Fig 1.

Relationship between cohort per capita mortality and initial recruit density on patch reefs in the absence of both predators and competitors (older territorial damselfishes) (A), absence of predators and presence of competitors (B), presence of predators and absence of competitors (C), and presence of both predators and competitors (D). These relationships indicate low and density-independent mortality of recruits in the absence of both predators and competitors (A, r² < 0.001, P = 0.78), higher and density-independent mortality in the presence of competitors only (B, r² < 0.001, P = 0.42), still greater density-independent mortality in the presence of predators only (C, r² = 0.22, P = 0.24), and strong density-dependent mortality only in the combined presence of both predators and competitors, which is the unmanipulated natural state of the system (D, r² = 0.75, P = 0.036). Linear regression analyses are based on arcsin(square root) transformed per capita mortality rates.