Facilitation of coral reef growth by coralline red algae – patterns during the last 150 million years

Teichert S, Steinbauer M, Kießling W (2019)


Publication Language: English

Publication Type: Conference contribution, Abstract of lecture

Publication year: 2019

Event location: Würzburg DE

Abstract

Aim:
Modern crustose coralline red algae (CCA) play a key role in the construction of coral reefs. It is unclear, however, if their function as consolidators of coral reefs was similar pronounced in the geological past. Accordingly, we tested (1) when the presence of CCA was crucial for the formation of coral reefs throughout the last 150 Ma. We further investigated if (2) the capacity of CCA to reinforce coral reefs suffered two transient crises as a result of the diversification of major herbivore groups.

Location:
The study involves reef structures from tropical and subtropical environments on a global scale, ranging from the Cretaceous (145.5 Ma) to the Pleistocene (0.01 Ma).
Methods: For 736 reef sites, we tested if the fractions of coral reefs are positively correlated with the fractions of those reefs with CCA as secondary reef builders. Implementing generalized linear models (GLM), we tested if fluctuations in the functioning of CCA as secondary reef builders can be explained by the diversification of herbivores or other potential explanatory variables – sea level, δ18O, CO2 and CCA species diversity.

Results:
The presence of CCA was found to positively correlate with the abundance of coral reefs throughout the analysed period. Model results show that the probability that reefs contain CCA as major reef builders increases with CCA diversity and δ18O while the presence of newly evolved herbivores has a negative effect. High correlations between explanatory variables limit the interpretation of model results.

Main conclusions:
The presence of CCA is crucial for the formation of coral reefs. This facilitation suffered two crises probably linked to diversification of major herbivore groups. As CCA have evolved adaptations to grazing pressure they now facilitate the formation of modern coral reefs.

Authors with CRIS profile

How to cite

APA:

Teichert, S., Steinbauer, M., & Kießling, W. (2019). Facilitation of coral reef growth by coralline red algae – patterns during the last 150 million years. Paper presentation at macro 2019 – Bridging local patterns and global challenges, Würzburg, DE.

MLA:

Teichert, Sebastian, Manuel Steinbauer, and Wolfgang Kießling. "Facilitation of coral reef growth by coralline red algae – patterns during the last 150 million years." Presented at macro 2019 – Bridging local patterns and global challenges, Würzburg 2019.

BibTeX: Download