Incorporating Ecological Processes into Coral Reef Restoration: Manipulating Herbivory and Predator-Prey Interactions to Enhance Restoration Success
Brian A. Reckenbeil*, Colette Feehan** and William C. Sharp***
Integrating ecological processes into coral reef restoration is increasingly recognized as a necessary component in the development of a successful restoration strategy. Herbivory and predation are two of the strongest forces that structure benthic communities on coral reefs. We are conducting studies to evaluate how manipulating these two key ecological processes may enhance coral reef restoration success. We have been evaluating the recruitment dynamics and methods of incorporating the coral reef ecosystem’s keystone herbivore, the long-spined urchin (Diadema antillarum), into the ongoing efforts to restore the coral infrastructure along the Florida Keys reef tract. Our results suggest that D. antillarum larval influx has been decoupled from post-larval survival, and hypothesize that the loss of habitat complexity has resulted in a recruitment bottleneck. Consequently, we are evaluating how manipulating crevice shelter on restoration sites will enhance herbivory by D. antillarum. We are also investigating the predator/prey dynamics between the corallivorous gastropod Coralliophila abbreviata and the predacious gastropod Thais deltoidea. Predation by C. abbreviata has been a substantial and chronic impediment to coral enhancement efforts. We have confirmed through a suite of manipulative laboratory experiments that T. deltoidea readily preys on, and elicits an escape response from, C. abbreviata that reduces its predation upon coral. Subsequent field experimentation confirmed that the presence of T. deltoidea reduces the incidence of C. abbreviata on coral. Our results demonstrate, in concept, that manipulating these two key ecological processes could help break the negative ecological feedback loop that will enhance coral reef ecosystem restoration efforts.
*Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
**Fish & Wildlife Research Institute
***Rutgers University, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences
Brian A. Reckenbeil*, Colette Feehan** and William C. Sharp***
Integrating ecological processes into coral reef restoration is increasingly recognized as a necessary component in the development of a successful restoration strategy. Herbivory and predation are two of the strongest forces that structure benthic communities on coral reefs. We are conducting studies to evaluate how manipulating these two key ecological processes may enhance coral reef restoration success. We have been evaluating the recruitment dynamics and methods of incorporating the coral reef ecosystem’s keystone herbivore, the long-spined urchin (Diadema antillarum), into the ongoing efforts to restore the coral infrastructure along the Florida Keys reef tract. Our results suggest that D. antillarum larval influx has been decoupled from post-larval survival, and hypothesize that the loss of habitat complexity has resulted in a recruitment bottleneck. Consequently, we are evaluating how manipulating crevice shelter on restoration sites will enhance herbivory by D. antillarum. We are also investigating the predator/prey dynamics between the corallivorous gastropod Coralliophila abbreviata and the predacious gastropod Thais deltoidea. Predation by C. abbreviata has been a substantial and chronic impediment to coral enhancement efforts. We have confirmed through a suite of manipulative laboratory experiments that T. deltoidea readily preys on, and elicits an escape response from, C. abbreviata that reduces its predation upon coral. Subsequent field experimentation confirmed that the presence of T. deltoidea reduces the incidence of C. abbreviata on coral. Our results demonstrate, in concept, that manipulating these two key ecological processes could help break the negative ecological feedback loop that will enhance coral reef ecosystem restoration efforts.
*Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
**Fish & Wildlife Research Institute
***Rutgers University, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences