Data for: Missing planktivore functions drive global variation in reef fish productivity

Full description

Abstract: The functioning of high-diversity ecosystems, such as coral reefs, is intrinsically tied to the integrity and efficiency of the trophic pathways within these systems. Coral reef productivity depends, in part, on the input of external nutrients, primarily zooplankton, that is assimilated by extraordinarily diverse fish communities. The plankton-planktivore trophic pathway is thus crucial for sustaining the productivity which exemplify coral reef ecosystems, yet it remains poorly understood at large spatial scales. Here, we explore global patterns in reef fish community structure, revealing a major discrepancy between the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean in the productivity and fisheries potential of planktivorous reef fishes. Indo-Pacific reefs support 6.6-times more planktivorous fish biomass and 3.4-times greater productivity than the Caribbean, a difference largely due to the marked contribution of species that feed on gelatinous plankton in the Indo-Pacific. While gelatinous-feeders constitute just 4% of planktivorous fish abundance in the Indo-Pacific, they account for a third of the biomass and a quarter of the productivity. This divergence reflects the contrasting biogeographic histories of the two realms, with Indo-Pacific oceanography fostering diversification, while repeated extinction events and trophic erosion may have constrained planktivory in the Caribbean. Ultimately, these differences in energy flow translate into fundamental differences in coral reef functioning and, potentially, their capacity to support ecosystem services, including fisheries.

Dataset description: This dataset consists of 18 processed, analysis-ready tabular data (CSV format) and 2 R scripts (main and supplementary texts) used to analyse global patterns in the biomass and productivity of planktivorous coral reef fishes. The data include multiple derived datasets representing different subsets of the main dataset, including size-structured data, per-capita estimates, prey preference, and regional and taxonomic summaries (e.g. Indo-Pacific and Caribbean comparisons). The datasets are intended to be used in conjunction with the provided R scripts to reproduce the analyses presented in the associated publication.

The data are derived from Reef Life Survey (RLS) observations accessed via the Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN), which are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence.

The full methodology is available in the Open Access publication from the Related Publications link below.

Software/equipment used to manipulate/analyse the data: The R Project for Statistical Computing.