全部 标题 作者
关键词 摘要

OALib Journal期刊
ISSN: 2333-9721
费用:99美元

查看量下载量

相关文章

更多...
PLOS ONE  2012 

The Influence of Coral Reef Benthic Condition on Associated Fish Assemblages

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042167

Full-Text   Cite this paper   Add to My Lib

Abstract:

Accumulative disturbances can erode a coral reef’s resilience, often leading to replacement of scleractinian corals by macroalgae or other non-coral organisms. These degraded reef systems have been mostly described based on changes in the composition of the reef benthos, and there is little understanding of how such changes are influenced by, and in turn influence, other components of the reef ecosystem. This study investigated the spatial variation in benthic communities on fringing reefs around the inner Seychelles islands. Specifically, relationships between benthic composition and the underlying substrata, as well as the associated fish assemblages were assessed. High variability in benthic composition was found among reefs, with a gradient from high coral cover (up to 58%) and high structural complexity to high macroalgae cover (up to 95%) and low structural complexity at the extremes. This gradient was associated with declining species richness of fishes, reduced diversity of fish functional groups, and lower abundance of corallivorous fishes. There were no reciprocal increases in herbivorous fish abundances, and relationships with other fish functional groups and total fish abundance were weak. Reefs grouping at the extremes of complex coral habitats or low-complexity macroalgal habitats displayed markedly different fish communities, with only two species of benthic invertebrate feeding fishes in greater abundance in the macroalgal habitat. These results have negative implications for the continuation of many coral reef ecosystem processes and services if more reefs shift to extreme degraded conditions dominated by macroalgae.

