Selective consumption of macroalgal species by herbivorous fishes suggests reduced functional complementarity on a fringing reef in Moorea, French Polynesia.

ABSTRACT: Worldwide, many coral reefs are at risk of shifting to degraded algal-dominated states, due to compromised ecological conditions. Functional diversity of herbivorous fishes maintains coral reef health and promotes reef resilience to disturbances. Given previous evidence, it appears the functional roles of herbivorous fishes differ across geographical locations, indicating a need for further assessment of macroalgal consumption by herbivorous fishes. We assessed functional diversity by examining foraging behavior of herbivorous fish species on macroalgae on a fringing reef in Moorea, French Polynesia. We video-recorded choice experiments containing seven common macroalgae and used Strauss' linear resource selection index to determine macroalgal selectivities. We used cluster analysis to ide

SUBMITTER: Sura SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9075691 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature