Study reveals the importance of grazers for coral reefs
by Brooks Hays
Panama City, Panama (UPI) Jan 5, 2017
Every ecosystem is a balancing act, some more delicate than others. Small changes can yield large and unexpected consequences. New research suggests that for coral reefs in the Caribbean, much depends on tiny grazers -- like sea urchins and parrotfish.
Scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute have been measuring the grazing abilities of smaller species in the Carribbean, and their findings suggest an abudance of tiny creatures can consume algae at rates commensurate with larger herbivores.
That's good news for Caribbean coral reefs, many of which have become degraded and overgrown with algae. Thirty years ago, a disease wiped out long-spined black sea urchins, Diadema antillarum, throughout the Caribbean -- a grazing species coral relied on to keep creeping algae at bay.
Long-spined black sea urchins have begun to slowly return, but their numbers remain at just 12 percent of their totals before the die-off.
More:
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Study_reveals_the_importance_of_grazers_for_coral_reefs_999.html
