caa a22 4500 445819286 CHVBK 20180317145239.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170323e20110901xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s00338-011-0763-1 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s00338-011-0763-1 Associational refuges among corals mediate impacts of a crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci outbreak [Elektronische Daten] Indirect positive interactions in communities [Mohsen Kayal, Hunter Lenihan, Cédric Pau, Lucie Penin, Mehdi Adjeroud] Interactions among coral populations can moderate the impact of coral predator outbreaks, enhancing community resilience and recovery. This study used predator-exclusion cages and neighbour removals in a field experiment to test how indirect interactions between populations of three coral taxa, Acropora, Pocillopora, and Porites, influenced their survival during an outbreak of the crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci, in Moorea, French Polynesia. High densities of corals enhanced survival by generating associational refuges: physical structures that impeded Acanthaster and protected corals, and by simple density-dependent prey dilution that reduced predation rates. Acanthaster showed feeding preferences, resulting in varying intensities of predation on corals, which (1) influenced the type and strength of the associational refuge among corals and (2) resulted in significant loss of the competitive dominants to the benefit of the competitive inferiors. The result was a set of indirect positive interactions (IPIs) that prevented Acanthaster from eradicating Acropora and may have enhanced Porites, a relatively weak competitor among corals. IPIs probably play a key role in many ecosystems, especially in coral reefs in which corals act as engineer species, to reduce impacts of perturbations and enhance community resilience. This study illustrates the importance of IPIs in community regulation with a new conceptual model. Springer-Verlag, 2011 Predation nationallicence Mortality nationallicence Habitat complexity nationallicence Indirect positive interaction nationallicence Community regulation nationallicence Resilience nationallicence Kayal Mohsen USR 3278 CNRS-EPHE, Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l'Environnement, BP 1013, 98729, Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia aut Lenihan Hunter Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, 93106-5131, Santa Barbara, CA, USA aut Pau Cédric USR 3278 CNRS-EPHE, Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l'Environnement, BP 1013, 98729, Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia aut Penin Lucie UMR 5244 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, Biologie et Ecologie Tropicale et Méditerranéenne, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, 66860, Perpignan Cedex, France aut Adjeroud Mehdi UMR 5244 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, Biologie et Ecologie Tropicale et Méditerranéenne, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, 66860, Perpignan Cedex, France aut Coral Reefs Springer-Verlag 30/3(2011-09-01), 827-837 0722-4028 30:3<827 2011 30 338 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-011-0763-1 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-011-0763-1 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Kayal Mohsen USR 3278 CNRS-EPHE, Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l'Environnement, BP 1013, 98729, Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Lenihan Hunter Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, 93106-5131, Santa Barbara, CA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Pau Cédric USR 3278 CNRS-EPHE, Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l'Environnement, BP 1013, 98729, Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Penin Lucie UMR 5244 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, Biologie et Ecologie Tropicale et Méditerranéenne, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, 66860, Perpignan Cedex, France aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Adjeroud Mehdi UMR 5244 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, Biologie et Ecologie Tropicale et Méditerranéenne, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, 66860, Perpignan Cedex, France aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Coral Reefs Springer-Verlag 30/3(2011-09-01), 827-837 0722-4028 30:3<827 2011 30 338 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer