Differential cryptofaunal responses to seabird nutrient inputs illuminate coral reef productivity pathways
Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: Nutrients moving across ecosystems can boost productivity, stability, and resilience. Their integration through food webs is often mediated by small, abundant taxa channelling subsidies from primary producers to higher trophic levels. On coral reefs, cryptobenthic fishes and invertebrates could fill these roles, yet their responses to allochthonous nutrients are poorly understood. We compared cryptofaunal communities and associated trophic dynamics across islands with or without seabird-derived nutrients in the Chagos Archipelago, Indian Ocean. Most cryptobenthic fishes and some invertebrates showed nutrient enrichment. Community patterns revealed strong asymmetries: cryptobenthic fish biomass doubled in nutrient-rich environments, with a tenfold increase in larger piscivorous fish productivity, while cryptic invertebrate biomass stagnated, with reduced invertivore productivity. Life-history traits likely enable cryptobenthic fishes to exploit subsidies more efficiently, intensifying pressure on invertebrates in nutrient-rich environments. Our findings reveal how nutrients are routed through cryptofaunal pathways, underscoring the far-reaching impacts of cross-ecosystem nutrient vectors on trophic functioning.
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life below water
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4414313478
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: