John M. Engle

Interactions between corals and algae on a temperate zone rocky reef: mediation by sea urchins

Abstract Interactions among sea urchins, algae, and a scleractinian coral were examined in a 10-year study off Anacapa Island, California. Abundances of the solitary cup coral Balanophyllia elegans Verrill and percent cover of algae were inversely correlated. Corals could be killed due to overgrowth by kelp holdfasts, ephemeral filamentous algae, or encrusting coralline algae. Overgrowth by filamentous and coralline algae was enhanced by chronic brushing by larger algal species which caused coral polyps to retract. Short- and long-term observations and manipulative experiments demonstrated that significantly more coral polyps were retracted and coral mortality was increased within the brushing zone of natural and artificial algae than in control areas without algae. Additionally, the extent of polyp retraction varied with algal species and degree of water motion. The adverse effects of algae on corals can be mediated by urchin grazing. High densities of urchins remove algae, thereby reducing coral mortality due to algal overgrowth and allowing corals to increase in abundance.

DISCOVERY OF A FERTILE PELAGOPHYCUS×MACROCYSTIS(PHAEOPHYTA) PUTATIVE HYBRID AND SUBSEQUENT PRODUCTION OF F2 SPOROPHYTES IN THE LABORATORY1

A fertile putative hybrid of Pelagophycus porra (Lem.)Setch. × Macrocystis pyrifera (L.) was discovered in Big Fisherman Cove, Santa Catalina Island, California, in March 1986. The plant possessed a single, solid primary stipe that bifurcated into two secondary stipes, each with a hooked‐shaped pneumatocyst. A total of 15 blades, 14 with sori, were produced on two to three dichotomies above and below each pneumatocyst. Gametophyte development of spores released from sori and the resulting early sporophtes (2–3 mm) were typical of Laminariales. Gametophytes appeared within a day of spore germination, 500‐cell stage sporophytts within 3–4 weeks, and 2–3 mm sporophytes within 5–6 weeks. The cultures expired before branching patterns could be determined.

Utilization of purple and red sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus Stimpson and S. franciscanus Agassiz) as food by the white sea urchin (Lytechinus anamesus Clark) in the field and laboratory

Abstract White sea urchins ( Lytechinus anamesus Clark) attacked purple ( Strongylocentrotus purpuratus Stimpson) and red ( S. franciscanus Agassiz) sea urchins at Anacapa Island, California. Densities of white urchins were highest in the deep algal crust-dominated community where up to 6% of purple and 25% of red urchins were being attacked by white urchins. Up to 9% of Lytechinus anamesus in an area were actively eating stronglylocentrotids and usually, more than one white urchin was involved in the attack. In areas with low densities of white urchins, no strongylocentrotids were being attacked. After 36 h in the laboratory, there was no difference in the number of white urchins attacking injured or healthy purple urchins in each of the three experimental densities of white urchins. However, both injured and healthy urchins were attacked by more white urchins in high density. When given a choice between injured purple urchins or fresh kelp, white urchins overwhelmingly chose kelp. Data suggest that white urchins utilize other urchin species as an alternative source of food when more preferred food is absent, but will switch to preferred food should it become available.

Large-scale impacts of sea star wasting disease (SSWD) on intertidal sea stars and implications for recovery

Disease outbreaks can have substantial impacts on wild populations, but the often patchy or anecdotal evidence of these impacts impedes our ability to understand outbreak dynamics. Recently however, a severe disease outbreak occurred in a group of very well-studied organisms–sea stars along the west coast of North America. We analyzed nearly two decades of data from a coordinated monitoring effort at 88 sites ranging from southern British Columbia to San Diego, California along with 2 sites near Sitka, Alaska to better understand the effects of sea star wasting disease (SSWD) on the keystone intertidal predator, Pisaster ochraceus. Quantitative surveys revealed unprecedented declines of P. ochraceus in 2014 and 2015 across nearly the entire geographic range of the species. The intensity of the impact of SSWD was not uniform across the affected area, with proportionally greater population declines in the southern regions relative to the north. The degree of population decline was unrelated to pre-outbreak P. ochraceus density, although these factors have been linked in other well-documented disease events. While elevated seawater temperatures were not broadly linked to the initial emergence of SSWD, anomalously high seawater temperatures in 2014 and 2015 might have exacerbated the disease’s impact. Both before and after the onset of the SSWD outbreak, we documented higher recruitment of P. ochraceus in the north than in the south, and while some juveniles are surviving (as evidenced by transition of recruitment pulses to larger size classes), post-SSWD survivorship is lower than during pre-SSWD periods. In hindsight, our data suggest that the SSWD event defied prediction based on two factors found to be important in other marine disease events, sea water temperature and population density, and illustrate the importance of surveillance of natural populations as one element of an integrated approach to marine disease ecology. Low levels of SSWD-symptomatic sea stars are still present throughout the impacted range, thus the outlook for population recovery is uncertain.

Eelgrass Meadows Return to Frenchy's Cove, Anacapa Island: Recovery Ten Years after Successful Transplantation

Abstract. A large eelgrass (Zostera pacifica) meadow was present at Frenchys Cove, Anacapa Island, prior to the late 1980s. Extensive grazing by white sea urchins (Lytechinus anamesus) in the late 1980s eliminated the meadow by 1991, when a 60-m transect (10-m depth) was established; no natural recovery was observed from 1991 to 2002. In 2002, approximately 450 eelgrass shoots were transplanted to Frenchys Cove from 2 large meadows at Santa Cruz Island (Smugglers Cove, Prisoners Harbor), and a second transect (7-m depth) was established in 2004. Shoot planting densities ranged from 0.11 m-2 to 11 m-2. Meadow dimensions, shoot density and reproductive status, along with density and species abundance of associated benthic invertebrates and fishes were surveyed annually along each transect from 2003 to 2012. Densities of white urchins remained low, thereby facilitating expansion of the meadow via vegetative growth and seedling recruitment. Individual patches eventually coalesced into an overall meadow at Frenchys Cove of 0.87 ha in 2009, retracting slightly to 0.62 ha in 2012. Shoot density reached a mean of 108 m-2 in 2009 and ranged from 23 m-2 to 90 m-2 in 2012, comparable to natural meadows at nearby Santa Cruz Island. Increased diversity and abundance of invertebrates and fishes were evident, with an average of 5 (2001), 9 (2005), and 14 (2011) fish species recorded during 30-minute surveys and a dramatic shift in fish guilds, with black perch, pile perch, and halfmoon only associated with the new meadow. As a result of the initial 2002 eelgrass transplantation, eelgrass meadows returned to northern Anacapa Island; and by 2012, they expanded along nearly 3 km of nearshore sandy habitat. A diverse biotic assemblage is becoming reestablished at Frenchys Cove and adjacent shallow sandy substrates along the north side of Middle Anacapa Island.