Coral interactions with turf algae: allelopathy, temporal variance, and impacts on coral microbiomes

We tested the impacts of turf versus macroalgae on corals and the mechanisms by which turfs damage corals by manipulating contacts of the corals Acropora pulchra and Porites rus with differing communities of turf from territories of the damselfishes Stegastes nigricans and Stagestes puncatus, the macroalgae Amansia rhodantha and Sargassum pacificum, and inert algal mimics.