@article{35f24988002e4a1da6df3a1585d03f92,
title = "Habitat attributes mediate herbivory and influence community development in algal metacommunities",
abstract = "Understanding the drivers and impacts of spatiotemporal variation in species abundance on community trajectories is key to understanding the factors contributing to ecosystem resilience. Temporal variation in species trajectories across patches can provide compensation for species loss and can influence successional patterns. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms that lead to patterns of species or spatial compensation and how those patterns may be mediated by consumer–resource relationships. Here we describe an experiment testing whether habitat attributes (e.g., structural complexity and spatial heterogeneity) mediate the effects of herbivory on tropical marine macroalgal communities by reducing accessibility and detectability, respectively, leading to variable trajectories among algal species at community (within patch) and metacommunity (i.e., among patch) scales. Reduced accessibility (greater habitat complexity) decreased the effects of herbivory (i.e., depressed consumption rate, increased algal species richness), and both accessibility and detectability (spatial heterogeneity) influenced algal community structure. Moreover, decreased accessibility at the community scale and a mosaic of accessibility at the metacommunity scale led to variation in community assembly. We suggest that habitat attributes can be important influencers of consumer–resource interactions on coral reefs, which in turn can increase species diversity, promote species succession, and enhance stability in algal metacommunities.",
keywords = "coral reefs, habitat complexity, herbivory, succession, trajectories, tropical macroalgae, variability",
author = "Griffin Srednick and Alyssa Cohen and Olivia Diehl and Kaela Tyler and Swearer, {Stephen E.}",
note = "Funding Information: We thank John Morrongiello, Tim Dempster, Linda Blackall, and Ben Phillips, who provided assistance on the design and analysis of this study, as well as the editor and the two anonymous reviewers, who provided helpful comments on drafts of this manuscript. This research was funded in part by a David Ashton Scholarship (to Griffin Srednick) as well as the U.S. National Science Foundation (OCE 19-46866 to Robert Carpenter) in part through the Moorea Coral Reef LTER (OCE 16-37396). Research was completed under permits issued by the French Polynesian Government (D{\'e}l{\'e}gation {\`a} la Recherche) and the Haut-Commissariat de la R{\'e}publique en Polyn{\'e}sie Fran{\c c}aise (Protocole d'Accueil 2021). We thank the staff of the Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station for logistical support. Open access publishing facilitated by The University of Melbourne, as part of the Wiley - The University of Melbourne agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians. Funding Information: National Science Foundation, Grant/Award Numbers: OCE 16‐37396, OCE 19‐46866; University of Melbourne, Grant/Award Number: David Ashton Scholarship Funding information Funding Information: We thank John Morrongiello, Tim Dempster, Linda Blackall, and Ben Phillips, who provided assistance on the design and analysis of this study, as well as the editor and the two anonymous reviewers, who provided helpful comments on drafts of this manuscript. This research was funded in part by a David Ashton Scholarship (to Griffin Srednick) as well as the U.S. National Science Foundation (OCE 19‐46866 to Robert Carpenter) in part through the Moorea Coral Reef LTER (OCE 16‐37396). Research was completed under permits issued by the French Polynesian Government (D{\'e}l{\'e}gation {\`a} la Recherche) and the Haut‐Commissariat de la R{\'e}publique en Polyn{\'e}sie Fran{\c c}aise (Protocole d'Accueil 2021). We thank the staff of the Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station for logistical support. Open access publishing facilitated by The University of Melbourne, as part of the Wiley ‐ The University of Melbourne agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors. Ecology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Ecological Society of America.",
year = "2023",
month = apr,
doi = "10.1002/ecy.3976",
language = "English",
volume = "104",
journal = "Ecology",
issn = "0012-9658",
publisher = "John Wiley & Sons",
number = "4",
}
