More food for the vegetarians?

Assessing coral algal shifts and the impacts on fish species

richness and composition in Heron Reef

Abigail Youngblood – abiyoungblood@gmail.com

6 November 2024

University of Queensland, School of Biological Sciences

St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia

Abstract

Climate change presents unique dangers to coral reef ecosystems, mainly because of

rising global temperatures and more frequent storm disturbances. As a result, reefs experience

mass bleaching and reduced rugosity, leaving them vulnerable to coral-algal phase shifts. Heron

Reef experienced a mass bleaching event in early 2024, allowing macroalgae to dominate the

reef in late 2024. We sought to assess how coral-algal phase shifts affect fish populations in

Heron Reef, particularly looking at species richness and the proportion of herbivory within a

population. Using video footage from underwater transects, we counted the number of species in

healthy coral and algal phase shift habitats. Using linear regression, we found no relationship

between coral health and fish species richness (p-value of 0.7419). Additionally, using an

ANOVA, we found no relationship between coral health and herbivory (p-value of 0.249).

Previous research indicates that coral-algal shifts impact fish diversity, but the exact effects still

need clarification. Overall, this has substantial implications for coral reef and coastal

management, as well as the impacts of climate change.

Additional Keywords: coral bleaching, herbivory, Great Barrier Reef, fish diversity, climate

change impacts, reef resilience

Introduction

As the global population grows and the human use of electricity increases, there is a

greater need for energy production to fuel society. Energy comes cheaply in the form of fossil

fuels – the rise of a world reliant on the extraction, transport, and combustion of fossil fuels has

upset nature's careful equilibrium, leaving ecosystems out of balance. As a result of fossil fuel

burning, there is an excess of carbon dioxide in the air, heating the atmosphere faster than natural

climate change ever could (NASA). This rapid global warming has been felt by ecosystems

everywhere, but shallow marine ecosystems present particular vulnerabilities since shallower

waters warm more than deeper marine environments (NOAA). For example, most coral reefs are

restricted to waters where light can penetrate up to only 30 meters, meaning they are more likely

to be negatively affected by rising air temperatures (NOAA). Climate change has thus put corals

under more significant levels of thermal stress – between 1871 and 2017, thermal stress for coral

reefs has increased fivefold with just 0.92℃ of atmospheric warming (Lough et al.).

When the zooxanthellae in corals experience thermal stress, their photosynthetic

processes malfunction, and they produce toxic oxides, causing the corals to expel them in an

event better known as coral bleaching (Jones et al.). Zooxanthellae provide the corals with at

least 51% of the energy used in respiration and 11% of the energy needed to grow (Davies).

Ergo, while bleaching does not kill the coral, it significantly impedes their nutritional intake. If

stressful conditions continue and the coral cannot re-recruit zooxanthellae, the coral will likely
die from a lack of essential amino acids and sugars that zooxanthellae provide (Souter and

Lindén). In addition, anthropogenic climate change, combined with natural climate fluctuations

like El Niño Southern Oscillation, has highly increased the likelihood of annual bleaching across

the world; more frequent bleaching gives reefs less time to recover and effectively kills the coral

for good (Hughes et al.). The impact of climate change on coral reefs is clearly seen in Heron

Reef, a coral cay in the Southern Great Barrier Reef. The Southern GBR experienced its highest

thermal stress on record through January, February, and March of 2024, leaving 80% of the

surveyed reefs highly (31-60%) or extremely (90%) bleached (Cantin et al.).

When disturbance events like mass bleaching occur, coral reefs can experience

coral-algal phase shifts, where reefs display significantly low coral cover and high fleshy

macroalgae cover (McManus and Polsenberg). As the shift occurs, corals face increased

competition and algal overgrowth, hindering their survival (Ceccarelli et al.). Dead coral acts as a

prime substrate for algal growth – when coral skeletons are removed, algae cover is reduced by

50% (Kopecky et al.). Currently, the GBR is experiencing the most "persistent" coral-algal shift

yet observed following extensive coral mortality from bleaching and storm damage (Cheal et

al.).

As biodiversity hotspots, coral reef systems support hundreds of unique fish by providing

habitat, food, and breeding grounds. It is thus essential to consider that the change from coral to

algae alters the food dynamics of the reef ecosystem, which impacts fish of all diets. Specifically,

coral algal-phase shifts increase the number of herbivorous species, a decrease in reef-dependent

animals, and a biomass shift towards lower trophic levels (Ainsworth and Mumby). While reefs

with extensive coral loss see declines in fish diversity, this is made up for by the increase in

algae-feeding species, meaning there is little significant change in overall diversity (Wilson et
al.). However, when coral death and algal shift are associated with reduced structural complexity

within the reef, this can lead to decreased fish diversity (Pratchett et al.).

