Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Algal resistance to herbivory on a Caribbean barrier reef

  • Published:
Coral Reefs Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Field and laboratory research at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize showed that macroalgae, grouped in functional-form units resisted fish and urchin herbivory in the following order (from high to low resistance): Crustose-Group, Jointed Calcareous-Group, Thick Leathery-Group, Coarsely Branched-Group, Filamentous-Group and Sheet-Group; thereby supporting the hypothesis that crustose, calcareous and thick algae have evolved antipredator defenses and should show the greatest resistance to herbivory with a gradation of increasing palatability towards filaments and sheets. Of the 21 species examined, several (e.g.,Dictyota cervicornis on grids,Laurencia obtusa andStypopodium zonale) had exceptionally low losses to fish grazing, probably due to chemical defences. The sea urchin,Diadema antillarum, was more inclined to feed on algae with known toxic secondary metabolites than were herbivorous fishes; hypothetically related to the differences in mobility and concomitant modes of feeding. Tough leathery forms such asSargassum polyceratium andTurbinaria turbinata resisted grazing by bottom feeding parrotfishes (Scaridae) and surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae) but were susceptible when suspended midway in the water column, possibly due to the presence of rudderfishes (Kyphosidae) which readily consume drift Sargassaceae. The overall tendencies support our predicted relationship between grazer-resistance and algal morphology. In conjunction with our previously reported findings concerning primary productivity, toughness and calorimetry for many of the same species, these results lend credence to generalizations relating form with function in marine macroalgae.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adey WH, Vassar JM (1975) Colonization, succession and growth rates of tropical crustose coralline algae (Rhodophyta, Cryptonemiales). Phycologia 14:55–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Atsatt PR, O’Dowd DJ (1976) Plant defense guilds. Science 193:24–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakus GJ (1964) The effects of fish-grazing on invertebrate evolution in shallow tropical waters. Allan Hancock Foundation Publications Occasional Papers 27:1–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakus GJ (1966) Some relationships of fishes to benthic organisms on coral reefs. Nature (London) 210:280–284

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakus GJ (1967) The feeding habits of fishes and primary production at Eniwetok, Marshall Islands. Micronesica 3:135–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakus GJ (1969) Energetics and feeding in shallow marine waters. Int Rev Gen Exp Zool 4:275–369

    Google Scholar 

  • Borowitzka MA (1981) Algae and grazing in coral reef ecosystems. Endeavour 5:99–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter RC (1981) Grazing byDiadema antillarum (Philippi) and its effects on the benthic algal community. J Mar Res 39:749–765

    Google Scholar 

  • Dart JKG (1972) Echinoids, algal lawn and coral recolonization. Nature (London) 239:50–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fenical WH (1975) Halogenation in the Rhodophyta: a review. J Phycol 11:245–259

    Google Scholar 

  • Fenical W (1980) Distributional and taxonomic features of toxin-producing marine algae. In: Abbott IA, Foster MS, Eklund LF (eds) Pacific seaweed aquaculture. California Sea Grant College Program, Institute of Marine Resources, University of California, La Jolla, pp 144–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerwick WH (1981) The natural products chemistry of the Dictyotaceae. PhD dissertation, University of California. San Diego, Cal

    Google Scholar 

  • Hay ME (1981a) The functional morphology of turf-forming seaweeds: persistence in stressful marine habitats. Ecology 62:739–750

    Google Scholar 

  • Hay ME (1981b) Spatial patterns of grazing intensity on a Caribbean barrier reef: herbivory and algal distribution. Aquat Bot 11:97–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hay ME (1981c) Herbivory, algal distribution, and the maintenance of between-habitat diversity on a tropical fringing reef. Am Nat 118:520–540

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hixon MA, Brostoff WN (1982) Differential fish grazing and benthic community structure on Hawaiian reefs. In: Cailliet GM, Simenstad CA (eds) Fish food habit studies. Proc 3rd Pacific Workshop, University of Washington Sea Grant Program

  • John DM, Pople W (1973) The fish grazing of rocky shore algae in the Gulf of Guinea. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 11:81–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larkum AWD, Drew EA, Crossett RN (1967) The vertical distribution of attached marine algae in Malta. J Ecol 55:361–371

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence JM (1975) On the relationships between marine plants and sea urchins. In: Barnes H (ed) Oceanography and marine biology, annual review, vol 13. Allen and Unwin, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis JB (1958) The biology of the tropical sea urchinTripneustes esculentus Leske in Barbados, British West Indies. Can J Zool 36:607–621

    Google Scholar 

  • Littler MM (1976) Calcification and its role among the macroalgae. Micronesica 12:27–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Littler MM (1980a) Morphological form and photosynthetic performances of marine macroalgae: tests of a functional/form hypothesis. Bot Mar 22:161–165

    Google Scholar 

  • Littler MM (1980b) Southern California rocky intertidal ecosystems: methods, community structure and variability. In: Price JH, Irvine DEG, Farnham WF (eds) The shore environment, vol 2: Ecosystems. Academic Press, London (Systematics Association Special Volume 17b)

    Google Scholar 

  • Littler MM, Arnold KE (1982) Primary productivity of marine macroalgal functional-form groups from southwestern North America. J Phycol 18:207–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Littler MM, Doty MS (1975) Ecological components structuring the seaward edges of tropical Pacific reefs: the distribution, communities and productivity ofPorolithon. J Ecol 63:117–129

