Seaweed-herbivore-predator interactions: host-plant specialization reduces predation on small herbivores

@article{Hay2004SeaweedherbivorepredatorIH,
  title={Seaweed-herbivore-predator interactions: host-plant specialization reduces predation on small herbivores},
  author={Mark E. Hay and Joseph R. Pawlik and J. Emmett Duffy and William Fenical},
  journal={Oecologia},
  year={2004},
  volume={81},
  pages={418-427}
}
SummaryBecause feeding specialization among marine herbivores is rare, marine communities provide a simplified system for identifying factors selecting for specialization. [] Key Result Crab grazing on the red seaweed Acanthophora spicifera was stimulated when this alga was coated with increasing concentrations of the cytotoxic diterpenoid chlorodesmin, the major secondary metabolite of Chlorodesmis. Crabs did not sequester Chlorodesmis metabolites but avoided predators by sheltering in the unpalatable alga…
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Facultative mutualism between an herbivorous crab and a coralline alga: advantages of eating noxious seaweeds
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These results suggest that the crabs clean their algal host of fouling seaweeds and associate with the host to minimize predation, and to effectively clean the host, the crab must consume the wide array of macroalgae that commonly co-occur with coralline algae in these habitats, including chemically defended species in the genera Halimeda, Dictyota, and Laurencia.
Predation constrains host choice for a marine mesograzer
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It is suggested that seaweed refuge quality, not nutritional quality, drives A. typica host preference and distribution in this system.
Herbivory on a chemically defended plant as a predation deterrent in Hyalella azteca
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This is the first experimental evidence that predation on a freshwater herbivore, H. azteca, was reduced when it consumed a chemically defended plant.
Habitat and food selection by herbivorous amphipods associated with macroalgal beds on the southeast coast of Brazil
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The different results for C. filosa suggest that the pattern of feeding and habitat selection can be affected by external characteristics of the algae, and probably, refuge from predation is an important selective force acting on the use of algae by these animals.
Chemical mediation of seaweed-herbivore interactions
Seaweeds produce a variety of secondary metabolites that deter feeding by herbivores. T h e defensive value of a compound is, however, a specific function of the compound's structure and the species…
Selective consumption and facilitation by mesograzers in adult and colonizing macroalgal assemblages
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The results indicate that northern Baltic macroalgae are limited to grazing mainly during their colonization stage, suggesting a preference for one species to the advantage of another.
Testing the importance of predation refuge vs. food quality in determining the use of macroalgal hosts by a generalist marine mesograzer
TLDR
The distribution of Cymadusa was explained by a balance between food and refuge values of hosts, with higher abundances being observed in the high-quality food alga that provides refuge against predators (e.g. Padina), while fewer individuals occurred in other high- quality food that was less suitable as refuge (eg. Sargassum).
Effects of seaweed extracts and secondary metabolites on feeding by the herbivorous surgeonfish Naso lituratus
TLDR
The results, together with previous work, suggest that tropical herbivorous fishes differ in their responses to plant chemistry, and this variability precludes broad generalization about the effects of marine plant secondary metabolites on herbivory fishes.
Associations among coral reef macroalgae influence feeding by herbivorous fishes
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Although limited to one of the three species pairings, such associations between algae may allow the ecological persistence of palatable species in the face of intense herbivory, enhancing macroalgal diversity on coral reefs.
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