Biodiversity Effects of the Predation Gauntlet

Adrian C. Stier, Christopher D. Stallings, Jameal F. Samhouri, Mark A. Albins, Glenn R. Almany

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The ubiquity of trophic downgrading has led to interest in the consequences of mesopredator release on prey communities and ecosystems. This issue is of particular concern for reef-fish communities, where predation is a key process driving ecological and evolutionary dynamics. Here, we synthesize existing experiments that have isolated the effects of mesopredators to quantify the role of predation in driving changes in the abundance and biodiversity of recently settled reef fishes. On average, predators reduced prey abundance through generalist foraging behavior, which, through a statistical sampling artifact, caused a reduction in alpha diversity and an increase in beta diversity. Thus, the synthesized experiments provide evidence that predation reduces overall abundance within prey communities, but—after accounting for sampling effects—does not cause disproportionate effects on biodiversity.

Original languageAmerican English
JournalCoral Reefs
Volume36
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2017

Keywords

  • Predator–prey
  • Rarefaction
  • Coral reef
  • Reef fish
  • Assembly
  • Invasive predators

Disciplines

  • Life Sciences

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