Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Coral Reefs of the Perhentian Islands: Abundance Levels and Distribution Patterns of Hosting Sea Anemones, and Implications for Citizen-Science Monitoring

View ORCID ProfileMelissa Versteeg, Alanah Campbell, View ORCID ProfileHidayah Halid
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.22.427756
Melissa Versteeg
Perhentian Marine Research Station, Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu, Malaysia
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Melissa Versteeg
  • For correspondence: mversteeg5@gmail.com
Alanah Campbell
Perhentian Marine Research Station, Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu, Malaysia
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Hidayah Halid
Perhentian Marine Research Station, Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu, Malaysia
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Hidayah Halid
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Around the Perhentian Islands, coral reefs have been undergoing significant degradation, as is reported annually through citizen-science coral reef monitoring programmes. Typical methodologies included in citizen-science surveys overlook the hosting sea anemones’ contribution to lowered live coral cover (LCC) on reef sites. As sea anemones compete with corals for suitable substrate, nutrients, and light availability, the current study was designed to investigate hosting sea anemone abundance and distribution patterns independently. In addition to identifying and assessing sites of localised sea anemone dominance, sea anemones were examined to identify factors that positively influence reproductive success and growth rate, including formations, hosting status, and resident Amphiprion species. In total, 379 sea anemone samples were analysed over 1600 m2 of Perhentian reef, making this study the first known independent investigation into sea anemone abundance patterns around the Perhentian Islands. Statistical analysis revealed that at site Village Reef, sea anemone abundance was higher than would be expected in healthy reef settings, and sea anemone cover was negatively impacting LCC. At second research site Teluk Keke, such analysis resulted in marginally insignificant results, potentially due to temporal onset differences or pressures exerted by other coral competitors. The most dominant sea anemone species, Heteractis magnifica (N=352), was analysed to test whether factors linked to higher reproductive success and growth rate were present in larger sea anemones. Results corroborate that larger sea anemones were significantly more likely to be actively hosting and were more often encountered in cluster formations. The current study employed a citizen-science method to explore its feasibility as a survey tool to identify reef sites undergoing dominance shifts, such as could be further developed and incorporated into currently used citizen-science monitoring programmes.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted January 22, 2021.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Coral Reefs of the Perhentian Islands: Abundance Levels and Distribution Patterns of Hosting Sea Anemones, and Implications for Citizen-Science Monitoring
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Coral Reefs of the Perhentian Islands: Abundance Levels and Distribution Patterns of Hosting Sea Anemones, and Implications for Citizen-Science Monitoring
Melissa Versteeg, Alanah Campbell, Hidayah Halid
bioRxiv 2021.01.22.427756; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.22.427756
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Coral Reefs of the Perhentian Islands: Abundance Levels and Distribution Patterns of Hosting Sea Anemones, and Implications for Citizen-Science Monitoring
Melissa Versteeg, Alanah Campbell, Hidayah Halid
bioRxiv 2021.01.22.427756; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.22.427756

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Ecology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (3688)
  • Biochemistry (7783)
  • Bioengineering (5673)
  • Bioinformatics (21267)
  • Biophysics (10574)
  • Cancer Biology (8170)
  • Cell Biology (11929)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (6757)
  • Ecology (10394)
  • Epidemiology (2065)
  • Evolutionary Biology (13853)
  • Genetics (9702)
  • Genomics (13063)
  • Immunology (8136)
  • Microbiology (19976)
  • Molecular Biology (7841)
  • Neuroscience (43032)
  • Paleontology (318)
  • Pathology (1278)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2258)
  • Physiology (3350)
  • Plant Biology (7221)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1311)
  • Synthetic Biology (2000)
  • Systems Biology (5533)
  • Zoology (1127)