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Inter-reef Halimeda algal habitats within the Great Barrier Reef support a distinct biotic community and high biodiversity

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 5, pages 647–655 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Tropical marine biodiversity studies have been biased towards more accessible coastal habitats and shallow coral reefs, while deeper inter-reef habitats are less studied due to different survey challenges. One such inter-reef habitat is the ‘bioherms’ dominated by the calcareous Halimeda macroalgae. In the northern section of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Halimeda algal bioherms occupy >6,000 km2 of the inter-reef seabed, more than twice the area of adjacent shallow coral reefs. Here, we describe the biodiversity of the plant, vertebrate and invertebrate communities inhabiting Halimeda bioherms. By combining previous spatial mapping with legacy benthic biodiversity datasets, we find that Halimeda bioherms are a critically important complex habitat that hosts higher average species richness and diversity for both plants and invertebrates than the surrounding inter-reef (non-coral reef) seascape. Furthermore, at the community level, the structure of the bioherm-associated biotic assemblage is distinct from the non-bioherm community, with 40% of Halimeda bioherm-associated species not recorded at any non-bioherm sites. These findings improve estimates of the biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef and elevate Halimeda bioherms as a critically important inter-reef habitat. Regular long-term monitoring is required to detect potential impacts to inter-reef biodiversity and ecosystem structure and function under future climate change scenarios.

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Fig. 1: Map of the study area showing Halimeda bioherms and Seabed Biodiversity Project survey sites.
Fig. 2: Halimeda bioherm versus non-bioherm species richness.
Fig. 3: Species diversity and frequency of occurrence.
Fig. 4: Biotic community assemblage NMDS and bootstrap averages.

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Data availability

The original Seabed Biodiversity Project data used in this study were provided under a data use agreement from CSIRO. The data are available from the CSIRO National Collections and Marine Infrastructure Information and Data Centre, discoverable at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (https://www.gbif.org/dataset/3b7f6307-2f03-4f25-9f64-6aa4c3a3aea1). The Seabed Biodiversity Project final report may be accessed at http://www.frdc.com.au/Archived-Reports/FRDC%20Projects/2003-021-DLD.pdf.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the work of the vessels, crew and scientists who conducted the original Seabed Biodiversity Project surveys and CSIRO for providing the original survey database. M.M. thanks M. Cappo for helpful insights regarding the BRUVS fish juveniles and R. Kelley and the Australian Coral Reef Society (ACRS) for the Red Emperor Blue Highway infographic. M.M. acknowledges the NSW Foundation for Parks and Wildlife, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), ACRS and the National Geographic Society (no. EC-190R-18) for funding support and the Australian Museum for fieldwork support at the Lizard Island Research Station (conducted under GBRMPA permit no. G17-39618.1). The graphics used in Figs. 2 and 3 are courtesy of the Integration and Application Network, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (https://ian.umces.edu/symbols/).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Mardi McNeil, Luke D. Nothdurft & Alan R. Pearse

  2. Centre for the Environment and School of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Jennifer Firn

  3. Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Alan R. Pearse

  4. Geocoastal Research Group, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Jody M. Webster

  5. Oceans and Atmosphere, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    C. Roland Pitcher

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Contributions

M.M. and A.R.P. conducted the data analysis, supported by J.F. C.R.P. developed the Seabed Biodiversity Project and is custodian of the original dataset. M.M. wrote the manuscript with contributions from J.F. and all other authors. J.M.W. and L.D.N. lead Project HALO—Halimeda bioherms: Origins, function and fate in the Great Barrier Reef.

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Correspondence to Mardi McNeil.

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Peer review information Nature Ecology & Evolution thanks Hudson Pinheiro and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figs. 1–5, Results and Discussion and Tables 1–12.

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Supplementary Data 1

An Excel workbook comprising two tabs named Supplementary Table 13 and Supplementary Table 14 that lists the taxonomic hierarchy of all taxa recorded in this study.

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McNeil, M., Firn, J., Nothdurft, L.D. et al. Inter-reef Halimeda algal habitats within the Great Barrier Reef support a distinct biotic community and high biodiversity. Nat Ecol Evol 5, 647–655 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01400-8

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