Coral Head Biodiversity Associations: Examining Community Interactions between Arthropods and Echinoderms

In coral reef ecosystems, interactions within the invertebrate community play a significant role in determining the health of the reef and the amount of marine biodiversity that it contains. These interactions and the composition of these communities are largely unstudied. I examined the associations between the echinoderm community and the corresponding arthropod community using data collected in surveys of marine invertebrate biodiversity contained in dead coral heads across Indonesia. I found that measures of echinoderm community diversity serve as predictors of corresponding arthropod diversity and abundance. There is a positive correlation between the diversity indices of echinoderms and arthropods communities. Arthropod diversity is positively correlated to the abundance of the dominant echinoderm species. Echinoderm community abundance, richness and diversity are positively correlated with the abundance of individual arthropod taxa. Based on the significant correlations between echinoderm and arthropod communities, echinoderms may serve as bioindicators to help us understand complex biotic interactions and monitor coral reef health as a whole.