Ubiquitous trophic niche partitioning drives species coexistence and biomass on coral reefs
- 1The University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute
Abstract
Coral reefs support an extraordinary diversity and biomass of fishes. However, whether species coexist through fine-scale niche partitioning, and whether this impacts ecosystem functioning, remain unresolved. We combined DNA metabarcoding and stable isotope analysis to reconstruct a high-resolution food web and quantify the trophic niches of 2,060 reef fishes across 261 species. We observed extreme trophic partitioning: species pairs diverged by a median of 93% (DNA metabarcoding) and 86% (stable isotopes), consistently overlapping far less than expected by chance. Further, communities with greater trophic complementarity supported higher standing-stock biomass, particularly at high species richness. Our results confirm limiting similarity and trophic complementarity as the driving forces of coexistence and ecosystem functioning in the ocean's most diverse ecological community.
Related
- Growth and Metal Partitioning of the High-Biomass Grass Cultivar Minmu 6 Under Graded Cadmium and Lead Exposure
- Night-break photoperiod timing shapes growth trajectories, functional phenotype, and biomass partitioning in Cannabis sativa L. in a genotype-dependent manner
- Eco-evolutionary dynamics of sexually selected infanticide facilitate species coexistence
- Phenotypic plasticity segregates antagonistic species but undermines their coexistence
- The partitioning of yield gain among component species in intercropping: A global meta-analysis
BibTeX
@misc{casey2026ubiquitous,
title = {{Ubiquitous trophic niche partitioning drives species coexistence and biomass on coral reefs}},
author = {J. M. Casey and S. J. Brandl and N. M. Schiettekatte and S. Degregori and G. Strona and A. Merciere and F. Morat and M. Zubia and C. P. Meyer and V. Parravicini},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.22.753627},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.22.753627v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Ubiquitous trophic niche partitioning drives species coexistence and biomass on coral reefs
AU - J. M. Casey
AU - S. J. Brandl
AU - N. M. Schiettekatte
AU - S. Degregori
AU - G. Strona
AU - A. Merciere
AU - F. Morat
AU - M. Zubia
AU - C. P. Meyer
AU - V. Parravicini
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/22
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.22.753627
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.22.753627v1
AB - Coral reefs support an extraordinary diversity and biomass of fishes. However, whether species coexist through fine-scale niche partitioning, and whether this impacts ecosystem functioning, remain unresolved. We combined DNA metabarcoding and stable isotope analysis to reconstruct a high-resolution food web and quantify the trophic niches of 2,060 reef fishes across 261 species. We observed extreme trophic partitioning: species pairs diverged by a median of 93% (DNA metabarcoding) and 86% (stable isotopes), consistently overlapping far less than expected by chance. Further, communities with greater trophic complementarity supported higher standing-stock biomass, particularly at high species richness. Our results confirm limiting similarity and trophic complementarity as the driving forces of coexistence and ecosystem functioning in the ocean's most diverse ecological community.
ER -