Abstract
The native green macroalga Dictyosphaeria cavernosa dominated most of the reef slope habitat in Kāne‘ohe Bay, Hawai‘i for 40 years prior to 2006 and had displaced corals from the habitats they created. This has been one of the most oft-cited examples of a phase shift occurring on a coral reef. After decades of relatively constant, high abundance of the alga, percent cover declined dramatically throughout the bay between February and June 2006. The sudden decrease in cover of this alga appears to be the result of an unusually protracted cloudy, rainy period in March 2006, which may have reduced irradiance and caused the alga to lose weight. Corals and red macroalgae living at the same depths and in some of the same habitats were apparently not affected by this 42-day period of rain and overcast skies. Competition between corals and D. cavernosa for space on reef slopes has been virtually eliminated by the death of this alga, but the unstable rubble formations, which remain in much of the area formerly covered by D. cavernosa may not be conducive to rapid increase in cover by the remaining corals or to establishment by coral recruits. Two years later, there was still no recovery of D. cavernosa. This represents a rare example of decline in macroalgal dominance on a reef and a partial reversal, possibly only temporary, of a phase shift.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology for access to their facilities and the Zoology Dept. for use of their boat and facilities. Data from the 1999 surveys were produced with funding in 1999 from the Hawai‘i Coral Reef Initiative. We wish to thank Dr. Julie Bailey-Brock for commenting on a draft of this article.
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Communicated by Ecology Editor Professor Peter Mumby
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Stimson, J., Conklin, E. Potential reversal of a phase shift: the rapid decrease in the cover of the invasive green macroalga Dictyosphaeria cavernosa Forsskål on coral reefs in Kāne‘ohe Bay, Oahu, Hawai‘i. Coral Reefs 27, 717–726 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-008-0409-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-008-0409-0