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Dryad

Exploring intraspecific and interspecific variation of coral reef algae using a novel trait-based framework

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Sep 05, 2024 version files 303.91 KB

Abstract

The development of trait-based approaches has accelerated our understanding of how communities assemble, respond to environmental change, and may best be managed in the Anthropocene. Understanding the magnitude and pattern of interspecific variability forms a critical underpinning of trait-based approaches while exploring intraspecific variability can identify the potential of species to adapt to changing environmental drivers. Our work is motivated by the critical need for a novel conceptual framework for understanding the functional ecology of macroalgae, as the current paradigm is still mired in functional group models developed in the 1980s.

Our objective was to quantify interspecific and intraspecific functional trait variability in three common and morphologically diverse species of tropical marine macroalgae by exploring traits relating to the ecological functions of resource acquisition, resistance to herbivory, and resistance to physical disturbance and the tradeoffs between them.

We quantified intraspecific and interspecific variability of 11 functional traits for three common and morphologically diverse species of tropical macroalgae from five fringing reefs of Mo’orea, French Polynesia that were likely to capture a wide range of environmental variability. Differences in traits among species and sites were determined with PERMANOVA, visualized with NMDS, and tradeoffs between pairs of traits explored with correlation. Finally, spatial patterns among select traits across all species were quantified.

Species clustered together in distinctly different trait spaces driven by tradeoffs among suites of functional traits. Two of three species had considerable intraspecific variability, though this variability occurred at different scales, while one clustered tightly. Exploration of individual traits across species and sites revealed tradeoffs between two strategies for resource acquisition, growing tall and strong vs investing in large surface area.

Synthesis: We captured novel patterns of interspecific and intraspecific variability for tropical marine macroalgae. We found fundamental differences in traits between species that may represent ecological strategies while considerable intraspecific variability demonstrates a wide range in abilities to respond to environmental drivers. Overall, our work provides novel insights into intra and interspecific trait variation that form an essential underpinning for using a trait-based framework in a taxon that is increasingly dominant on tropical reefs.