Nutrient Effects on Coral Reefs: A Hypothesis on the Importance of Topographic and Trophic Complexity to Reef Nutrient Dynamics
Szmant AM. 1997. Nutrient Effects on Coral Reefs: A Hypothesis on the Importance of Topographic and Trophic Complexity to Reef Nutrient Dynamics. Pages 1527 - 1532. In Proceedings from the 8th International Coral Reef Symposium. Proceedings of the International Coral Reef Symposium
Quantitative aspects of nutrient dynamics on coral reefs are poorly understood. Gaining such understanding is critical since nutrification is a main anthropogenic threat to reef health. In some areas, nutrient sources impacting reefs are obvious, but for others we lack information on natural nutrient sources and processes, and confounding factors such as over-fishing or grazer die-offs make attribution much more difficult. We are in need of a more integrative understanding of factors that regulate and affect nutrient dynamics on coral reefs. This paper presents a hypothesis regarding the importance of (1) habitat complexity and (2) intact trophic pathways to the nutrient flux rates tolerated by coral reef ecosystems without major shifts in dominance from corals to algae. It predicts that coral reef communities have the ability to utilize and benefit from higher fluxes of nutrients than are generally recognized, without changing to algal-dominated systems, if (a) there is sufficient habitat complexity to provide shelter for large numbers of grazers and a diversity of consumers, and {b) the major trophic groups of fishes and invertebrates have not been impacted by fishing, disease or other disturbance. It further predicts that alterations in community and trophic structure that result from overfishing can result in generalized coral reef deterioration that at times may be indistinguishable from increased nutrient supply.
- Type
- Conference Proceeding Paper
- Authors
- Szmant, A
- Units
- SFCN
- Keywords
- Advective Flow, Concentration, Food Web, Geography, Health, nutrient flux, Nutritional