Damselfish as Keystone Species in Reverse: Intermediate Disturbance and Diversity of Reef Algae
- 29 April 1983
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 220 (4596) , 511-513
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.220.4596.511
Abstract
Substrates located within the defended territories of Hawaiian damselfish for 1 year were subjected to intermediate grazing intensity and, as a result, showed greater diversity of algae than substrates either protected within fish-exclusion cages or exposed to intense fish grazing outside territories. Thus, this damselfish enhances local diversity on reefs through "intermediate-disturbance" effects, and is a keystone species that decreases rather than increases overall predation intensity relative to areas where it is absent.This publication has 23 references indexed in Scilit:
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