MCR LTER: Coral Reef: Reducing consumer pressure increases community dissimilarity leading to coral- or algal-dominance on a coral reef; Data for Speare et al., 2026 Ecology

First Year: 

2018

Last Year: 

2022
These data are from a four-year consumer exclusion and nutrient enrichment experiment conducted at one site on the forereef of Mo’orea, French Polynesia. In June 2018, we established a factorial experiment manipulating consumer pressure and nutrient availability in areas that mimicked disturbance from a cyclone. At 12m depth on the north shore forereef of Moorea, French Polynesia (17.47° S, 149.82° W) we established 8 ~30m2 plots. Within each plot, we then nested 4 different consumer exclosures (~1.25 m2 each) with different size openings that allowed different size fishes (herbivores and corallivores, hereafter referred to as ‘consumers’) access to the benthos. Each plot (with four nested consumer exclosures) was assigned to either Ambient or Enriched nutrient conditions. Thus, each combination of consumer pressure (Very Low, Low, Medium, High) and nutrients (Ambient or Enriched) had n=4 for replication. For the enrichment we placed 175 g of Osmocote® (19-6-12, N-P-K) slow-release garden fertilizer into 5 cm diameter PVC tubes, which were replaced every 12-16 weeks. These data describe the abundance (percent cover) of benthic taxa in experimental exclosures over 4 years. Additionally, the biomass of fishes that entered experimental plots was quantified using visual surveys throughout the experiment. Data on fish biomass grouped by functional group and fish species are included. Additionally, Water nutrient concentrations were quantified to assess the effectiveness of the nutrient enrichment treatment. Data assessing whether corals had visible bite marks from fishes (a metric of corallivory) are also included.

Package Type: 

Publication

Topic: 

Benthic Algae
Coral

Core Research Areas: 

Populations

Keywords: 

Coral Reefs, Benthos, Species Richness, Algae