In this study, we sought to investigate how fish species richness and composition change

at varying levels of a coral-algal phase shift in Heron Reef. Most coral surveyed was branching

Acropora, but Heron Reef supports 72% of the coral species found in the Great Barrier Reef and

around 900 fish species (NOAA PMEL). By assessing healthy coral and algae cover status in

conjunction with fish diversity, we hypothesized that fish species richness would decrease and

the proportion of herbivorous fish would increase in reefs with higher levels of coral-algal phase

shifts.

Methods

Our study occurred on Research Beach, Heron Island, in the Great Barrier Reef

Capricorn Group. We began by visually selecting a site based on apparent coral cover, avoiding

sand as best as possible. We looked for sites with consistent coral health, whether mostly healthy

or mostly algal shift coral – this was not always possible, so best approximations were deemed

okay. Using a transect tape, we set up a 25-meter transect at each site, recording the start and end

points with a GPS. This was repeated for a total of 16 transects over 3 days (Appendix 1). Data

collection typically began within two hours of high tide to maximize the number of fish in the

nearshore reef.

After laying the transect, we moved 50+ meters from the study site to minimize the site's

disturbance and allow the fish to return. After 15 minutes, a swimmer returned to the transect

with a GoPro. We filmed along the transect's length, moving as slowly as possible to avoid

disturbing the fish. An effort was made to film the visible fish as closely as possible, especially

at a side angle, to make identification easier; however, the swimmer stayed within 2.5 meters
from the transect. After filming, we began assessing the coral health of the transect. Every 5

meters (including 0 meters and 25 meters), we laid down a 0.5 m by 0.5 m quadrat. The quadrat

was divided into 25 total squares. We took a picture of each quadrat on the GoPro to assess later.

To assess fish species richness and composition, we used Great Barrier Reef fish field

guides to determine the species seen in the videos. Every fish sufficiently visible by the GoPro

was counted, leaving out fish too far away or blurry to be adequately identified (as they were too

far off the transect). Each fish was then classified as a grazer or a non-grazer. The number of

species was totaled for each transect, and the proportion of grazers was noted.

To assess coral health, each subsection of the quadrat was visually analyzed to determine

what sea-floor cover dominated it (with the options being healthy coral, dead or algal shift coral,

or sand). The percent of squares with healthy coral, dead coral, and sand were taken for each

quadrat, and the values of all the quadrats within the transect were averaged to determine the

overall composition of the transect. Any transect with 0-30% healthy coral was classified as "low

health," whereas 31-60% was "medium health" and 61-100% was "high health."

Using R Studio, we ran a linear regression to determine if there was a relationship

between the percentage of healthy coral and the number of species. Next, we used Sørenson's

Similarity Index (SSI) to numerically quantify potential pairwise similarities of species richness

between transects. Additionally, we used a Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) Test to see if there

was a relationship between the level of coral health and the number of fish families identified in

each transect. Finally, we analyzed the difference in the number of herbivores between varying

levels of coral health using an ANOVA to determine whether a regime shift occurs as algal shifts

occur.
Results

Across 16 transects covering 400 meters of the reef, we observed 82 unique fish species.

The number of species on each transect varied from 7 to 24. Damselfish and wrasse were the

most common families observed, with 111 total damselfish seen and 36 wrasse. The percentage

of grazers in each transect varied from 40-75%, with the vast majority of the transects having

between 50% and 60% grazers. In terms of coral health, 6 of the transects were identified as

"low" health, 6 were "medium" health, and 4 were "high" health. The amount of dead/algal-shift

coral along the transects ranged from 12% to 96.67%. Sand cover ranged from 0% to 34%.

Firstly, a linear regression of the number of unique species observed and the percentage

of healthy coral in each transect produced an R² value of 0.008 with a p-value of 0.7419

(Appendix 2). This means we fail to reject the null hypothesis that there is no linear relationship

between species richness and the percentage of healthy coral (Figure 1).

Next, all calculations for Sørenson's Similarity Index revealed values less than 0.33, with

98.2% of those values being less than 0.30. The minimum value was 0.07, and the maximum

value was 0.32. For ecological data such as this, an SSI value below 0.5 signifies that the paired

communities do not share the same species composition (Akoto et al.).

Additionally, a visual analysis of the MDS revealed there is very little clustering between

low, medium, and high-health corals (Figure 2). This indicates that there is little relationship

between the number of families and the health of the coral. It is unlikely we could predict the

number of fish families based on the health of the coral.

Finally, an ANOVA of coral health versus the percentage of grazers obtained a p-value of

0.249. Thus, we fail to reject the null hypothesis that there is a difference in the percentage of

grazers between varying levels of coral health.

