Coexistence of the reef-building coral Cladocora caespitosa and the canopy-forming alga Treptacantha ballesterosii: Description of a new Mediterranean habitat

Shallow Mediterranean rocky environments are usually dominated by macroalgae, but the stony colonial zooxanthellate coral Cladocora caespitosa is able to build extensive banks in some particular areas. Although zooxanthellate corals and benthic macroalgae are expected to compete for light and space...

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Authors: Pons Fita, Alèssia, Verdura Brugarola, Jana, Santamaría Pérez, Jorge, Kersting, Diego K., Ballesteros i Sagarra, Enric
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2020
Country:España
Institution:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repository:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10256/18406
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10256/18406
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Coralls -- Mediterrània, Mar
Corals -- Mediterranean Sea
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spelling Coexistence of the reef-building coral Cladocora caespitosa and the canopy-forming alga Treptacantha ballesterosii: Description of a new Mediterranean habitatPons Fita, AlèssiaVerdura Brugarola, JanaSantamaría Pérez, JorgeKersting, Diego K.Ballesteros i Sagarra, EnricCoralls -- Mediterrània, MarCorals -- Mediterranean SeaShallow Mediterranean rocky environments are usually dominated by macroalgae, but the stony colonial zooxanthellate coral Cladocora caespitosa is able to build extensive banks in some particular areas. Although zooxanthellate corals and benthic macroalgae are expected to compete for light and space when overlapping in the same habitat, there is previous evidence that C. caespitosa and Mediterranean macroalgae do not suffer from competitive exclusion when living together. Here we characterize a new and unique Mediterranean habitat where the reef-building coral C. caespitosa and erect seaweeds of the order Fucales (Cystoseira s.l.) coexist. In this new habitat C. caespitosa reaches 34% cover and densities of Cystoseira s.l. (mainly Treptacantha ballesterosii) are much higher than values reported from other sites. Interestingly, abundances of T. ballesterosii and C. caespitosa show a positive relationship, suggesting that some kind of facilitation mechanism is taking place. These findings challenge the theory of competitive exclusion between corals and macroalgae and launch a wide array of possible open discussions on coral-macroalgae interactionsLos ambientes rocosos someros del Mediterráneo están habitualmente dominados por macroalgas, no obstante, el coral colonial zooxantelado Cladocora caespitosa es capaz de formar bancos extensos en algunos lugares. Aunque es predecible que los corales con zooxantelas y las algas bentónicas compitan por la luz y el espacio cuando coinciden en el mismo hábitat, hay evidencias previas de que C. caespitosa y las algas mediterráneas no se excluyen competitivamente cuando viven juntas. En este trabajo se caracteriza un nuevo y único hábitat mediterráneo donde el coral formador de arrecifes C. caespi- tosa y algas erectas del orden Fucales (Cystoseira s.l.) coexisten. En este hábitat nuevo C. caespitosa alcanza coberturas del 34% y las densidades de Cystoseira s.l. (principalmente de Treptacantha ballesterosii) son mucho mayores que los valores encontrados en otros lugares. Remarcablemente, las abundancias de T. ballesterosii y C. caespitosa muestran una relación positiva, sugiriendo que existe algún tipo de mecanismo de facilitación. Este hallazgo pone en jaque la teoría de exclusión competitiva entre corales y macroalgas, a la vez que puede iniciar un amplio abanico de discusiones en las interacciones entre corales y macroalgasConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)2020info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionpeer-reviewedapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10256/18406http://hdl.handle.net/10256/18406Scientia Marina, 2020, vol. 84, núm. 3, p. 263-271Articles publicats (D-CCAA)reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunyainstname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)Inglésinfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.3989/scimar.05018.11Binfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/0214-8358info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/eissn/1886-8134Attribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:recercat.cat:10256/184062026-05-29T05:05:01Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Coexistence of the reef-building coral Cladocora caespitosa and the canopy-forming alga Treptacantha ballesterosii: Description of a new Mediterranean habitat
title Coexistence of the reef-building coral Cladocora caespitosa and the canopy-forming alga Treptacantha ballesterosii: Description of a new Mediterranean habitat
spellingShingle Coexistence of the reef-building coral Cladocora caespitosa and the canopy-forming alga Treptacantha ballesterosii: Description of a new Mediterranean habitat
Pons Fita, Alèssia
Coralls -- Mediterrània, Mar
Corals -- Mediterranean Sea
title_short Coexistence of the reef-building coral Cladocora caespitosa and the canopy-forming alga Treptacantha ballesterosii: Description of a new Mediterranean habitat
title_full Coexistence of the reef-building coral Cladocora caespitosa and the canopy-forming alga Treptacantha ballesterosii: Description of a new Mediterranean habitat
title_fullStr Coexistence of the reef-building coral Cladocora caespitosa and the canopy-forming alga Treptacantha ballesterosii: Description of a new Mediterranean habitat
title_full_unstemmed Coexistence of the reef-building coral Cladocora caespitosa and the canopy-forming alga Treptacantha ballesterosii: Description of a new Mediterranean habitat
title_sort Coexistence of the reef-building coral Cladocora caespitosa and the canopy-forming alga Treptacantha ballesterosii: Description of a new Mediterranean habitat
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Pons Fita, Alèssia
Verdura Brugarola, Jana
Santamaría Pérez, Jorge
Kersting, Diego K.
Ballesteros i Sagarra, Enric
author Pons Fita, Alèssia
author_facet Pons Fita, Alèssia
Verdura Brugarola, Jana
Santamaría Pérez, Jorge
Kersting, Diego K.
Ballesteros i Sagarra, Enric
author_role author
author2 Verdura Brugarola, Jana
Santamaría Pérez, Jorge
Kersting, Diego K.
Ballesteros i Sagarra, Enric
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Coralls -- Mediterrània, Mar
Corals -- Mediterranean Sea
topic Coralls -- Mediterrània, Mar
Corals -- Mediterranean Sea
description Shallow Mediterranean rocky environments are usually dominated by macroalgae, but the stony colonial zooxanthellate coral Cladocora caespitosa is able to build extensive banks in some particular areas. Although zooxanthellate corals and benthic macroalgae are expected to compete for light and space when overlapping in the same habitat, there is previous evidence that C. caespitosa and Mediterranean macroalgae do not suffer from competitive exclusion when living together. Here we characterize a new and unique Mediterranean habitat where the reef-building coral C. caespitosa and erect seaweeds of the order Fucales (Cystoseira s.l.) coexist. In this new habitat C. caespitosa reaches 34% cover and densities of Cystoseira s.l. (mainly Treptacantha ballesterosii) are much higher than values reported from other sites. Interestingly, abundances of T. ballesterosii and C. caespitosa show a positive relationship, suggesting that some kind of facilitation mechanism is taking place. These findings challenge the theory of competitive exclusion between corals and macroalgae and launch a wide array of possible open discussions on coral-macroalgae interactions
publishDate 2020
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2020
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
peer-reviewed
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10256/18406
http://hdl.handle.net/10256/18406
url http://hdl.handle.net/10256/18406
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.3989/scimar.05018.11B
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/0214-8358
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/eissn/1886-8134
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Scientia Marina, 2020, vol. 84, núm. 3, p. 263-271
Articles publicats (D-CCAA)
reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
instname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
instname_str Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
reponame_str Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
collection Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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