Premium
ODD SPECIES OUT AS PREDATORS REDUCE DIVERSITY OF CORAL‐REEF FISHES
Author(s) -
Almany Glenn R.,
Webster Michael S.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.1890/03-3150
Subject(s) - predation , generalist and specialist species , species richness , ecology , coral reef , reef , biology , coral reef fish , species diversity , coral , ecological release , community structure , habitat
When predators differentiate among prey species, they commonly select the most abundant species. Surprisingly, on coral reefs in Australia and the Bahamas, we found evidence to the contrary: using null models, we observed that generalist predators had a greater impact on less‐abundant species, thereby reducing local species richness. Disproportionate effects on these rare species were evident during a narrow window of time between settlement and 1–2 days later, highlighting how interactions during or immediately following settlement may influence subsequent community structure. Differences in species richness between treatments that were established during this narrow window of time eventually disappeared from reefs in Australia but persisted on reefs in the Bahamas. Our results highlight an unexpected and largely unexplored ecological interaction whereby predators reduce prey diversity.