References

[1]  O’Neill R (1999) Recovery in complex ecosystems. J Aquat Ecosyst Stress Recovery 6: 181–187.
[2]  Nystr?m M, Folke C (2001) Spatial Resilience of Coral Reefs. Ecosystems 4: 406–417.
[3]  Hughes TP, Baird AH, Bellwood DR, Card M, Connolly SR, et al. (2003) Climate Change, Human Impacts, and the Resilience of Coral Reefs. Science 301: 929–933.
[4]  Parmesan C (2006) Ecological and Evolutionary Responses to Recent Climate Change. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 37: 637–669.
[5]  Bruno JF, Selig ER (2007) Regional Decline of Coral Cover in the Indo-Pacific: Timing, Extent, and Subregional Comparisons. PLoS ONE 2: e711.
[6]  Graham NAJ, McClanahan TR, MacNeil MA, Wilson SK, Polunin NVC, et al. (2008) Climate warming, marine protected areas and the ocean scale integrity of coral reef ecosystems. PLoS ONE 3: e3039.
[7]  Marshall PA, Baird AH (2000) Bleaching of corals on the Great Barrier Reef: differential susceptibilities among taxa. Coral Reefs 19: 155–163.
[8]  Halford A, Cheal AJ, Ryan D, Williams DM (2004) Resilience to Large-Scale Disturbance in Coral and Fish Assemblages on the Great Barrier Reef. Ecology 85: 1892–1905.
[9]  Pratchett MS, Munday PL, Wilson SK, Graham NAJ, Cinner JE, et al. (2008) Effects of climate-induced coral bleaching on coral-reef fishes: ecological and economic consequences. Oceanogr Mar Biol Annu Rev 46: 251–296.
[10]  Done TJ (1992) Phase shifts in coral reef communities and their ecological significance. Hydrobiologia 247: 121–132.
[11]  Hughes TP (1994) Catastrophes, Phase Shifts, and Large-Scale Degradation of a Caribbean Coral Reef. Science 265: 1547–1551.
[12]  Norstr?m AV, Nystr?m M, Lokrantz J, Folke C (2009) Alternative states on coral reefs: beyond coral-macroalgal phase shifts. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 376: 295–306.
[13]  Costanza R, d’Arge R, de Groot R, Farber S, Grasso M, et al. (1997) The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387: 253–260.
[14]  Littler MM, Littler DS (2007) Assessment of coral reefs using herbivory/nutrient assays and indicator groups of benthic primary producers: a critical synthesis, proposed protocols, and critique of management strategies. Aquat Conserv: Mar Freshwat Ecosyst 17: 195–215.
[15]  Knowlton N, Jackson JBC (2008) Shifting Baselines, Local Impacts, and Global Change on Coral Reefs. PLoS Biol 6: e54.
[16]  Gardner TA, C?té IM, Gill JA, Grant A, Watkinson AR (2003) Long-Term Region-Wide Declines in Caribbean Corals. Science 301: 958–960.
[17]  Ateweberhan M, McClanahan TR, Graham NAJ, Sheppard CRC (2011) Episodic heterogeneous decline and recovery of coral cover in the Indian Ocean. Coral Reefs 30: 739–752.
[18]  Wootton JT (2002) Indirect effects in complex ecosystems: recent progress and future challenges. J Sea Res 48: 157–172.
[19]  Doak DF, Estes JA, Halpern BS, Jacob U, Lindberg DR, et al. (2008) Understanding and predicting ecological dynamics: are major surprises inevitable. Ecology 89: 952–961.
[20]  Connell SD, Russell BD, Irving AD (2011) Can strong consumer and producer effects be reconciled to better forecast ‘catastrophic’ phase-shifts in marine ecosystems? J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 400: 296–301.
[21]  McCormick MI (1994) Comparison of field methods for measuring surface topography and their associations with a tropical reef fish assemblage. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 112: 87–96.
[22]  Garpe KC, Ohman MC (2003) Coral and fish distribution patterns in Mafia Island National Park, Tanzania: fish-habitat interactions. Hydrobiologia 498: 191–211.
[23]  Wilson SK, Graham NAJ, Pratchett MS, Jones GP, Polunin NVC (2006) Multiple disturbances and the global degradation of coral reefs: are reef fishes at risk or resilient? Global Change Biol 12: 2220–2234.
[24]  Lecchini D, Carassou L, Frédérich B, Nakamura Y, Mills SC, et al. (2012) Effects of alternate reef states on coral reef fish habitat associations. Environ Biol Fishes 94: 421–429.
[25]  Bellwood DR, Hoey AS, Ackerman JL, Depczynski M (2006) Coral bleaching, reef fish community phase shifts and the resilience of coral reefs. Global Change Biol 12: 1587–1594.
[26]  Bellwood DR, Baird AH, Depczynski M, González-Cabello A, Hoey AS, et al. (2012) Coral recovery may not herald the return of fishes on damaged coral reefs. Oecologia. doi: 10.1007/s00442–00012–02306-z.
[27]  Jones GP, McCormick MI, Srinivasan M, Eagle JV (2004) Coral decline threatens fish biodiversity in marine reserves. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101: 8251–8253.
[28]  Graham NAJ, Wilson SK, Jennings S, Polunin NVC, Bijoux JP, et al. (2006) Dynamic fragility of oceanic coral reef ecosystems. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103: 8425–8429.
[29]  Syms C, Jones GP (2001) Soft corals exert no direct effects on coral reef fish assemblages. Oecologia 127: 560–571.
