AGRRA scientists, Drs. Judy Lang and Philip Kramer presented AGRRA’s poster “Fleshy Macroalgae Share Dominance with Other Organisms on Degraded Coral Reefs” at the poster sessions held during the 13th. International Coral Reef Symposium, June 19-24, 2016 at the Hawai‘i Convention Center, Honolulu.
You may view the abstract here. [whitebox]
Key takeaway points conveyed in the poster are:
When herbivores are scarce, fleshy macroalgae can expand over dead corals, outcompete live corals and prevent coral larvae from settling. But they are not the only players in the benthic spatial competition game.
Caribbean reefs need diverse herbivores–the echinoid Diadema antillarum (to consume or remove turf algal sediment mats, peyssonnelid algae and macroalgae) , large parrotfish (to help remove the basal holdfasts ), small parrotfish and surgeonfish (to graze macroalgae)–plus fewer nutrients, sediment and other pollutants on nearshore reefs (to facilitate coral health).
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The ICRS is sanctioned by the International Society for Reef Studies (ISRS) and held every four years. It is the primary international meeting focused on coral reef science and management. The Symposium brought together about 2,500 coral reef scientists, policy makers and managers from 70 different nations in a forum to present the latest research findings, case histories and management activities, and to discuss the application of scientific knowledge to achieving coral reef sustainability.
For more information you may contact us at info@agrra.org.