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Experimental evaluation of the effects of management of invasive corals on native communities

2017; Inter-Research; Volume: 572; Linguagem: Inglês

10.3354/meps12131

1616-1599

AF De Paula, BG Fleury, BG Lages, Joel C. Creed,

Marine and coastal plant biology

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 572:141-154 (2017) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12131 Experimental evaluation of the effects of management of invasive corals on native communities Alline F. De Paula1, Beatriz G. Fleury2,3, Bruno G. Lages4, Joel C. Creed2,3,* 1Laboratório de Celenterologia, Departamento de Invertebrados, Museu Nacional-Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - Quinta da Boa Vista, São Cristóvão, CEP 20940-040, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil 2Laboratório de Ecologia Marinha Bêntica, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia Roberto Alcântara Gomes, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro - UERJ, PHLC Sala 220, Rua São Francisco Xavier 524, CEP 20559-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil 3Coral-Sol Research, Technological Development and Innovation Network, Instituto Brasileiro de Biodiversidade, Rua Senador Dantas, 20 grupo 1509, CEP 20031-205, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil 4Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Evolução, Instituto de Biologia Roberto Alcântara Gomes, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro - UERJ, PHLC Sala 224, Avenida São Francisco Xavier 524, CEP 20559-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil *Corresponding author: jcreed@uerj.br ABSTRACT: The corals Tubastraea coccinea Lesson, 1829 and T. tagusensis Wells, 1982 have invaded coral reefs and tropical rocky shores in the Southwest Atlantic. In Brazil, they cause change in native populations, communities and ecosystem functions. The aims of this study were to (1) examine community-level change on shallow subtidal tropical rocky shore benthic communities due to the invasion, (2) test how the native community responded to different frequencies of experimental removal, and (3) provide information useful for setting control targets and validating ongoing management for recovery. Communities in invaded areas were experimentally manipulated (treatments: single removal of invasives, multiple removal of invasives, single removal of the entire benthic community) and community cover, as well as invader density, were compared to control areas without removal during 1 yr. Settlement/recruitment of Tubastraea spp. occurred throughout the year in removal areas and was much higher than in controls. Manual removal was highly effective in reducing coral cover and enhanced the cover of native species, especially macroalgae cover, which increased about 83%. The biological invasion of Tubastraea spp. creates an alternative stable community state but the manual removal of Tubastraea spp. provides significant long term (>1 yr) recovery in native community structure and the return of some impacted functions (e.g. primary productivity) to levels similar to pre-invasion. Single or repeated manual removal had the advantage of maintaining native species intact and enhanced biotic resistance compared to total community removal. These conclusions support the ongoing programs of manual removal of invasive Tubastraea spp. as a control and ecosystem recovery strategy. KEY WORDS: Invasive species · Management · Removal experiment · Tubastraea spp. · Benthos · Community structure · Scleractinian corals Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: De Paula AF, Fleury BG, Lages BG, Creed JC (2017) Experimental evaluation of the effects of management of invasive corals on native communities. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 572:141-154. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12131 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 572. Online publication date: May 31, 2017 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2017 Inter-Research.