    Google Scholar 

  • Littler MM, Littler DS (1980) The evolution of thallus form and survival strategies in benthic marine macroalgae: field and laboratory tests of a functional form model. Am Nat 116:25–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Littler MM, Littler DS, Taylor PR (1983) Evolutionary startegies in a tropical barrier reef system: functional-form groups of marine macroalgae. J Phycol 19:229–237

    Google Scholar 

  • Littler MM, Murray SN (1978) Influence of domestic wastes on energetic pathways in rocky intertidal communities. J Appl Ecol 15:583–595

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowe EF, Lawrence JM (1976) Absorption efficiencies ofLytechinus variegatus (Lamarck) (Echinodermata:Echinoidea) for selected marine plants. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 21:223–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lubchenco J (1978) Plant species diversity in a marine intertidal community: importance of herbivore food preference and algal competitive abilities. Am Nat 112:23–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lubchenco J, Cubit J (1980) Heteromorphic life histories of certain marine algae as adaptations to variations in herbivory. Ecology 61:676–687

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann KH (1977) Destruction of kelp-beds by sea-urchins: a cyclical phenomenon or irreversible degradation? Helgol Wiss Meeresunters 30:455–467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery WL (1980) The impact of non-selective grazing by the giant blue damselfish,Microspathodon dorsalis, on algal communities in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Bull Mar Sci 30:290–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicotri ME (1980) Factors involved in herbivore food preference. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 42:13–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norris JN, Bucher KE (1982) Marine algae and seagrasses from Carrie Bow Cay, Belize. In: Rützler K, Macintyre IG (eds) The Atlantic barrier reef ecosystem at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize. I. Structure and communities. Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences 12. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, pp 167–223

    Google Scholar 

  • Norris JN, Fenical W (1982) Chemical defense in tropical marine algae. In: Rützler K, Macintyre IG (eds) The Atlantic barrier reef ecosystem at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize, I. Structure and communities. Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences 12. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, pp 417–431

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogden JC (1976) Some aspects of herbivore-plant relationships on Caribbean reefs and seagrass beds. Aquat Bot 2:103–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ogden JC, Brown RA, Salesky N (1973) Grazing by the echinoidDiadema antillarum Philippi: formation of halos around West Indian patch reefs. Science 182:715–717

    Google Scholar 

  • Paine RT, Vadas RL (1969) Calorific values of benthic marine algae and their postulated relation to invertebrate food preference. Mar Biol 4:79–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paul VJ, Fenical W (1983) Isolation of halimedatrial: chemical defense adaptation in the calcareous reef-building algaHalimeda. Science 221:747–749

    Google Scholar 

  • Randall JE (1961) Overgrazing of algae by herbivorous marine fishes. Ecology 42:812

    Google Scholar 

  • Randall JE (1965) Grazing effect on seagrasses by herbivorous reef fishes in the West Indies. Ecology 46:255–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Randall JE (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud Trop Oceanogr 5:655–897

    Google Scholar 

  • Randall JE (1974) The effect of fishes on coral reefs. Proc 2nd Int Coral Reef Symp, Brisbane

  • Rützler R, Macintyre IG, eds (1982) The Atlantic barrier reef ecosystem at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize. I. Structure and communities. Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences 12. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Sammarco PW, Levinton JS, Ogden JC (1974) Grazing and control of coral reef community structure byDiadema antillarum (Philippi) (Echinodermata: Echinoidea): a preliminary study. J Mar Res 32:47–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Slocum CJ (1980) Differential susceptibility to grazers in two phases of an intertidal alga: advantages of heteromorphic generations. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 46:99–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steel RGD, Torrie JH (1960) Principles and procedures in statistics. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Steneck RS, Watling L (1982) Feeding capabilities and limitation of herbivorous molluscs: a functional group approach. Mar Biol 62:299–319

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson W, Searles RB (1960) Experimental studies on the ecology of intertidal environments at Herron Island. Aust J Mar Freshwater Res 11:241–267

    Google Scholar 

  • Vadas RL, Fenchel T, Ogden JC (1982) Ecological studies on the sea urchin,Lytechinus variegatus, and the algal-seagrass communities of the Miskito Cays, Nicaragua. Aquat Bot 14:109–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vadas RL, Ogden JC (1981) Comparative aspects of algal-sea urchin interactions in boreal and tropical waters. Int Echinoderms Conf, Tampa, Florida (abstr)

  • Vermeij GJ (1978) Biogeography and adaptation. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts

    Google Scholar 

  • Wanders JBW (1977) The role of benthic algae in the shallow reef of Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles). III. The significance of grazing. Aquat Bot 3:357–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 20560, Washington, DC, USA

    Mark M. Littler & Diane S. Littler

  2. Division of Science and Mathematics, College of the Virgin Islands, Charlotte Amalie, 00802, Saint Thomas, US Virgin Islands

    Phillip R. Taylor

Authors
  1. Mark M. Littler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Phillip R. Taylor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Diane S. Littler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Littler, M.M., Taylor, P.R. & Littler, D.S. Algal resistance to herbivory on a Caribbean barrier reef. Coral Reefs 2, 111–118 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02395281

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02395281

Keywords

Search

Navigation