Living and Mineral Reefs: Are they Comparable and What Ecological Information Is Preserved?

Lescinsky, Halard L.

doi:10.1007/978-94-017-7567-0_10

Cited by 2 publications

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“…Such studies can be used to redefine historical marine communities and establish conservation and restoration goals, by placing modern analogues within an historical context (Kidwell, 2015; Dietl & Flessa, 2017). Fish remains such as skeletons and teeth are, however, often too rare (if present at all) to be preserved in intertidal reef environments due to taphonomic reasons (Lescinsky, 2016). However, fish otoliths, which are taxon‐specific morphologically, can be found in abundance in a wide range of sedimentary environments (Lin, Girone & Nolf, 2016; Lin et al, 2017), including coral reef sediments (Lin et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coastal development threatens Datan area supporting greatest fish diversity at Taoyuan Algal Reef, northwestern Taiwan

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Tung

Pei

et al. 2020

Aquatic Conservation

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Taoyuan Algal Reef is a biodiverse coralline algal reef in north‐west Taiwan, that is currently threatened by coastal development and industrial waste runoff. As the reef lies in an exposed area that is frequently disturbed by monsoons, it is difficult to survey using traditional methods. Knowledge of the reef is therefore limited, and has until recently, long been regarded as a barren environment. However, recent studies have revealed that the reef is inhabited by a diverse array of organisms, particularly at Datan, where a natural gas receiving terminal is planned for construction. Due to challenging environmental conditions, otolith assemblage and soundscape analyses were used to supplement traditional sampling methods including clove oil, netting, and pole‐and‐line fishing in order to assess the diversity of the fish community at Taoyuan Algal Reef. Several fish species that had not been recorded by previous surveys were observed. Fish diversity and the average size of commercially targeted species were greatest at Datan G2. Predatory reef fishes such as groupers (Serranidae) and snappers (Lutjanidae), as well as several small endangered scalloped hammerhead sharks Sphyrna lewini were recorded at G2, where otolith assemblage analysis also indicated increased predatory activity. However, fewer individuals and species were recorded from tidal pools across all sites compared to previous surveys, suggesting a loss of biodiversity. If construction work resumes at Datan, it will be likely to have adverse consequences for the reef itself, the species that inhabit it, and by extension, the local fishermen that rely upon it. Halting additional coastal development, reducing industrial and domestic pollution, as well as improving the management of traditional fisheries is recommended to protect this unique reef ecosystem from further degradation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coastal development threatens Datan area supporting greatest fish diversity at Taoyuan Algal Reef, northwestern Taiwan

Heard

Tung

Pei

et al. 2020

Aquatic Conservation

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Reconstructing reef fish communities using fish otoliths in coral reef sediments

et al. 2019

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Little is known about long-term changes in coral reef fish communities. Here we present a new technique that leverages fish otoliths in reef sediments to reconstruct coral reef fish communities. We found over 5,400 otoliths in 169 modern and mid-Holocene bulk samples from Caribbean Panama and Dominican Republic mid-Holocene and modern reefs, demonstrating otoliths are abundant in reef sediments. With a specially-built reference collection, we were able to assign over 4,400 otoliths to one of 56 taxa (35 families) though mostly at genus and family level. Many otoliths were from juvenile fishes for which identification is challenging. Richness (by rarefaction) of otolith assemblages was slightly higher in modern than mid-Holocene reefs, but further analyses are required to elucidate the underlying causes. We compared the living fish communities, sampled using icthyocide, with the sediment otolith assemblages on four reefs finding the otolith assemblages faithfully capture the general composition of the living fish communities. Radiocarbon dating performed directly on the otoliths suggests that relatively little mixing of sediment layers particularly on actively accreting branching coral reefs. All otolith assemblages were strongly dominated by small, fast-turnover fish taxa and juvenile individuals, and our exploration on taxonomy, functional ecology and taphonomy lead us to the conclusion that intense predation is likely the most important process for otolith accumulation in reef sediments. We conclude that otolith assemblages in modern and fossil reef sediments can provide a powerful tool to explore ecological changes in reef fish communities over time and space.

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Living and Mineral Reefs: Are they Comparable and What Ecological Information Is Preserved?

Cited by 2 publications

References 241 publications

Coastal development threatens Datan area supporting greatest fish diversity at Taoyuan Algal Reef, northwestern Taiwan

Coastal development threatens Datan area supporting greatest fish diversity at Taoyuan Algal Reef, northwestern Taiwan

Reconstructing reef fish communities using fish otoliths in coral reef sediments

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