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dc.contributor.authorDoropoulos, Christopher
dc.contributor.authorWard, Selina
dc.contributor.authorMarshell, Alyssa
dc.contributor.authorDiaz-Pulido, Guillermo
dc.contributor.authorMumby, Peter J
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-03T15:43:53Z
dc.date.available2017-05-03T15:43:53Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.identifier.issn0012-9658
dc.identifier.doi10.1890/12-0495.1
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/50802
dc.description.abstractNewly settled recruits typically suffer high mortality from disturbances, but rapid growth reduces their mortality once size-escape thresholds are attained. Ocean acidification (OA) reduces the growth of recruiting benthic invertebrates, yet no direct effects on survivorship have been demonstrated. We tested whether the reduced growth of coral recruits caused by OA would increase their mortality by prolonging their vulnerability to an acute disturbance: fish herbivory on surrounding algal turf. After two months' growth in ambient or elevated CO2 levels, the linear extension and calcification of coral (Acropora millepora) recruits decreased as CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) increased. When recruits were subjected to incidental fish grazing, their mortality was inversely size dependent. However, we also found an additive effect of pCO2 such that recruit mortality was higher under elevated pCO2 irrespective of size. Compared to ambient conditions, coral recruits needed to double their size at the highest pCO2 to escape incidental grazing mortality. This general trend was observed with three groups of predators (blenny, surgeonfish, and parrotfish), although the magnitude of the fish treatment varied among species. Our study demonstrates the importance of size-escape thresholds in early recruit survival and how OA can shift these thresholds, potentially intensifying population bottlenecks in benthic invertebrate recruitment.
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.description.publicationstatusYes
dc.format.extent307357 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherJohn Wiley & Sons
dc.publisher.placeUnited States
dc.relation.ispartofstudentpublicationN
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom2131
dc.relation.ispartofpageto2138
dc.relation.ispartofissue10
dc.relation.ispartofjournalEcology
dc.relation.ispartofvolume93
dc.rights.retentionY
dc.subject.fieldofresearchEcological impacts of climate change and ecological adaptation
dc.subject.fieldofresearchEcology
dc.subject.fieldofresearchMarine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology)
dc.subject.fieldofresearchEvolutionary biology
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode410102
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode3103
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode310305
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode3104
dc.titleInteractions among chronic and acute impacts on coral recruits: the importance of size-escape thresholds
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.descriptionC1 - Articles
dc.type.codeC - Journal Articles
gro.rights.copyright© 2012 Ecological Society of America. The attached file is reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version.
gro.date.issued2015-06-12T05:02:08Z
gro.hasfulltextFull Text
gro.griffith.authorDiaz-Pulido, Guillermo


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