Cited by 70Marine and coastal plant biologyEchinoderm biology and ecologyMarine Biology and Ecology Research

Depletion of palatable algae by sea urchins and fishes in a Mediterranean subtidal community

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Hereu, B·2006·Marine Ecology Progress Series

Abstract

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 313:95-103 (2006) - doi:10.3354/meps313095 Depletion of palatable algae by sea urchins and fishes in a Mediterranean subtidal community Bernat Hereu1,2,* 1Departament d’Ecologia, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain 2Present address: Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, 8272 Moss Landing Road, Moss Landing, California 95039, USA *Email: hereu@mlml.calstate.edu ABSTRACT: I studied the relative and combined effect of sea urchins and fishes on algal biomass in the Mediterranean Medes Island Marine Reserve, using tethering experiments with palatable algae in large enclosures that contained an orthogonal combination of sea urchins and fishes. Sea urchins contributed most to the decline of algae. The effect of fishes was more moderate, but nevertheless not negligible, as a decrease in algal biomass was also observed in the fish treatments at all sites. Surprisingly, the effects of fishes and sea urchins on algal biomass were not additive: the presence of fishes reduced the impact of sea urchins, and the loss of algal biomass was less in the combined treatments. These results add to the literature showing that drastic depletion of palatable algae can be caused by sea urchins, and highlight the contribution of herbivorous and omnivorous fishes to this process. Furthermore, since sea urchin densities were held constant during the experiment, my results support the concept that omnivorous fishes benefit algae in subtidal communities by altering the behavior of urchins (e.g. by inducing avoidance behavior), thus reducing their effectiveness as grazers. KEY WORDS: Herbivory · Omnivory · Tethering · Algae · Sea urchins · Fishes · Trait-mediated interactions · Trophic cascades Full text in pdf format PreviousNextExport citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 313. Online publication date: May 11, 2006 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2006 Inter-Research.

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  • Under certain conditions, native grazers can provoke similar overgrazing effects, often due to cascading effects caused by the loss of overfished native predators.

    “but under certain conditions, similar effects can be provoked by native grazers (Hereu 2006; Vergés et al. 2009; Bonaviri et al. 2011; Gianni et al. 2017; Tsirintanis et al. 2018; Papadakis et al. 2021), often due to cascading effects caused by the loss of overfished native predators (Sala et al. 1998).”

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Authors
Hereu, B.
Affiliations
California State University System (US)
Corresponding author
Hereu, B
Venue
Marine Ecology Progress Series
Published
2006-05-11
Volume
313
Pages
95-103
ISSN
  • 0171-8630 (ISSN-L)
  • 1616-1599
OpenAlex
W2118527205
Cited by
70
References
58
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 7
FWCI
4.81
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Marine Ecology Progress Series (publishedVersion)
Funders
Generalitat de Catalunya
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Marine and coastal plant biology
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Echinoderm biology and ecology
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Marine Biology and Ecology Research
Keywords
sea urchins, herbivorous fish, omnivorous fish, trait-mediated interactions, trophic cascades, herbivory, subtidal communities, tethering experiments, plant-herbivore interactions

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