Predators can facilitate herbivory in nutrient-limited marine ecosystems.

ABSTRACT: Predators influence ecosystem functioning through consumptive and non-consumptive effects. Recent studies suggest that predators can also be an essential source of limiting nutrients in ecosystems such as coral reefs, potentially influencing prey ecology through nutrient input via their excreta. With rising commercial fishery, mesopredatory fishes are being selectively harvested from reefs. Yet, there is incomplete knowledge of the consequences of this extraction on essential ecosystem processes. Using field experiments and observations, we examined how mesopredatory fishes influence herbivory along a fishing-induced mesopredatory fish biomass gradient in the Lakshadweep Archipelago in the northern Indian Ocean. We found that mesopredatory fish excreta have greater proportion of phosphorus

SUBMITTER: Paul A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12855930 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature