Form and function of tropical macroalgal reefs in the Anthropocene

By Christopher J. Fulton, R. Abesamis, C. Berkström, M. Depczynski, N. A. Graham, T. Holmes, Michel Kulbicki, M. Noble, B. Radford, S. Tano and 3 more. Functional Ecology, 2019

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Tropical reefs have been subjected to a range of anthropogenic pressures such as global climate change, overfishing and eutrophication that have raised questions about the prominence of macroalgae on tropical reefs, whether they pose a threat to biodiversity, and how they may influence the function of tropical marine ecosystems. We synthesise current understanding of the structure and function of tropical macroalgal reefs and how they may support various ecosystem goods and services. We then forecast how key stressors may alter the role of macroalgal reefs in tropical seascapes of the Anthropocene. High levels of primary productivity from tropical canopy macroalgae, which rivals that of other key producers (e.g., corals and turf algae), can be widely dispersed across tropical seascapes to provide a boost of secondary productivity in a range of biomes that include coral reefs, and support periodic harvests of macroalgal biomass for industrial and agricultural uses. Complex macroalgal reefs that comprise a mixture of canopy and understorey taxa can also provide key habitats for a diverse community of epifauna, as well as juvenile and adult fishes that are the basis for important tropical fisheries. Key macroalgal taxa (e.g., Sargassum) that form complex macroalgal reefs are likely to be sensitive to future climate change. Increases in maximum sea temperature, in particular, could depress biomass production and/or drive phenological shifts in canopy formation that will affect their capacity to support tropical marine ecosystems. Macroalgal reefs can support a suite of tropical marine ecosystem functions when embedded within an interconnected mosaic of habitat types. Habitat connectivity is, therefore, essential if we are to maintain tropical marine biodiversity alongside key ecosystem goods and services. Consequently, complex macroalgal reefs should be treated as a key ecological asset in strategies for the conservation and management of diverse tropical seascapes. A plain language summary is available for this article.

Subfields: Ecology, Oceanography

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/f2d39715a7bb114a244b1b0d4a07a4704537b483

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Citations in the corpus

Morphological traits can track coral reef responses to the Anthropocene (2019, background): “A similar effect is expected in macroalgal assemblages, where complex canopy-forming macroalgae share functional similarities to complex corals, and is also expected to decrease in abundance in the Anthropocene (Fulton et al., 2019).”
Tropicalisation of temperate reefs: Implications for ecosystem functions and management actions (2019, background): “Although tropical Sargassum species are generally susceptible to herbivores, they can nevertheless form extensive forests in some habitats during periods of maximum seaweed growth (Doropoulos, Hyndes, Abecasis, & Vergés, 2013; Fulton et al., 2019).”
Coral reef ecosystem services in the Anthropocene (2019, background): “For instance, naturally occurring areas of tropical macroalgae can support a diversity of fish and other organisms, including some of important fishery value (Fulton et al., 2019).”