Bathymetric Variation in Recruitment and Relative Importance of Pre- and Post-Settlement Processes in Coral Assemblages at Lyudao (Green Island), Taiwan.docVIP

BathymetricVariationinRecruitmentandRelative ImportanceofPre-andPost-SettlementProcessesin CoralAssemblagesatLyudao(GreenIsland),Taiwan YokoNozawa*,Che-HungLin,Ai-ChiChung BiodiversityResearchCenter,AcademiaSinica,Taipei,Taiwan,ROC Abstract Studies on coral communities have typically been conducted in shallow waters (,5m). However, in the face of climate change, and as shallow coral communities become degraded, a greater understanding of deeper coral communities is needed as they become the main reef remnants, playing a central role in the future of coral reefs. To understand the dynamicsofdeepercoralassemblages,therecruitmentandtaxonomiccompositionofdifferentlife-stagesat5and15m depths were compared at three locations in Lyudao, southeastern Taiwan in 2010. Coral recruits (,1cm diameter, ,4 months old) were examined using settlement plates. Juvenile corals (1–5cm, several years old) were examined with quadrats, and adult corals (.5cm, several years to decades old) were examined using transect lines. Pocilloporid and poritidcoralshadsimilarandhighernumbersofrecruitsat5mcomparedto15m,whereasacroporidrecruitsweremore abundantat15m.Theprimarycausefortheformermaybelarvalbehavior,suchthattheypositionthemselvesinshallow waters,whilethatforthelattermaybethedominanceofbroodingacroporidspecies(Isoporaspp.)at15m.Thetaxonomic composition,especiallybetweenrecruitsandjuveniles/adults,wasmoresimilarat15mthanat5m.Theseresultssuggesta change in the relative importance of pre- and post-settlement processes in assemblage determinants with depth; coral assemblages in shallow habitats (more disturbed) are more influenced by post-settlement processes (mortality events), whilethoseindeeperhabitats(moreprotected)aremoreinfluencedbypre-settlementprocesses(larvalsupply). Citation:NozawaY,LinC-H,ChungA-C(2013)BathymetricVariationinRecruitmentandRelativeImportanceofPre-andPost-SettlementProcessesinCoral AssemblagesatLyudao(GreenIsland),Taiwan.PLoSONE8(11):e81474.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.008