Diversity of sponge fauna in mangrove ponds, Pelican Cays, Belize
By Klaus Ri~tzler, M. Díaz, ROB W. M. VAN SOEST, S. Zea, Kathleen P. Smith, B. Alvarez, J. Wulff. 2000
94 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Mangrove-fringed ponds in the Pelican Cays, Belize, support an uncommonly diverse population of colorful and large sponges. Sponge species and abundance were determined for ponds at Cat Cay (Pond A), Manatee Cay (C), and Fisherman's Cay (E and F) and compared with the sponge fauna of more typical and common mangrove habitats elsewhere in the Belize lagoon, one at Blue Ground Range and three at Twin Cays, 10-15 km to the north. The seven habitats differ in species composition and hierarchy, the Pelican Cays ponds being by far the most species-rich, with an unusually high number of poorly known or undescribed taxa. The principal factors promoting diversity in the Pelicans are abundance of solid substrates (mangrove stilt roots, extended peat banks), low turbidity, and proximity of sponge-rich coral reefs. The topography of deep ponds alternating with steep coral ridges helps contain fine sediments and prevents resuspension and silting during storms without blocking water exchange, which is necessary for importing nutrients and flushing waste. Blue Ground Range is the most sediment-exposed habitat and supports selected silting-resistant species. Twin Cays are intermediate in sedimentation and species numbers and suffer the most physical disturbance from boating and fishing. 'Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560-0163, USA. *Ocean Sciences Department, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95054, USA. 'Institute for Systematics and Ecology, University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94766, 1090 GT Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 4Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Departamento de Biologia), INVEMAR, Apartado 10-16, Santa Marta, Colombia. 'National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Ltd., P.O. Box 14-901, Kilbirnie, New Zealand. 6 Department of Biology, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT 05753, USA
Subfields: Biotechnology, Ecology
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/1a97220393765a2b71b81d20e9511468022a1902
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Citations in the corpus
- Sponge Grounds as Key Marine Habitats: A Synthetic Review of Types, Structure, Functional Roles, and Conservation Concerns (2016, background): “In Belize, where a number of mangrove forests have been studied (R€utzler et al. 2000; Maldonado et al. 2010), Twin Cays, which is a mangrove island inside the barrier reef west of the field station on Carrie Bow Cay, supports 57 sponge species (see Table 1 for most common species; Fig.”
- Trade-offs in resistance to competitors and predators, and their effects on the diversity of tropical marine sponges (2005, background): “Diaz & Rützler 2001) and mangrove roots throughout the region (e.g. Sutherland 1980; Ellison et al. 1996; Rützler et al. 2000; Wulff 2000).”
- Alternative states on coral reefs: beyond coral–macroalgal phase shifts (2009, background): “This shift occurred despite high abundances of spongivorous fishes such as Pomacanthus arcuatus (Rützler et al. 2000, Wulff 2000).”
- The 1998 bleaching event and its aftermath on a coral reef in Belize (2002, background): “This sponge was increasing on the rhomboid shoals prior to 1998, despite high abundances of spongivorous fishes (especially the gray angelfish Pomacanthus arcuatus; Rützler et al. 2000; Wulff 2000).”
- Ecological interactions of marine sponges (2006, background): “Mangrove roots provide stable, long-lived substrata for a diverse and abundant sponge fauna (e.g., Sutherland 1980; Rützler et al. 2000), and the associations between these trees and the sponges living on their prop roots are complex.”