Spatial and Temporal Biodiversity Patterns of Coral Reef Cryptofauna on the Arabian Peninsula
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Rodrigo Villalobos Dissertation.pdf
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Rodrigo Villalobos Dissertation
Embargo End Date:
2022-09-01
Type
DissertationAdvisors
Berumen, Michael L.
Committee members
Carvalho, Susana
Jones, Burton

Wing, Rod Anthony

Brainard, Rusty
Program
Marine ScienceKAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE) DivisionDate
2021-08Embargo End Date
2022-09-01Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/670863
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At the time of archiving, the student author of this dissertation opted to temporarily restrict access to it. The full text of this dissertation will become available to the public after the expiration of the embargo on 2022-09-01.Abstract
Coral reef cryptobenthic communities are largely understudied yet they contribute to the large majority of coral reef biodiversity. The main aim of this dissertation was to understand the effects of the organic C, temperature, surrounding benthic communities, salinity, catastrophic events, time, and limitations to dispersal of the cryptobenthic communities. Using 54 ARMS along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast, we found that temperature, chlorophyll-a concentration, and photosynthetic active radiation affected the number of OTUs of the cryptobiome, i.e., its biodiversity. We found temperature, energy available, and benthic structure to be associated with distinct cryptobenthic communities and to influence its diversity patterns. These environmental conditions affected differentially the abundance of specific organisms. We also investigated the inter-annual patterns of variability of this biological component in the central Red Sea. We deployed and collected ARMS in four reefs along a cross shelf gradient in three sampling periods spanning 6 years (2013-2019). This period included the 2015/2016 mass bleaching event. We observed cross shelf differences in community composition to be consistent over time and maintained after the bleaching event. However, turnover was significantly higher between prebleaching and post bleaching sampling years than between post bleaching comparisons. Cryptobenthic communities of 2019 presented a slight return to prebleaching composition. In light of predictions of returning bleaching events every 6 years, the observed return might not be sufficient for reaching a full recovery. We investigated the relative contribution of two ecological theories: the neutral theory (associated with the limitations to dispersal and therefore geographic distance) and the niche filtering (associated with environmental conditions that limit colonization). We used 50 ARMS collected from the north, central, and south Red Sea, the Arabian Gulf, and Oman Gulf. We found that limitation to dispersal and environmental filtering to influence beta diversity. However, the geographic distance had a better fit with the beta diversity patterns observed, suggesting a preponderance of the neutral theory of ecology explaining the community patterns. This dissertation provides fundamental information on characterization of the cryptobiome in the Arabian Peninsula.Citation
Villalobos Vazquez De La Parra, R. (2021). Spatial and Temporal Biodiversity Patterns of Coral Reef Cryptofauna on the Arabian Peninsula. KAUST Research Repository. https://doi.org/10.25781/KAUST-BOK50ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.25781/KAUST-BOK50