Crustose coralline algae increased framework and diversity on ancient coral reefs

<div><p>Crustose coralline algae (CCA) are key producers of carbonate sediment on reefs today. Despite their importance in modern reef ecosystems, the long-term relationship of CCA with reef development has not been quantitatively assessed in the fossil record. This study includes data from 128 Cenozoic coral reefs collected from the Paleobiology Database, the Paleoreefs Database, as well as the original literature and assesses the correlation of CCA abundance with taxonomic diversity (both corals and reef dwellers) and framework of fossil coral reefs. Chi-squared tests show reef type is significantly correlated with CCA abundance and post-hoc tests indicate higher involvement of CCA is associated with stronger reef structure. Additionally, general linear models show coral reefs with higher amounts of CCA had a higher diversity of reef-dwelling organisms. These data have important implications for paleoecology as they demonstrate that CCA increased building capacity, structural integrity, and diversity of ancient coral reefs. The analyses presented here demonstrate that the function of CCA on modern coral reefs is similar to their function on Cenozoic reefs; thus, studies of ancient coral reef collapse are even more meaningful as modern analogues.</p></div

Distribution of Algae Score.

<p>Distribution of Algae Score through time, from the Late Cretaceous (136.4 Ma) through the Pleistocene (2.58 Ma). a) Time binned in roughly 10 million year intervals following [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0181637#pone.0181637.ref019" target="_blank">19</a>]. b) Time binned by stage (stages determined from PARED). Algae Score 1 is red, Algae Score 2 is pink, and Algae Score 3 is white.</p

Summary of the association between reef type, diversity, and CCA abundance (all ages considered together).

<p>a) Histogram of reef type by Algae Score; definitions modified from [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0181637#pone.0181637.ref018" target="_blank">18</a>]. Ecological reefs (dark green) are composed of reef building organisms that form a rigid, topographically complex structure with syndepositional relief. Reef mounds/bioherms (light green) have abundant skeletal organisms and syndepositional relief, but no clear framework; they may also contain abundant micrite and be matrix supported, although baffling can be common. Biostromes (light blue) are dense growths of skeletal organisms without syndepositional relief. Framework may or may not be present. b) Box plot showing the distribution of generic diversity for all reef dwellers, including corals. If an organism was only recorded as present, without any corresponding taxonomic information, diversity for that organism was set as equal to one. If taxonomy was only identified above the generic level, each taxon was considered once, as with genera. Reef dweller genera were recorded from the PBDB, as well as from comprehensive literature review. Algae Score 1 is red, Algae Score 2 is pink, and Algae Score 3 is white. c) Box plot showing the distribution of generic diversity for corals. If coral was only recorded as present, without corresponding taxonomic information, diversity was set as equal to one. If taxonomy was only identified above the generic level (such as family or order), each taxon was considered once, as with genera. Coral genera were recorded from the PBDB, as well as from comprehensive literature review. Color scheme follows Fig 2b.</p

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