Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Christina Skinner, Professor Aileen MillORCiD, Dr Steven Newman, Dr Mike Zhu, Professor Nick Polunin
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Coral reefs were traditionally perceived as productive hotspots in oligotrophic waters. While modern evidence indicates that many coral reef food webs are heavily subsidized by planktonic production, the pathways through which this occurs remain unresolved. We used the analytical power of carbon isotope analysis of essential amino acids to distinguish between alternative carbon pathways and supporting four key reef predators across an oceanic atoll. This technique separates benthic vs planktonic inputs, further identifying two distinct planktonic pathways (nearshore reef-associated plankton and offshore pelagic plankton), and revealing that these reef predators are overwhelmingly sustained by offshore pelagic sources rather than by reef sources (including reef-associated plankton). Notably, pelagic reliance did not vary between species or reef habitats, emphasizing that allochthonous energetic subsidies may have system-wide importance. These results help explain how coral reefs maintain exceptional productivity in apparently nutrient-poor 36 tropical settings, but also emphasize their susceptibility to future ocean productivity fluctuations.
Author(s): Skinner C, Mill AC, Fox MD, Newman SP, Zhu Y, Kuhl A, Polunin NVC
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Science Advances
Year: 2021
Volume: 7
Issue: 8
Online publication date: 19/02/2021
Acceptance date: 04/01/2021
Date deposited: 20/08/2021
ISSN (electronic): 2375-2548
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
URL: .https:/doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abf3792
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abf3792
Data Access Statement: https://doi.org/10.14284/440
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
