Contrasting coral community structures between natural and artificial substrates at Koh Tao, Gulf of Thailand

Coline Monchanin; Rahul Mehrotra; Elouise Haskin; Chad M Scott; Pau Urgell Plaza; Alyssa Allchurch; Spencer Arnold; Kirsty Magson; Bert W Hoeksema

doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2021.105505

Contrasting coral community structures between natural and artificial substrates at Koh Tao, Gulf of Thailand

Mar Environ Res. 2021 Dec:172:105505. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2021.105505. Epub 2021 Oct 19.

Authors

Coline Monchanin¹, Rahul Mehrotra², Elouise Haskin³, Chad M Scott⁴, Pau Urgell Plaza⁴, Alyssa Allchurch⁵, Spencer Arnold⁴, Kirsty Magson⁶, Bert W Hoeksema⁷

Affiliations

¹ Conservation Diver, 7321 Timber Trail Road, Evergreen, CO, 80439, USA; Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), CNRS, University Paul Sabatier - Toulouse III, France; Aow Thai Marine Ecology Center, Love Wildlife Foundation, FREC Bangkok, 77 Nakhon Sawan Rd, Wat Sommanat, Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Bangkok, 10100, Thailand.
² Conservation Diver, 7321 Timber Trail Road, Evergreen, CO, 80439, USA; Aow Thai Marine Ecology Center, Love Wildlife Foundation, FREC Bangkok, 77 Nakhon Sawan Rd, Wat Sommanat, Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Bangkok, 10100, Thailand; Reef Biology Research Group. Department of Marine Science, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand. Electronic address: rahul-m@hotmail.co.uk.
³ Conservation Diver, 7321 Timber Trail Road, Evergreen, CO, 80439, USA; The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia.
⁴ Conservation Diver, 7321 Timber Trail Road, Evergreen, CO, 80439, USA.
⁵ Conservation Diver, 7321 Timber Trail Road, Evergreen, CO, 80439, USA; School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
⁶ Conservation Diver, 7321 Timber Trail Road, Evergreen, CO, 80439, USA; New Heaven Reef Conservation Program, 48 Moo 2, Chalok Ban Kao, Koh Tao, Suratthani, 84360, Thailand.
⁷ Taxonomy, Systematics, and Geodiversity Group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300, RA, Leiden, the Netherlands; Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 11103, 9700, CC, Groningen, the Netherlands.

PMID: 34717128
DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2021.105505

Abstract

Concrete cubic frames and decommissioned steel naval vessels have been deployed in Thailand liberally to act as artificial substrates for coral restoration and marine recreation. We assessed recruitment at such substrate types at Koh Tao, Gulf of Thailand, and compared the community structure of scleractinian corals between artificial substrates and nearby natural reefs. Our results from a sample of 2677 recruits from nine sites highlighted significant differences in community structure between both reef types. Investigations of variables including time since deployment, distance from the natural reef, and seafloor depth revealed only the latter as a possible influencing factor. The diversity of recruits could not be explained by dynamics in coral spawning, and were found to represent groups with lower structural complexity. Our results suggest that coral community structure on artificial and natural reefs differs and supports distinct ecological and functional roles.

Keywords: Artificial reef; Coral reef; Recruitment; Spawning.

MeSH terms

Animals
Anthozoa*
Coral Reefs
Thailand