Ecology of rocky reef fish of northeastern New Zealand: 50 years on

Jones, Geoffrey P.

doi:10.1080/00288330.2013.812569

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 151 publications

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“…As reef fish display specialization in regard to habitat requirements (Jones, 1988;Curley et al, 2002) and respond to habitat at a variety of spatial scales (e.g. site attached species versus habitat generalists) (Chatfield et al, 2010;Monk et al, 2010), it was not surprising that abiotic measures were poor predictors of total fish abundance and diversity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abiotic surrogates for temperate rocky reef biodiversity: implications for marine protected areas

Rees

Jordan

Price

et al. 2013

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim To examine the potential of remotely sensed abiotic measures as surrogates for the abundance, diversity and community composition of temperate rocky reef fishes and sessile invertebrates. Location Batemans Marine Park, south‐eastern Australia. Methods We used high‐resolution bathymetric side‐scan sonar imagery to quantify abiotic measures of rocky reef habitat, within a marine protected area (MPA), and examine the relationship between abiotic measures and (1) sessile invertebrate abundance, (2) sessile invertebrate species richness, (3) total fish abundance, (4) fish species richness, and (5) Monacanthidae abundance using generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs). We chose GAMMs as the preferred statistical analysis to account for the spatial autocorrelation present in our data. Results We found a strong positive relationship between abiotic measures and sessile invertebrate abundance and diversity (r2 > 0.64). By far the most important predictor was vertical relief within a 75 m radii seascape surrounding the faunal survey. Overall, abiotic measures were poor predictors of total fish abundance (r2 = 0.175) and fish species richness (r2 = 0.276), with minimum adequate models producing low explanatory power. In contrast, Monacanthids exhibited a strong positive relationship with abiotic variables (r2 = 0.385), with increased abundance associated with greater depth and distance from soft sediment. Main conclusions Remotely sensed abiotic measures are important predictors in describing the spatial patterns of sessile invertebrate abundance and diversity and Monacanthid abundance. In contrast, abiotic variables were poor predictors of total fish abundance and diversity. Habitat could be a useful cost‐effective surrogate to determine areas of conservation value for certain temperate rocky reef assemblages. This information is valuable for future MPA development and design.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abiotic surrogates for temperate rocky reef biodiversity: implications for marine protected areas

Rees

Jordan

Price

et al. 2013

Diversity and Distributions

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“…The presence of kelp has a dominant influence on the composition of reef fish assemblages, with distinct fish communities associated with kelp beds vs. those observed within barren rocky reef habitats (Choat and Ayling 1987, Jones 1988, Anderson and Millar 2004, P erez-Matus and Shima 2010. Thus, there exists a potential feedback loop where in addition to the presence of kelp beds influencing the composition of fish assemblages, changes in fish community structure may simultaneously modify the structure and composition of kelp communities through their control on the proliferation of grazers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional differences in kelp forest interaction chains are influenced by both diffuse and localized stressors

et al. 2019

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On temperate rocky reefs, overexploitation of high‐trophic‐level omnivores can result in the decimation of kelp forest habitats by releasing sea urchin population networks from top‐down control. However, the local dynamics of the resulting trophic cascades are context‐dependent. Here, we investigate the community‐wide patterns associated with both diffuse stressors and localized protection of high‐trophic‐level omnivores in kelp forest ecosystems by comparing communities among marine reserves and fished areas in two contrasting regions in terms of fishing intensity and land‐based stressors, Fiordland and the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand. We find higher densities of the potential sea urchin predators, red rock lobsters (Jasus edwardsii) and banded wrasse (Notolabrus fucicola), in the Fiordland region, and larger effect sizes of fishing on the exploited fish communities in the Marlborough Sounds. Patterns in sea urchin density were consistent with the idea that high‐trophic‐level species, such as large fish and rock lobsters, regulate sea urchin population density, with lower densities of Evechinus chloroticus observed inside marine reserves, in both regions. Nevertheless, densities of E. chloroticus were generally high (>3 m2) in the Marlborough Sounds, likely above a grazing threshold in both fished and reserve sites. The proportion of habitat where sea urchins were absent was 29% in Marlborough Sounds and 90% in Fiordland. Consequently, we observe 49% barren habitat in Fiordland vs. 70%, and a larger effect of fishing on kelp community structure, in the Marlborough Sounds, where fishing effect sizes and land‐based stressors were more severe. We propose that a combination of diffuse stressors including regional overexploitation of important sea urchin predators, sedimentation, and warming of coastal waters likely contributed to regional differences in the responses of trophic interaction chains to localized reductions in fishing within marine reserves. The present study highlights how physiologically stressed and modified kelp forest ecosystems are more susceptible to detrimental phase shifts at a regional spatial scale.

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“…A substantial body of recent research has investigated the processes driving population connectivity and diversification in marine reef fishes, including the potential for ecological speciation, such as in the Indo-Pacific and other tropical reef systems (Rocha et al 2005;Crow et al 2010;Briggs and Bowen 2013;Cowman and Bellwood 2013;Bowen et al 2013Bowen et al , 2014Bernardi et al 2014). Population connectivity and diversification in New Zealand reef fishes has been little studied in comparison (Jones 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discordance between nuclear and mitochondrial DNA analyses of population structure in closely related triplefin fishes (Forsterygion lapillum and F. capito, F. Tripterygiidae) supports speciation with gene flow

et al. 2015

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breaks, and far less structure is evident than in the mtDNA data. Further, we found a lack of structure over local scales in F. lapillum, suggesting extensive gene flow over tens of kilometres. Our findings suggest a pattern of steppingstone dispersal and contiguous gene flow, sometimes over large distances, supporting the hypothesis that factors other than geographic isolation, such as ecological speciation with gene flow, have been important in the evolution of this group.

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Ecology of rocky reef fish of northeastern New Zealand: 50 years on

Cited by 16 publications

References 151 publications

Abiotic surrogates for temperate rocky reef biodiversity: implications for marine protected areas

Abiotic surrogates for temperate rocky reef biodiversity: implications for marine protected areas

Regional differences in kelp forest interaction chains are influenced by both diffuse and localized stressors

Discordance between nuclear and mitochondrial DNA analyses of population structure in closely related triplefin fishes (Forsterygion lapillum and F. capito, F. Tripterygiidae) supports speciation with gene flow

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