Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Spatial variation in sea urchins, fish predators, and bioerosion rates on coral reefs of Belize

  • Report
  • Published:
Coral Reefs Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although sea urchins are critical for controlling macroalgae on heavily fished coral reefs, high densities threaten reefs, as urchins are also prodigous bioeroders. This study examined urchin population characteristics, bioerosion rates, their fish predators (Labridae), and potential competitors (Scaridae) on unprotected reefs and a reef within a marine protected area (MPA) in the lagoonal regions off Belize. Urchin density (<1 m−2) and bioerosion rates (∼0.2 kg CaCO3 m−2 year−1) were lowest and members of the Labridae were the highest (∼20 fish 200 m−3) within the MPA, while several unprotected reefs had higher (∼18–40 m−2) urchin densities, lower Labridae abundances (1–3 fish 200 m−3), and bioerosion rates ranging from ∼0.3–2.6 kg CaCO3 m−2 year−1. Urchin abundances were inversely related to Labridae (wrasses and hogfish) densities; however, on reef ridges, low algal cover (∼15%), small urchin size (∼14 mm), and low proportion of organic material in urchin guts suggested food limitation. Both top–down (predation) and bottom–up factors (food limitation) likely contribute to the control of urchins, predominantly Echinometra viridis, off Belize, thereby potentially diminishing the negative impacts of bioerosion activities by urchins.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

References

  • Aronson RB, Precht WF, Macintyre IG, Murdoch TJT (2000) Coral bleach-out in Belize. Nature 405:36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aronson RB, Precht WF, Toscano MA, Koltes KH (2002a) The 1998 bleaching event and its aftermath on a coral reef in Belize. Mar Biol 141:435–447

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aronson RB, Macintyre IG, Precht WF, Murdoch TJT, Wapnick CM (2002b) The expanding scale of species turnover events on coral reefs in Belize. Ecol Monogr 72:233–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bak RPM (1990) Patterns of echinoid bioerosion in two Pacific coral reef lagoons. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 66:267–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Bohnsack JA, Bannerot SP (1986) A stationary visual census technique for quantitatively assessing community structure of coral reef fishes. NOAA Technical Report, National Fish and Wildlife Service, vol 41, pp 1–15

  • Brown-Saracino J (2003) Indirect consequences of overfishing: abundance patterns and bioerosion rates of the rock urchin Echinometra viridis on the Belize barrier reef. Senior Honors Thesis, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, p 93

  • Carpenter RC (1981) Grazing by Diadema antillarum (Philippi) and its effects on the benthic algal community. J Mar Res 39:749–765

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter RC (1990) Mass mortality of Diadema antillarum effects on population densities and grazing intensities of parrotfishes and surgeonfishes. Mar Biol 104:79–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carreiro-Silva M, McClanahan TR (2001) Echinoid bioerosion and herbivory on Kenyan coral reefs: the role of protection from fishing. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 262:133–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carter J, Gibson J, Carr III A, Azueta J (1994) Creation of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve in Belize: a grass-roots approach to barrier reef conservation. Environ Prof 16:220–231

    Google Scholar 

  • Conand C, Chabanet P, Cuet P, Letourneur Y (1997) The carbonate budget of a fringing reef in La Réunion Island (Indian Ocean): sea urchin and fish bioerosion and net calcification. In: Proceedings of the 8th International Coral Reef Symposium, vol 1, pp 953–958

  • Glynn PW (1988) El Niño warming, coral mortality and reef framework destruction by echinoid bioerosion in the eastern Pacific. Galaxea 7:129–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffin SP, Garcia RP, Weil E (2003) Bioerosion in coral reef communities in southwest Puerto Rico by the sea urchin Echinometra viridis. Mar Biol 143:79–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hay ME (1984) Patterns of fish and urchin grazing on Caribbean coral reefs: are previous results typical? Ecology 65:446–454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hubbard DK, Scaturo D (1985) Growth rates of seven species of scleractinian corals from Cane Bay and Salt River, St Croix, USVI. Bull Mar Sci 36:325–338

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes TP (1994) Catastrophes, phase shifts, and large-scale degradation of a Caribbean coral reef. Science 265:1547–1550

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Humann P, DeLoach N (2002a) Reef coral identification. New World Publications, Jacksonville

    Google Scholar 

  • Humann P, DeLoach N (2002b) Reef fish identification. New World Publications, Jacksonville

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer PR, Lang JC (2003) The Atlantic and Gulf rapid reef assessment protocols: former version 2.2. Atoll Res Bull 496:611–618

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis SM, Wainwright PC (1985) Herbivore abundance and grazing intensity on a Caribbean coral reef. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 87:215–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macintyre IG, Aronson RB (1997) Field guide to the reefs of Belize. In: Proceedings of the 8th international coral reef symposium, vol 1, pp 203–222

  • Macintyre IG, Precht WF, Aronson RB (2000) Origin of the Pelican Cays ponds, Belize. Atoll Res Bull 466:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR (1987) Overfishing and coral reef degradation: a preliminary report from East Africa. Conserv Biol 1:97–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR (1992) Resource utilization, competition, and predation: a model and example from coral reef grazers. Ecol Model 61:195–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR (1994) Kenyan coral reef lagoon fish: effects of fishing, substrate complexity, and sea urchins. Coral Reefs 13:231–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR (1995) Fish predators and scavengers of the sea urchin Echinometra mathaei in Kenyan coral-reef marine parks. Environ Biol Fish 43:187–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR (1997) Effects of fishing and reef structure on east African coral reefs. In: Proceedings of the 8th international coral reef symposium, vol 2, pp 1533–1538

