Non-Native Corals in Reefs

[greenbean36191]

Here in SFL, I often think about what would happen if I slipped a frag of blue-tipped stag or even a Euphyllid onto the reef.

Introduced Acropora would be direct competitors with the native species and would likely be superior competitors. Pacific Acropora are mostly weedy, early successional species. Introducing them to the Atlantic would almost definitely be bad news. They're really good at sexual reproduction and recolonizing after disturbances. The Atlantic Acropora on the other hand are climax species that rely mostly on asexual reproduction and tend to be very slow to recover from disturbances (at least since the WBD outbreak, but likely before then as well).

 

[greenbean36191]

Also, it's worth mentioning that there's a Caribbean population of Fungia as well. They were intentionally brought to Jamaica by the father of reef ecology in the 60s before there was much concern about invasive species. He put them in the bay to keep them alive while he was working with them (it was a lot harder to keep corals in captivity in the mid 60s). 4 years later they realized they were becoming established and tried to eradicate them. 40 years later they still haven't managed to get them all. While the population there is small and isn't known to have caused any direct harm, it's concerning because over the same time these corals have been so persistent, the native coral cover in the bay has declined by about 80%. It's THE poster child for a reef on "the slippery slope to slime," yet these introduced corals are stubbornly hanging on despite the collapse of the reef around them and our best efforts to weed them out.

 

[coolingeffect]

Have you ever thought about pheasants in north America? They fill an ecological niche that they dont compete with anything else.:spin1:

I would actually lean to say that pheasents very well might do damage to wild turkey populations if it wasnt for the fact that a large part of the pheasants range is covered by corn and wheat fields. There is a severe overabundance of food as far as nature is concerned in much of the midwest. So in other words they are competing over a supply but there is so much of it the competition isnt very heated or detrimental at this time.

 

[chrisstie]

The fungia can all go in my tank to save the Caribbean, that is all