitat structure interact to alter herbivory on coral reefs .Biology Letters : 20190409 . https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/1286.
ORCID ID
0000-0001-9260-2153
DOI
10.1098/rsbl.2019.0409
COinS
Comments
Data accessibility
Data are available from Dryad Digital Repository: http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.m88gq46 [30].
Electronic supplementary material is available online at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4671383.