Bioerosion by pit-forming, temperate-reef sea urchins: History, rates and broader implications

PloS One
Michael P RussellEmily Duwan

Abstract

Sea urchins are dominant members of rocky temperate reefs around the world. They often occur in cavities within the rock, and fit so tightly, it is natural to assume they sculpted these "pits." However, there are no experimental data demonstrating they bore pits. If they do, what are the rates and consequences of bioerosion to nearshore systems? We sampled purple sea urchins, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, from sites with four rock types, three sedimentary (two sandstones and one mudstone) and one metamorphic (granite). A year-long experiment showed urchins excavated depressions on sedimentary rocks in just months. The rate of pit formation varied with rock type and ranged from <5 yr for medium-grain sandstone to >100 yr for granite. In the field, there were differences in pit size and shapes of the urchins (height:diameter ratio). The pits were shallow and urchins flatter at the granite site, and the pits were deeper and urchins taller at the sedimentary sites. Although overall pit sizes were larger on mudstone than on sandstone, urchin size accounted for this difference. A second, short-term experiment, showed the primary mechanism for bioerosion was ingestion of the substratum. This experiment eliminated potential confoundin...Continue Reading

Citations

Jun 27, 2020·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Alyssa Y StarkMichael P Russell
May 27, 2021·Integrative and Comparative Biology·Stephanie B Crofts, Theodore Stankowich

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
scraping
dissections
dissection
PCA

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