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Localized outbreaks of Acanthaster planci at an isolated and unpopulated reef atoll in the Chagos Archipelago

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Abstract

Outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS), Acanthaster planci, have occurred at many locations throughout the Indo-Pacific and are a major contributor to widespread coral loss and reef degradation. The causes of outbreaks remain controversial, but are commonly attributed to anthropogenically elevated nutrients and/or over-fishing. If so, it seems unlikely that outbreaks would occur in reef systems that are largely isolated from anthropogenic disturbances. However, high densities of COTS were recently observed on reefs in the Chagos Archipelago, a remote group of atolls and banks within the central Indian Ocean, which experience very limited anthropogenic influence. Aggregations of COTS were first noticed at Eagle Island in 2012, which, although unquantified, appeared to be at outbreak levels, and very high densities (1624 km−2) were subsequently recorded at Danger Island in 2013. While these islands are uninhabited by humans, it is possible that nutrient inputs result from upwelling zones around the Archipelago, or high densities of breeding seabirds. Among islands within the Great Chagos Bank, densities of the red-footed booby Sula sula ranged from 8 to 7888 individuals km−2, with associated guano input ranging from 96 to 25,381 kg island−1 year−1. However, Danger and Eagle Islands where high COTS densities were recorded, had both high and low levels of guano production, respectively, which suggests that outbreaks may not be directly linked to guano nutrient enrichment. Other factors which might be responsible for intermittent COTS outbreaks should be considered in isolated reef systems such as the Chagos Archipelago.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the captain and crew of the M/V Pacific Marlin for all the work and knowledge that they contributed to this work. We thank the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) administration for assistance and permission to carry out research within the Chagos Archipelago. The authors would like to thank Prof John Pearse and additional anonymous reviewers for their contributions to the manuscript. This research was funded by a UK government Darwin Initiative Grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Ocean Science, Bangor University, Menai Bridge, Anglesey, LL59 5AB, UK

    R. C. Roche & J. R. Turner

  2. ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    M. S. Pratchett

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK

    P. Carr & C. R. C. Sheppard

  4. NOAA Papahnaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Honolulu, HI, USA

    D. Wagner

  5. Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Tinbergen Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK

    C. Head

  6. Zoological Society of London, Conservation Programmes, Regents Park, London, NW1 4RY, UK

    C. Head

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  1. R. C. Roche
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  2. M. S. Pratchett
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  3. P. Carr
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  4. J. R. Turner
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  7. C. R. C. Sheppard
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Correspondence to R. C. Roche.

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Communicated by M. Byrne.

Reviewed by J. Pearse and undisclosed experts.

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Roche, R.C., Pratchett, M.S., Carr, P. et al. Localized outbreaks of Acanthaster planci at an isolated and unpopulated reef atoll in the Chagos Archipelago. Mar Biol 162, 1695–1704 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-015-2708-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-015-2708-7

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