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Coral niche construction: coral recruitment increases along a coral-built structural complexity gradient

View ORCID ProfileViviana Brambilla, View ORCID ProfileAndrew H. Baird, View ORCID ProfileMiguel Barbosa, View ORCID ProfileInga Dehnert, View ORCID ProfileJoshua T. Madin, Clare Peddie, View ORCID ProfileMaria A. Dornelas
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.14.464352
Viviana Brambilla
1Centre for Biological Diversity, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TH, United Kingdom
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  • For correspondence: vb42@st-andrews.ac.uk
Andrew H. Baird
2ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia
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Miguel Barbosa
1Centre for Biological Diversity, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TH, United Kingdom
3CESAM, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810 Aveiro, Portugal
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Inga Dehnert
4MaRHE Center (Marine Research and High Education Center), Magoodhoo Island, Republic of Maldives
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Joshua T. Madin
5Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawai’I at Manoa, Kaneohe 96744, Hawai’i
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Clare Peddie
6School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, United Kingdom
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Maria A. Dornelas
1Centre for Biological Diversity, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TH, United Kingdom
7Scottish Ocean Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, United Kingdom
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Abstract

Niche construction is the process through which organisms modify environmental states in ways favourable to their own fitness. Here, we test experimentally whether scleractinian corals can be considered niche constructors. In particular, we demonstrate a positive feedback involved in corals building structures which facilitate recruitment. Coral larval recruitment is a key process for coral reef persistence. Larvae require low flow conditions to settle from the plankton, and hence the presence of colony structures that can break the flow is expected to facilitate coral recruitment. Here, we show an increase in settler presence on artificial tiles deployed in the field along a gradient of coral-built structural complexity. Structural complexity had a positive effect on settlement, with an increase of 15,71% of settler presence probability along the range of structural complexity considered. This result provides evidence that coral built structural complexity creates conditions that facilitate coral settlement, while demonstrating that corals meet the criteria for ecological niche construction.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted October 15, 2021.
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Coral niche construction: coral recruitment increases along a coral-built structural complexity gradient
Viviana Brambilla, Andrew H. Baird, Miguel Barbosa, Inga Dehnert, Joshua T. Madin, Clare Peddie, Maria A. Dornelas
bioRxiv 2021.10.14.464352; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.14.464352
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Coral niche construction: coral recruitment increases along a coral-built structural complexity gradient
Viviana Brambilla, Andrew H. Baird, Miguel Barbosa, Inga Dehnert, Joshua T. Madin, Clare Peddie, Maria A. Dornelas
bioRxiv 2021.10.14.464352; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.14.464352

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