Comparison of feeding preferences of herbivorous fishes and the sea urchin Diadema antillarum in Little Cayman.

ABSTRACT: On Caribbean coral reefs, losses of two key groups of grazers, herbivorous fishes and Diadema antillarum, coincided with dramatic increases in macroalgae, which have contributed to decreases in the resilience of these coral reefs and continued low coral cover. In some locations, herbivorous reef fishes and D. antillarum populations have begun to recover, and reductions in macroalgal cover and abundance have followed. Harder to determine, and perhaps more important, are the combined grazing effects of herbivorous fishes and D. antillarum on the structure of macroalgal communities. Surprisingly few studies have examined the feeding preferences of D. antillarum for different macroalgal species, and there have been even fewer comparative studies between these differ

SUBMITTER: Spiers L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10656904 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature