High connectivity of Indo-Pacific seagrass fish assemblages with mangrove and coral reef habitats

Unsworth, Richard K. F.; León, PS De; Garrard, Samantha L.; Jompa, Jamaluddìn; Smith, DJ; Bell, James J.

doi:10.3354/meps07199

Cited by 191 publications

(156 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…An enhanced production of food occurs, either directly, through increased production of epifauna on seagrass leaves, or indirectly, through the generation of detritus (Jenkins et al 1997). These habitats also support coral reef productivity principally due to their role as feeding habitat for predatory fish (Unsworth et al 2008). Increasingly, information on the linkages between fish communities in coastal habitats (Nagelkerken et al 2000a, Mumby et al 2004, Nakamura & Sano 2004a, Dorenbosch et al 2005, Nemeth 2009) and the role of seagrass as nursery, feeding and resting habitat for coral reef fishes (Nagelkerken et al 2000b, 2001, Horinouchi et al 2005, Mumby 2006, Nagelkerken 2009) is essential to understand the connectivity of marine habitats for conservation management purposes (Sale et al 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of these studies were from subtidal areas where connectivity among habitats is permanent. The limited number of studies conducted in South East Asia are from intertidal habitats, where seagrasses commonly lie adjacent to coral reefs on fringing reefs and lagoons, offering temporary habitat and therefore potentially different functions for reef fishes (Sheaves 2005, Unsworth et al 2008, 2009a.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Connectivity in reef fish assemblages between seagrass and coral reef habitats

Campbell¹,

Kartawijaya²,

Sabarini³

2011

Aquat. Biol.

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Coral reefs and seagrass beds form extensive shallow-water habitats, but few reports have assessed the extent to which fishes on coral reefs are segregated from or integrated with fish from seagrass habitats. To investigate this, we used visual census surveys to survey reef fish assemblages in 3 habitat types: (1) seagrass, (2) transition areas between seagrass and coral reef and (3) coral reefs, at 8 locations in an Indonesian marine protected area. Based on the density of juveniles and adults, 66 of the 212 fish species recorded were classified into 4 ecological groups: seagrass residents, generalists, nursery species and coral residents. Coral residents and nursery species were found in reef and transition habitats, seagrass residents in seagrass beds and transition habitats, and generalists showed a gradual decrease in density from coral reef to seagrass beds. In terms of reef fish density, seagrass residents and nursery species accounted for 21 and 17%, respectively, of the 66 species classified into ecological groups. Habitat segregation among life stages of some nursery species, where adults were found in a coral habitat and juveniles in seagrass, was indicative of ontogenetic shifts from seagrass to coral habitat. Segregation in the distribution of feeding groups among habitat types also occurred, with nocturnal piscivores and diurnal zoobenthivores mostly found in coral and transition habitats, while nocturnal zoobenthivores, herbivores and diurnal piscivores were mostly found in seagrass and transition habitats. These patterns differ from those reported in similar habitat types elsewhere, but overall the results support previous findings, i.e. that optimisation of predatory and resource competition mechanisms may be responsible for habitat segregation of fish species, life stages and feeding groups.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Connectivity in reef fish assemblages between seagrass and coral reef habitats

Campbell¹,

Kartawijaya²,

Sabarini³

2011

Aquat. Biol.

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“…While these meadows constitute only a small fraction of the global marine primary production (1.13%), they play an important role as a carbon sink (Duarte & Cebrian 1996, Kennedy & Björk 2009). Seagrass meadows also provide important ecosystem services, such as nutrient cycling (Costanza et al 1997), providing refuge for highly productive fauna (Unsworth et al 2008 and supporting subsistence and commercial fisheries (Watson et al 1993, Unsworth & Cullen 2010.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term climate-associated dynamics of a tropical seagrass meadow: implications for the future

Rasheed¹,

Unsworth²

2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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105

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The long-term changes of tropical intertidal seagrass, mainly Halodule uninervis and Halophila ovalis meadows and their relationship to climate are poorly documented. Developing a greater understanding of the effects of climate on seagrass meadows is critical for estimating the effects of future climate change scenarios. Here we document the temporal dynamics of coastal intertidal seagrass in tropical northeast Australia over 16 yr of detailed monitoring. This study is the first to directly relate such change to long-term climate variability in the Indo-Pacific region and southern hemisphere. Regression modelling was used to relate seagrass biomass and meadow area measurements to climate data. The aboveground biomass and area of the meadow were correlated with the interacting factors of air temperature, precipitation, daytime tidal exposure and freshwater runoff from nearby rivers. Elevated temperature and reduced flow from rivers were significantly correlated (R 2 = 0.6, p < 0.001) with periods of lower seagrass biomass. Results of this study have important implications for the long-term viability of seagrasses with regard to climate change scenarios. Modelling of our findings indicates that future higher temperatures could be detrimental to Indo-Pacific intertidal, coastal and estuarine seagrass meadows.KEY WORDS: Climate change · Global warming · Halophila ovalis · Halodule uninervis · Temperature · Rainfall · Indo-Pacific · Queensland · Australia Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 422: [93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103] 2011 been lost at an unprecedented rate from a variety of anthropogenic influences (Waycott et al. 2009). Predictions of the influence of climate change scenarios on seagrass (Short & Neckles 1999, Harley et al. 2006, Poloczanska et al. 2007, Waycott et al. 2007) are largely based on incidences of seagrass loss associated with extreme weather (Cardoso et al. 2008, Micheli et al. 2008 as reported in short-term experimental studies (Campbell et al. 2006). Long-term studies directly measuring seagrass changes and how they are correlated with climate are rare. Such studies are restricted to the Mediterranean Sea and coastal areas of Florida (Marba & Duarte 1997, Tomasko et al. 2005; no similar studies have been reported for the tropical Indo-Pacific region.Throughout the Indo-Pacific region, turbid estuarine and coastal environments commonly contain abundant and productive intertidal seagrass meadows dominated by the small colonising floral species of Halodule uninervis (Forssk.) Aschers., 1882 and Halophila ovalis (R.Br.) J. D. Hooker, 1858, Coles et al. 2003. Such meadows are often spatially expansive , Coles et al. 2003 and are particularly important food sources for dugong Dugong dugong and green turtles Chelonia mydas (Bjorndal 1985, Preen & Marsh 1995. The intertidal and coastal location of these meadows makes them susceptible to large climatic events, such as flooding , Campbell & McKenzie 2004, drought...

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“…From a biological standpoint, the simplifi cation inherent in valuing individual marine habitats is inappropriate when one considers the inter-connected nature of these ecosystems. While estimates of economic value largely consider marine habitats in isolation, the vast majority of species move between multiple habitats on a daily and tidal basis (Unsworth et al 2008). As such, direct use values assigned to one habitat type based on where fi sh may be caught are not refl ective of the range of habitats that support that species.…”

Section: Economic Valuation Techniques and Valuing Ecosystem Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Valuing and Evaluating Marine Ecosystem Services: Putting the Right Price on Marine Environments?

Clifton¹,

Cullen-Unsworth²,

Unsworth³

2014

Environment and Society

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Ⅲ ABSTRACT: Th e fl ow of ecosystem services from coral reefs, seagrass meadows and mangrove forests sustains the livelihoods of billions of people worldwide. Faced with the global degradation of marine and coastal ecosystems, policy makers are increasingly focusing on ecosystem service valuation techniques to encourage conservation and sustainable use of marine resources. Here we provide a review and synthesis of the available information on economic valuation techniques as applied to tropical marine habitats. Our study demonstrates the high variability and lack of consistency in outcomes from these studies. We conclude that, if the concept of ecosystem goods and services is to make a positive contribution towards managing the impacts of humans on the environment, then economic valuation approaches must refl ect the inherent limitations of economic theory whilst emphasizing the complexity and heterogeneity of the natural environment and human decision making.

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High connectivity of Indo-Pacific seagrass fish assemblages with mangrove and coral reef habitats

Cited by 191 publications

References 32 publications

Connectivity in reef fish assemblages between seagrass and coral reef habitats

Connectivity in reef fish assemblages between seagrass and coral reef habitats

Long-term climate-associated dynamics of a tropical seagrass meadow: implications for the future

Valuing and Evaluating Marine Ecosystem Services: Putting the Right Price on Marine Environments?

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