Discussion

Our data indicates little to no relationship between fish species richness and coral health.

According to our linear regression, fish diversity can only be explained by coral health 0.8% of

the time. This indicates that a coral-algal phase shift does not affect fish diversity, a conclusion

that deviates from previous studies (Ainsworth and Mumby, Wilson et al., Pratchett et al.).

Regardless, coral decline generally causes a decline in both fish diversity and abundance,

especially for coral-dependent fish (Jones et al.). As mass bleaching becomes more common, it is

clear that coral mortality will fundamentally change reef ecosystems. Reef systems that become

more staunchly dominated by algae are more likely to stay dominated by algae, meaning that

widespread and constant bleaching disturbances caused by climate change could bring about the

permanent demise of coral reefs (McManus and Polsenberg).

Additionally, the presence of a coral-algal phase shift in Heron Reef was very apparent,

especially at our study site at Research Beach. During our site selection process, it was [difficult

to find continuous stretches of healthy coral to analyze for fish diversity -- all transects contained

some algal shift coral. Instead, the reef presented a mosaic of algal shift and healthy coral.

Previous literature indicates that extreme algal phase shift could increase herbivory (Ainsworth

and Mumby) and that grazing is highest on more degraded reefs (Kuempel and Altieri). Our

results failed to agree with this research, as there was no significant relationship between coral

health and the percentage of grazers in our data. Even though most reef fish are highly territorial

(Cowlishaw), the mosaic of the reef flat enables them to find the food they need within a short

distance. Moreover, depending on body size, reef structure, and time of day, reef fish can have

home ranges anywhere from <10 meters to 3 kilometers long (Green et al.). For example,
damselfish are known to be aggressively territorial herbivores (Jones) but have home ranges

<10–20 m long (Green et al.). Fish are seemingly mobile enough to find resources even in the

presence of a coral-algal phase shift. Territorial behavior could also have encouraged certain

kinds of fish to stay in their range as we swam along the transect rather than leaving because of

predator response.

Interestingly, there is a strong relationship between herbivorous fish abundance and

coral-algal phase shifts. When the number of algae-eating fish declines, algal phase shifts are far

more common; algae phase shifts then suppress corals' survival, recruitment, and reproduction

(Hughes et al.). Algae growth can be encouraged by overfishing of herbivores and disease in

important algae-eaters like urchins (Kuempel and Altieri). Future analysis of herbivorous fish

abundance, rather than just species richness, versus coral health would significantly improve this

study area. In addition, our research could have benefitted from a greater sample size (more

transects) and more varied study sites to accurately draw conclusions about the Heron Reef

ecosystem.

It is crucial to carefully manage coral reef ecosystems in the future, as they have an

undeniable ecological and economic importance. Reefs with higher three-dimensional

complexity are more resilient in the face of environmental stressors (Crabbe), and maintaining

coral health is crucial to the upkeep of reef rugosity. While the structure provided by dead coral

colonies can take a long time to erode, declining rugosity accelerates the adverse effects of coral

death on fish assemblages (Adam et al.). Coral-algal shifts do not contribute to structural

complexity in reef ecosystems, thus representing a long-term danger to the survival of corals. On

top of this, coral-dependent fishes are mostly resistant to coral bleaching and can survive

bleaching events. However, chronic bleaching that causes coral death causes them to disappear
from reefs (Bonin et al.). It is increasingly important to understand precisely how coral-algal

phase shifts will impact fish abundance and richness, specifically for corallivores and

coral-dependent species that make up coral reef ecosystems.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to the Gooreng Gooreng, Gurang, Bailai and Taribelang Bunda peoples for their

intimate knowledge and careful stewardship of the waters surrounding Heron Island for over

6000 years. An additional thanks to them for letting us study and live on their land for the week.

Thank you to Katya, Ilha, Marc, Matt, and Mel for all of their support and help throughout the

project. Thank you to the HIRS staff for their hospitality and tireless work to make our stay run

smoothly. Thank you to Maddie Dimmick, Riley Raker, Peyton King, and Seth Dolak for their

invaluable contributions, incredible teamwork, and hard work throughout the research process.

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Figure Legends

Figure 1. Linear regression of number of unique species and percentage of healthy coral. Line of

best fit equation is 𝑦 = 0. 0155𝑥 + 16. 272. The R² is 0.008. Note the vaguely positive but

insignificant (p-value = 0.7419) linear relationship. Each data point represents a transect.

Figure 2. MDS of coral health and number of fish families. No obvious clustering seen between

the different levels of coral health. There is little to no visual correlation between the number of

fish families observed and coral health.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 2.

Appendix

Appendix 1.
Appendix 2.