Community structure of shallow tropical reefs undergoing invasion by Tubastraea spp. in a Brazilian Marine Protected Area
Invasive sun corals (Tubastraea spp.) are spreading along the Brazilian coast where they compete for space with native species, produce chemical compounds with antifouling and anti-predation properties and modify community structure and function. The tropical rocky shores of the Ilha Grande Bay were...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Regional Euro-Asian Biological Invasions Centre (REABIC)
2023-04-01
|
| Series: | Aquatic Invasions |
| Online Access: | https://aquaticinvasions.arphahub.com/article/102938/download/pdf/ |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849716891770159104 |
|---|---|
| author | Yollanda Carolina da Silva Ferreira Vançato Joel Creed Beatriz Grosso Fleury |
| author_facet | Yollanda Carolina da Silva Ferreira Vançato Joel Creed Beatriz Grosso Fleury |
| author_sort | Yollanda Carolina da Silva Ferreira Vançato |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Invasive sun corals (Tubastraea spp.) are spreading along the Brazilian coast where they compete for space with native species, produce chemical compounds with antifouling and anti-predation properties and modify community structure and function. The tropical rocky shores of the Ilha Grande Bay were the first to be invaded in the southwest Atlantic and the Tamoios Marine Protected Area (MPA) within the bay was directly in the path of the spread of Tubastraea. MPAs aim to conserve biodiversity, preventing habitat loss and fragmentation and maintain healthy ecosystems. As healthy communities might better resist invasion the aim of this study was to investigate to what extent the benthic communities of the MPA are resisting the invasion. Baseline data on the abundance of the invasive corals Tubastraea spp. and community structure (cover) were quantified at eight sites over six years. The benthic communities were dominated by multispecies algal turfs, the mat-forming zooantharian Palythoa caribaeorum and the red alga Asparagopsis taxiformis and fell into five community groups two of which contained Tubastraea spp. The number of invaded sites increased over time as did the abundance of Tubastraea spp. in the communities. Tubastraea spp. sequentially invaded the studied communities within the MPA independently of differing community compositions – i.e. they did not offer better biotic resistance than unprotected areas. This was facilitated by the patchy nature of the communities which allowed Tubastraea spp. to get a foothold by initially avoiding species such as P. caribaeorum which offer greater biological resistance. At one site a significant reduction in Tubastraea spp. was detected after mechanical control. We conclude that the MPA’s status as a conservation unit was important to attract research and thus for establishing a baseline, quantifying change due to the invasion and focusing limited management resources, but not in providing significant biotic resistance to the invasion. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-72453dad2bdf4134b482e6bc9d9923e8 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1818-5487 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | Regional Euro-Asian Biological Invasions Centre (REABIC) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Aquatic Invasions |
| spelling | doaj-art-72453dad2bdf4134b482e6bc9d9923e82025-08-20T03:12:50ZengRegional Euro-Asian Biological Invasions Centre (REABIC)Aquatic Invasions1818-54872023-04-01181395710.3391/ai.2023.18.1.102938102938Community structure of shallow tropical reefs undergoing invasion by Tubastraea spp. in a Brazilian Marine Protected AreaYollanda Carolina da Silva Ferreira Vançato0Joel Creed1Beatriz Grosso Fleury2Projeto Coral-Sol, Brazilian Institute of Biodiversity - BrBioUniversidade do Estado do Rio de JaneiroUniversidade do Estado do Rio de JaneiroInvasive sun corals (Tubastraea spp.) are spreading along the Brazilian coast where they compete for space with native species, produce chemical compounds with antifouling and anti-predation properties and modify community structure and function. The tropical rocky shores of the Ilha Grande Bay were the first to be invaded in the southwest Atlantic and the Tamoios Marine Protected Area (MPA) within the bay was directly in the path of the spread of Tubastraea. MPAs aim to conserve biodiversity, preventing habitat loss and fragmentation and maintain healthy ecosystems. As healthy communities might better resist invasion the aim of this study was to investigate to what extent the benthic communities of the MPA are resisting the invasion. Baseline data on the abundance of the invasive corals Tubastraea spp. and community structure (cover) were quantified at eight sites over six years. The benthic communities were dominated by multispecies algal turfs, the mat-forming zooantharian Palythoa caribaeorum and the red alga Asparagopsis taxiformis and fell into five community groups two of which contained Tubastraea spp. The number of invaded sites increased over time as did the abundance of Tubastraea spp. in the communities. Tubastraea spp. sequentially invaded the studied communities within the MPA independently of differing community compositions – i.e. they did not offer better biotic resistance than unprotected areas. This was facilitated by the patchy nature of the communities which allowed Tubastraea spp. to get a foothold by initially avoiding species such as P. caribaeorum which offer greater biological resistance. At one site a significant reduction in Tubastraea spp. was detected after mechanical control. We conclude that the MPA’s status as a conservation unit was important to attract research and thus for establishing a baseline, quantifying change due to the invasion and focusing limited management resources, but not in providing significant biotic resistance to the invasion.https://aquaticinvasions.arphahub.com/article/102938/download/pdf/ |
| spellingShingle | Yollanda Carolina da Silva Ferreira Vançato Joel Creed Beatriz Grosso Fleury Community structure of shallow tropical reefs undergoing invasion by Tubastraea spp. in a Brazilian Marine Protected Area Aquatic Invasions |
| title | Community structure of shallow tropical reefs undergoing invasion by Tubastraea spp. in a Brazilian Marine Protected Area |
| title_full | Community structure of shallow tropical reefs undergoing invasion by Tubastraea spp. in a Brazilian Marine Protected Area |
| title_fullStr | Community structure of shallow tropical reefs undergoing invasion by Tubastraea spp. in a Brazilian Marine Protected Area |
| title_full_unstemmed | Community structure of shallow tropical reefs undergoing invasion by Tubastraea spp. in a Brazilian Marine Protected Area |
| title_short | Community structure of shallow tropical reefs undergoing invasion by Tubastraea spp. in a Brazilian Marine Protected Area |
| title_sort | community structure of shallow tropical reefs undergoing invasion by tubastraea spp in a brazilian marine protected area |
| url | https://aquaticinvasions.arphahub.com/article/102938/download/pdf/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yollandacarolinadasilvaferreiravancato communitystructureofshallowtropicalreefsundergoinginvasionbytubastraeasppinabrazilianmarineprotectedarea AT joelcreed communitystructureofshallowtropicalreefsundergoinginvasionbytubastraeasppinabrazilianmarineprotectedarea AT beatrizgrossofleury communitystructureofshallowtropicalreefsundergoinginvasionbytubastraeasppinabrazilianmarineprotectedarea |