[30]  Nogueira C, Colli GR, Martins M (2009) Local richness and distribution of the lizard fauna in natural habitat mosaics of the Brazilian Cerrado. Austral Ecol 34: 83–96.
[31]  Scheffer M, Hosper SH, Meijer ML, Moss B, Jeppesen E (1993) Alternative equilibria in shallow lakes. Trends Ecol Evol 8: 275–279.
[32]  Walker BH (1993) Rangeland Ecology: Understanding and Managing Change. Ambio 22: 80–87.
[33]  Hughes TP, Graham NAJ, Jackson JBC, Mumby PJ, Steneck RS (2010) Rising to the challenge of sustaining coral reef resilience. Trends Ecol Evol 25: 633–642.
[34]  Graham NAJ, Nash KL, Kool J (2011) Coral reef recovery dynamics in a changing world. Coral Reefs 30: 283–294.
[35]  Fox HE (2004) Coral recruitment in blasted and unblasted sites in Indonesia: assessing rehabilitation potential. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 269: 131–139.
[36]  Victor S (2008) Stability of reef framework and post settlement mortality as the structuring factor for recovery of Malakal Bay Reef, Palau, Micronesia: 25 years after a severe COTS outbreak. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 77: 175–180.
[37]  Duckworth AR, Wolff CW (2011) Population dynamics and growth of two coral reef sponges on rock and rubble substrates. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 402: 49–55.
[38]  Goreau TJ (1998) Coral recovery from bleaching in Seychelles. Global Coral Reef Alliance. Available: http://globalcoral.org/coral_recovery_fr?om_bleaching_in.htm. Accessed 2012 Jul 12.
[39]  Ahamada S, Bijoux JP, Cauvin B, Hagan A, Harris A, et al. (2008) Status of the coral reefs of the South-West Indian Ocean Island States: Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion, Seychelles. In: Wilkinson C, editor. Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2008. Townsville, Australia: Australian Institute of Marine Science. 105–118.
[40]  Ledlie M, Graham NAJ, Bythell J, Wilson SK, Jennings S, et al. (2007) Phase shifts and the role of herbivory in the resilience of coral reefs. Coral Reefs 26: 641–653.
[41]  Grandcourt EM, Cesar HSJ (2003) The bio-economic impact of mass coral mortality on the coastal reef fisheries of the Seychelles. Fisheries Research 60: 539–550.
[42]  Daw TM, Maina J, Cinner JE, Robinson J, Wamukota A (2011) The spatial behaviour of artisanal fishers: Implications for fisheries management and development (Fishers in Space). Zanzibar, Tasmania: Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association. 79 p.
[43]  Daw TM, Robinson JAN, Graham NAJ (2011) Perceptions of trends in Seychelles artisanal trap fisheries: comparing catch monitoring, underwater visual census and fishers’ knowledge. Environ Conserv 38: 75–88.
[44]  Halford AR, Thompson AA (1994) Visual census surveys of reef fish. Townsville, Queensland : Australian Institute of Marine Science. 24 p.
[45]  Wilson SK, Graham NAJ, Polunin NVC (2007) Appraisal of visual assessments of habitat complexity and benthic composition on coral reefs. Mar Biol 151: 1069–1076.
[46]  Grandcourt EM (1999) The population biology of a selection of exploited reef fish from the Seychelles and Great Barrier Reef. Townsville, Queensland: James Cook University. 106 p.
[47]  Clarke KR, Warwick RM (2001) Changes in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation. Plymouth: PRIMER-E Ltd. 176 p.
[48]  Chabanet P, Ralambondrainy H, Amanieu M, Faure G, Galzin R (1997) Relationships between coral reef substrata and fish. Coral Reefs 16: 93–102.
[49]  Wilson SK, Fisher R, Pratchett MS, Graham NAJ, Dulvy NK, et al. (2008) Exploitation and habitat degradation as agents of change within coral reef fish communities. Global Change Biol 14: 2796–2809.
[50]  Zuur AF, Ieno EN, Smith GM (2007) Analysing ecological data. Berlin: Springer Verlag. 672 p.
[51]  Clarke KR, Somerfield PJ, Gorley RN (2008) Testing of null hypotheses in exploratory community analyses: similarity profiles and biota-environment linkage. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 366: 56–69.
[52]  Pratchett MS (2005) Dietry overlap among coral-feeding butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae) at Lizard Island, northern Great Barrier Reef. Mar Biol 148: 373–382.
[53]  McKinney ML, Lockwood JL (1999) Biotic homogenization: a few winners replacing many losers in the next mass extinction. Trends Ecol Evol 14: 450–453.
[54]  Devictor V, Julliard R, Jiguet F (2008) Distribution of specialist and generalist species along spatial gradients of habitat disturbance and fragmentation. Oikos 117: 507–514.
[55]  Munday PL (2004) Habitat loss, resource specialization, and extinction on coral reefs. Global Change Biol 10: 1642–1647.
[56]  Arthur R, Done TJ, Marsh H, Harriott V (2006) Local processes strongly influence post-bleaching benthic recovery in the Lakshadweep Islands. Coral Reefs 25: 427–440.
[57]  Bellwood DR, Hughes TP, Folke C, Nystr?m M (2004) Confronting the coral reef crisis. Nature 429: 827–833.