  • McClanahan TR (1998) Predation and the distribution and abundance of tropical sea urchin populations. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 221:231–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR (1999) Predation and the control of the sea urchin Echinometra viridis and fleshy algae in the patch reefs of Glovers Reef, Belize. Ecosystems 2:511–523

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR (2000) Recovery of a coral reef keystone predator, Balistapus undulatus, in East African marine parks. Biol Conserv 94:191–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR, Kurtis JD (1991) Population regulation of the rock-boring sea urchin Echinometra mathaei (de Blainville). J Exp Mar Bio Ecol 147:121–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR, Muthiga NA (1988) Changes in Kenyan coral reef community structure and function due to exploitation. Hydrobiologia 166:269–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR, Muthiga NA (1989) Patterns of predation on a sea urchin, Echinometra mathaei (de Blainville), on Kenyan coral reefs. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 126:77–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR, Nugues M, Mwachireya S (1994) Fish and sea urchin herbivory and competition in Kenyan coral reef lagoons: the role of reef management. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 184:237–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR, Muthiga NA, Kamukuru AT, Machano H, Kiambo RW (1999) The effects of marine parks and fishing on coral reefs of northern Tanzania. Biol Cons 89:161–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR, McField M, Huitric M, Bergman K, Sala E, Nystrom M, Nordemar I, Elfwing T, Muthiga NA (2001) Responses of algae, corals and fish to the reduction of macroalgae in fished and unfished patch reefs of Glovers Reef Atoll, Belize. Coral Reefs 19:367–379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McField M (1999) Coral response during and after mass bleaching in Belize. Bull Mar Sci 64:155–172

    Google Scholar 

  • Mumby PJ (1999) Bleaching and hurricane disturbances to populations of coral recruits in Belize. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 190:27–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogden JC (1977) Carbonate sediment production by parrotfish and sea urchins on Caribbean reefs. In: Frost S, Weiss M (eds) Caribbean reef systems: Holocene and ancient. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Special Paper vol 4, pp 281–288

  • Peckol P, Curran HA, Floyd E, Robbart M, Greenstein BJ, Buckman K (2003) Assessment of selected reef sites in northern and south–central Belize, including recovery from bleaching and hurricane disturbances (stony corals, algae and fish). Atoll Res Bull 496:146–171

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinn GP, Keough MJ (2002) Experimental design and data analysis for biologists. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Reaka-Kudla ML, Feingold JS, Glynn W (1996) Experimental studies of rapid bioerosion of coral reefs in the Galápagos Islands. Coral Reefs 15:101–107

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothman KJ, Greenland S (1998) Modern epidemiology, 2nd ed. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Sammarco PW (1982) Echinoid grazing as a structuring force in coral communities: whole reef manipulations. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 61:31–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sammarco PW, Levinton JS, Ogden JC (1974) Grazing and control of coral reef community structure of Diadema antillarum Philippi (Echinodermata: Echinoidea): a preliminary study. J Mar Res 32:47–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Scoffin TP, Stearn CW, Boucher D, Frydl P, Hawkins CM, Hunter IG, MacGeachy JK (1980) Calcium carbonate budget of a fringing reef on the west coast of Barbados. Part II—Erosion, sediments and internal structure. Bull Mar Sci 30:475–508

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Biometry, 2nd ed. W.H. Freeman, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearn CM, Scoffin TP (1977) Carbonate budget of a fringing reef, Barbados. In: Proceedings of the 3rd international coral reef symposium, vol 2, pp 471–476

  • Tuya F, Boyra A, Sanchez-Jerez P, Barbera C, Haroun RJ (2004) Relationships between rocky-reef fish assemblages, the sea urchin Diadema antillarum and macroalgae throughout the Canarian Archipelago. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 278:157–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson C (2000) Executive summary. In: Wilkinson C (ed) Status of coral reefs of the world: 2000. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Cape Ferguson, pp 7–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson C (2002) Executive summary. In: Wilkinson C (ed) Status of coral reefs of the world: 2002. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Cape Ferguson, pp 7–31

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Kate Barnes, Kate Buckman, Elizabeth Callaghan, Alex Chitty, and Lisa Rivera for field and data-processing assistance, and Nicholas Horton and Ashley Baldridge for their help with statistical analyses. We gratefully acknowledge facilities and staff at Wee Wee Caye Marine Laboratory (P. and M. Shave, Directors). This research was funded by a Culpeper Foundation grant to Smith College (P.P. and H.A.C.), the Smith College Summer Science Program (J. B-S.), the B. Elizabeth Horner Fund (J.B-S. and M.R.), the Nancy Kershaw Tomlinson Memorial Fund (J. B-S.), and the Smith College Department of Biological Sciences and Environmental Science and Policy Program.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA, 01063, USA

    Jocelyn Brown-Saracino & Paulette Peckol

  2. Department of Geology, Smith College, Northampton, MA, 01063, USA

    H. Allen Curran

  3. PBS&J Environmental Services, 2001 Northwest 107th Avenue, Miami, FL, 33172, USA

    Martha L. Robbart

Authors
  1. Jocelyn Brown-Saracino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Paulette Peckol
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. H. Allen Curran
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Martha L. Robbart
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paulette Peckol.

Additional information

Communicated by Editor in Chief B.E. Brown.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Brown-Saracino, J., Peckol, P., Allen Curran, H. et al. Spatial variation in sea urchins, fish predators, and bioerosion rates on coral reefs of Belize. Coral Reefs 26, 71–78 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-006-0159-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-006-0159-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation