Response to Comment on “Demographic dynamics of the smallest marine vertebrates fuel coral reef ecosystem functioning”
Brandl, S.J.; Morais, R.A.; Casey, J.M.; Parravicini, V.; Tornabene, L.; Goatley, C.H.R.; Côté, I. M.; Baldwin, C.C.; Schiettekatte, N.M.D.; Bellwood, D.R. (2019). Response to Comment on “Demographic dynamics of the smallest marine vertebrates fuel coral reef ecosystem functioning”. Science (Wash.) 366(6472): eaaz1301. https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz1301
In: Science (Washington). American Association for the Advancement of Science: New York, N.Y. ISSN 0036-8075; e-ISSN 1095-9203, more
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| Authors | | Top |
- Brandl, S.J.
- Morais, R.A.
- Casey, J.M.
- Parravicini, V.
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- Tornabene, L.
- Goatley, C.H.R.
- Côté, I. M.
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- Baldwin, C.C.
- Schiettekatte, N.M.D.
- Bellwood, D.R.
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| Abstract |
Allgeier and Cline suggest that our model overestimates the contributions of cryptobenthic fishes to coral reef functioning. However, their 20-year model ignores the basic biological limits of population growth. If incorporated, cryptobenthic contributions to consumed fish biomass remain high (20 to 70%). Disturbance cycles and uncertainties surrounding the fate of large fishes on decadal scales further demonstrate the important role of cryptobenthic fishes. |
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