[58]  Bellwood DR, Hughes TP, Hoey AS (2006) Sleeping Functional Group Drives Coral-Reef Recovery. Curr Biol 16: 2434–2439.
[59]  Hoey AS, Bellwood DR (2011) Suppression of herbivory by macroalgal density: a critical feedback on coral reefs? Ecol Lett 14: 267–273.
[60]  Wilson SK, Depczynski M, Fisher R, Holmes TH, O’Leary RA, et al. (2010) Habitat associations of juvenile fish at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia: the importance of coral and algae. PLoS ONE 5: e15185.
[61]  Taylor JD (1968) Coral Reef and Associated Invertebrate Communities (Mainly Molluscan) Around Mahe, Seychelles. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological Sciences 254: 129–206.
[62]  Stoddart D (1984) Biogeography and ecology of the Seychelles Islands. Berlin: Springer. 708 p.
[63]  Wilson SK, Graham NAJ, Fisher R, Robinson J, Nash K, et al. (2012) Macroalgal expansion and marine protected areas drive coral recovery following climatic disturbances. Conserv Biol. In press.
[64]  Hughes TP, Rodrigues MJ, Bellwood DR, Ceccarelli D, Hoegh-Guldberg O, et al. (2007) Phase Shifts, Herbivory, and the Resilience of Coral Reefs to Climate Change. Curr Biol 17: 360–365.
[65]  Pratchett MS, Hoey AS, Wilson SK, Messmer V, Graham NAJ (2011) Changes in Biodiversity and Functioning of Reef Fish Assemblages following Coral Bleaching and Coral Loss. Diversity 3: 424–452.
[66]  Fox RJ, Bellwood DR (2007) Quantifying herbivory across a coral reef depth gradient. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 339: 49–59.
[67]  Friedlander AM, Brown E, Monaco ME (2007) Defining reef fish habitat utilization patterns in Hawaii: comparisons between marine protected areas and areas open to fishing. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 351: 221–233.
[68]  Mumby PJ, Harborne AR, Williams J, Kappel CV, Brumbaugh DR, et al. (2007) Trophic cascade facilitates coral recruitment in a marine reserve. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104: 8362–8367.
[69]  Wismer S, Hoey AS, Bellwood DR (2009) Cross-shelf benthic community structure on the Great Barrier Reef: relationships between macroalgal cover and herbivore biomass. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 376: 45–54.
[70]  Hoey AS, Bellwood DR (2009) Limited Functional Redundancy in a High Diversity System: Single Species Dominates Key Ecological Process on Coral Reefs. Ecosystems 12: 1316–1328.
[71]  Johansson CL, Bellwood DR, Depczynski M (2010) Sea urchins, macroalgae and coral reef decline: a functional evaluation of an intact reef system, Ningaloo, Western Australia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 414: 65–74.
[72]  Elmqvist T, Folke C, Nystr?m M, Peterson G, Bengtsson J, et al. (2003) Response diversity, ecosystem change, and resilience. Front Ecol Environ 1: 488–494.
[73]  Payet R, Agricole W (2006) Climate change in the Seychelles: Implications for water and coral reefs. Ambio 35: 182–189.
[74]  Thrush SF, Hewitt JE, Dayton PK, Coco G, Lohrer AM, et al. (2009) Forecasting the limits of resilience: integrating empirical research with theory. Proc R Soc B 276: 3209–3217.
[75]  Moberg F, Folke C (1999) Ecological goods and services of coral reef ecosystems. Ecol Econ 29: 215–233.
[76]  Worm B, Barbier EB, Beaumont N, Duffy JE, Folke C, et al. (2006) Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services. Science 314: 787–790.
[77]  Graham NAJ, Wilson SK, Jennings S, Polunin NVC, Robinson J, et al. (2007) Lag Effects in the Impacts of Mass Coral Bleaching on Coral Reef Fish, Fisheries, and Ecosystems. Conserv Biol 21: 1291–1300.
[78]  Mumby PJ, Broad K, Brumbaugh DR, Dahlgren CP, Harborne AR, et al. (2008) Coral reef habitats as surrogates of species, ecological functions, and ecosystem services. Conserv Biol 22: 941–951.
[79]  Shafer CS, Inglis G (2000) Influence of Social, Biophysical, and Managerial Conditions on Tourism Experiences Within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Environ Manage 26: 73–87.
[80]  Williams ID, Polunin NVC (2000) Differences between protected and unprotected reefs of the western Caribbean in attributes preferred by dive tourists. Environ Conserv 27: 382–391.
[81]  Uyarra MC, C?té IM, Gill JA, Tinch RRT, Viner D, et al. (2005) Island-specific preferences of tourists for environmental features: implications of climate change for tourism-dependent states. Environ Conserv 32: 11–19.
[82]  Petraitis P, Methratta E, Rhile E, Vidargas N, Dudgeon S (2009) Experimental confirmation of multiple community states in a marine ecosystem. Oecologia 161: 139–148.
[83]  Brown BE (1997) Disturbances to reefs in recent times. In: Birkeland C, editor. Life and death of coral reefs. New York: Chapman and Hall. 354–379.
[84]  Westoby M, Walker BH, Noy-Meir I (1989) Opportunistic Management for Rangelands Not at Equilibrium. Journal of Range Management 42: 266–274.

Full-Text

Contact Us

service@oalib.com

QQ:3279437679

WhatsApp +8615387084133