Mass mortality of the West Indian echinoid diadema antillarum: a natural experiment in taphonomy

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985 · Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:6577677

Greenstein, B J; Meyer, D L

During 1983, populations of the common long-spined echinoid Diadema antillarum were decimated by disease throughout the West Indies. Depending on the degree of recovery, this mass mortality could have profound effects on the coral reef ecosystem. The role of D. antillarum as a grazer of algae and agent of bioerosion is well documented. The hypothesis that the sudden incorporation of tests and spines of innumerable urchins into the reef sediments would leave a clear record of the mortality event was tested at Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, where the mortality was witnessed in November, 1983. By August, 1984, there were every few live D. antillarum, no intact empty tests, but abundant broken up spines in the superficial sediments of the leeward fringing reefs. Sediment samples taken along a series of profiles from 6-36 m depth were analyzed for total echinoderm content and contribution of D. antillarum material. The echinoderm fraction shows a slight increase over pre-mortality levels as reported by Kobluk and Lysenko (1984), but it is not yet clear that this resulted from an increase in D. antillarum. Samples taken from cores 30 cm below the sediment surface show echinoderm fractions equal to or greater than surficial samples, suggesting that bioturbation and turbulence have rapidly disseminated any sharp record of the event. The lack of a strong signal of this event demonstrates the inadequacy of the reef sedimentary record to record many short-term although ecologically significant perturbations.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Cincinnati, OH (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6577677
• Report Number(s): CONF-8510489-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States) Journal Volume: 17
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550000 -- Biomedical Sciences
Basic Studies
58 GEOSCIENCES
580100* -- Geology & Hydrology-- (-1989)
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
DISEASES
DRILL CORES
ECHINODERMS
ECOSYSTEMS
FOOD CHAINS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
INVERTEBRATES
ISLANDS
MORTALITY
PALEONTOLOGY
POPULATION DYNAMICS
PREDATOR-PREY INTERACTIONS
REEFS
SEDIMENTS
WEST INDIES