Long-term effects of competition and environmental drivers on the growth of the endangered coral Mussismilia braziliensis (Verril, 1867).

ABSTRACT: Most coral reefs have recently experienced acute changes in benthic community structure, generally involving dominance shifts from slow-growing hard corals to fast-growing benthic invertebrates and fleshy photosynthesizers. Besides overfishing, increased nutrification and sedimentation are important drivers of this process, which is well documented at landscape scales in the Caribbean and in the Indo-Pacific. However, small-scale processes that occur at the level of individual organisms remain poorly explored. In addition, the generality of coral reef decline models still needs to be verified on the vast realm of turbid-zone reefs. Here, we documented the outcome of interactions between an endangered Brazilian-endemic coral (Mussismilia braziliensis) and its most abundant contacting organi

SUBMITTER: Ribeiro FV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6089213 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature