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Summary

Description

Corallivorous snail feeding is a common source of tissue loss for the threatened coral, Acropora palmata, accounting for roughly one-quarter of tissue loss in monitored study plots over seven years. In contrast with larger threats such as bleaching, disease, or storms, corallivory by Coralliophila abbreviata is one of the few direct sources of partial mortality that may be locally managed.We conducted a field experiment to explore the effectiveness and feasibility of snail removal. Long-term monitoring plots on six reefs in the upper Florida Keys were assigned to one of three removal treatments: (1) removal from A. palmata only, (2) removal fromall host coral species, or (3) no-removal controls. During the initial removal in June 2011, 436 snails were removed from twelve 150 m2 plots. Snails were removed three additional times during a seven month “removal phase”, then counted at five surveys over the next 19 months to track recolonization. At the conclusion, snails were collected, measured and sexed. Before-After-Control-Impact analysis revealed that both snail abundance and feeding scar prevalence were reduced in removal treatments compared to the control, but there was no difference between removal treatments. Recolonization by snails to baseline abundance is estimated to be 3.7 years and did not differ between removal treatments. Recolonization rate was significantly correlated with baseline snail abundance.Maximum snail size decreased from47.0mmto 34.6mmin the removal treatments. The effort required to remove snails from A. palmata was 30 diver minutes per 150m2 plot, compared with 51 min to remove snails from all host corals. Since there was no additional benefit observed with removing snails from all host species, removals can be more efficiently focused on only A. palmata colonies and in areas where C. abbreviata abundance is high, to effectively conserve A. palmata in targeted areas.

Document Information

Document Type
Journal article

Document Format
Acrobat Portable Document Format

Publication Date
2014-11-27

Contact Information

Distributor
Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC)
(305)361-5761

Item Identification

Title: Removal of corallivorous snails as a proactive tool for the conservation of acroporid corals
Status: Completed
Publication Date: 2014-11-27
Abstract:

Corallivorous snail feeding is a common source of tissue loss for the threatened coral, Acropora palmata, accounting for roughly one-quarter of tissue loss in monitored study plots over seven years. In contrast with larger threats such as bleaching, disease, or storms, corallivory by Coralliophila abbreviata is one of the few direct sources of partial mortality that may be locally managed.We conducted a field experiment to explore the effectiveness and feasibility of snail removal. Long-term monitoring plots on six reefs in the upper Florida Keys were assigned to one of three removal treatments: (1) removal from A. palmata only, (2) removal fromall host coral species, or (3) no-removal controls. During the initial removal in June 2011, 436 snails were removed from twelve 150 m2 plots. Snails were removed three additional times during a seven month “removal phase”, then counted at five surveys over the next 19 months to track recolonization. At the conclusion, snails were collected, measured and sexed. Before-After-Control-Impact analysis revealed that both snail abundance and feeding scar prevalence were reduced in removal treatments compared to the control, but there was no difference between removal treatments. Recolonization by snails to baseline abundance is estimated to be 3.7 years and did not differ between removal treatments. Recolonization rate was significantly correlated with baseline snail abundance.Maximum snail size decreased from47.0mmto 34.6mmin the removal treatments. The effort required to remove snails from A. palmata was 30 diver minutes per 150m2 plot, compared with 51 min to remove snails from all host corals. Since there was no additional benefit observed with removing snails from all host species, removals can be more efficiently focused on only A. palmata colonies and in areas where C. abbreviata abundance is high, to effectively conserve A. palmata in targeted areas.

Purpose:

To explore the effectiveness and feasibility of snail removal from coral reefs

Other Citation Details:

DOI 10.7717/peerj.680

Keywords

Theme Keywords

Thesaurus Keyword
UNCONTROLLED
None Acropora palmata
None Conservation Biology
None Coralliophila abbreviata
None Ecology
None Ecosystem Science
None Elkhorn
None Marine Biology
None Predator
None snail

Temporal Keywords

Thesaurus Keyword
UNCONTROLLED
None 2011-2013

Spatial Keywords

Thesaurus Keyword
UNCONTROLLED
None Florida

Document Information

Document Type: Journal article
Format: Acrobat Portable Document Format
Status Code: Published

Support Roles

Author

CC ID: 355235
Date Effective From: 2014
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person): Williams, Dana E
Address: 75 Virginia Beach Drive
Miami, FL 33149
Unites States
Email Address: dana.williams@noaa.gov
Phone: 305-767-3262
URL: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dana_Williams3

Co-Author

CC ID: 355237
Date Effective From: 2014
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person): Miller, Margaret W
Email Address: m.miller.@secore.org

Co-Author

CC ID: 355239
Date Effective From: 2014
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person): Cameron, Caitlin
Address: 75 Virginia Beach Drive
Miami, FL 33149
USA
Email Address: caitlin.cameron@noaa.gov

Co-Author

CC ID: 355238
Date Effective From: 2014
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person): Bright, Alan J
Address: 75 Virginia Beach Drive
Miami, FL 1
Email Address: allan.bright@noaa.gov
Phone: 305-361-4561

Distributor

CC ID: 355236
Date Effective From: 2014
Date Effective To:
Contact (Organization): Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC)
Address: 75 Virginia Beach Drive
Miami, FL 33149
USA
Phone: (305)361-5761
URL: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/southeast-fisheries-science-center
Business Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. EST

Access Information

Security Class: Unclassified
Data Access Policy:

Open to everyone

Data Access Procedure:

Download from provided url

Data Access Constraints:

none

Data Use Constraints:

Please cite appropriately

Metadata Access Constraints:

None

Metadata Use Constraints:

Please cite appropriately

URLs

URL 1

CC ID: 215054
URL: https://peerj.com/articles/680/
Description:

open source peer-reviewed pupblication

Catalog Details

Catalog Item ID: 26794
GUID: gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:26794
Metadata Record Created By: Margaret W Miller
Metadata Record Created: 2015-09-01 12:52+0000
Metadata Record Last Modified By: SysAdmin InPortAdmin
Metadata Record Last Modified: 2022-08-09 17:11+0000
Metadata Record Published: 2022-04-27
Owner Org: SEFSC
Metadata Publication Status: Published Externally
Do Not Publish?: N
Metadata Last Review Date: 2022-04-27
Metadata Review Frequency: 1 Year
Metadata Next Review Date: 2023-04-27