Seascapes as drivers of herbivore assemblages in coral reef ecosystems

Roff, George; Bejarano, Sonia; Priest, Mark A.; Marshell, Alyssa; Chollett, Iliana; Steneck, Robert S.; Doropoulos, Christopher; Golbuu, Yimnang; Mumby, Peter J.

doi:10.1002/ecm.1336

Cited by 39 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 133 publications

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“…This broad suite of factors highlights the evolutionary obstacles that fishes may have had to overcome to inhabit and exploit particular habitats [4,39]. It also supports recent notions that basic reef geomorphology and habitat are substantial drivers of [105][106][107], and potentially influenced by [4,39], the nature and structure of herbivorous fish assemblages.…”

Section: Plos Onesupporting

confidence: 73%

Habitat zonation on coral reefs: Structural complexity, nutritional resources and herbivorous fish distributions

2020

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Distinct zonation of community assemblages among habitats is a ubiquitous feature of coral reefs. The distribution of roving herbivorous fishes (parrotfishes, surgeonfishes and rabbitfishes) is a particularly clear example, with the abundance of these fishes generally peaking in shallow-water, high-energy habitats, regardless of the biogeographic realm. Yet, our understanding of the factors which structure this habitat partitioning, especially with regards to different facets of structural complexity and nutritional resource availability, is limited. To address this issue, we used three-dimensional photogrammetry and structure-from-motion technologies to describe five components of structural complexity (rugosity, coral cover, verticality, refuge density and field-of-view) and nutritional resource availability (grazing surface area) among habitats and considered how these factors are related to herbivorous fish distributions. All complexity metrics (including coral cover) were highest on the slope and crest. Nutritional resource availability differed from this general pattern and peaked on the outerflat. Unexpectedly, when compared to the distribution of herbivorous fishes, none of the complexity metrics had a marked influence in the models. However, grazing surface area was a strong predictor of both the abundance and biomass of herbivorous fishes. The strong relationship between grazing surface area and herbivorous fish distributions indicates that nutritional resource availability may be one of the primary factors driving the distribution of roving herbivorous fishes. The lack of a relationship between complexity and herbivorous fishes, and a strong affinity of herbivorous fishes for low-complexity, algal turf-dominated outer-flat habitats, offers some cautious optimism that herbivory may be sustained on future, low-complexity, algal turf-dominated reef configurations.

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Section: Plos Onesupporting

confidence: 73%

Habitat zonation on coral reefs: Structural complexity, nutritional resources and herbivorous fish distributions

2020

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“…All mesopredatory fishes were grouped into three size classes based on maximum obtainable lengths (TL) from regional estimates at Fishes of Australia http://fishesofaustralia.net.au/ (Bray & Gomon, ) and FishBase http://www.fishbase.org (Froese & Pauly, ), where regional TL estimates were unavailable (~22% of species). Mesopredatory fishes were classified as “small” (≤50 cm TL), “medium” (50–100 cm TL), and “large” (>100 cm TL) (e.g., Roff et al, ). Many sharks and large predatory teleosts are limited by gape width to consuming prey that are ~≤40% of their body length (Barley et al, ; Bethea, Buckel, & Carlson, ), and up to as much as half their body length for some piscivores (Mihalitsis & Bellwood, ; Scharf, Juanes, & Rountree, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protection from illegal fishing and shark recovery restructures mesopredatory fish communities on a coral reef

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et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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The recovery of communities of predatory fishes within a no‐take marine reserve after the eradication of illegal fishing provides an opportunity to examine the role of sharks and other large‐bodied mesopredatory fishes in structuring reef fish communities. We used baited remote underwater video stations to investigate whether an increase in sharks was associated with a change in structure of the mesopredatory fish community at Ashmore Reef, Western Australia. We found an almost fourfold increase in shark abundance in reef habitat from 0.64 hr−1 ± 0.15 SE in 2004, when Ashmore Reef was being fished illegally, to 2.45 hr−1 ± 0.37 in 2016, after eight years of full‐time enforcement of the reserve. Shark recovery in reef habitat was accompanied by a two and a half‐fold decline in the abundance of small mesopredatory fishes (≤50 cm TL) (14.00 hr−1 ± 3.79 to 5.6 hr−1 ± 1.20) and a concomitant increase in large mesopredatory fishes (≥100 cm TL) from 1.82 hr−1 ± 0.48 to 4.27 hr−1 ± 0.93. In contrast, near‐reef habitats showed an increase in abundance of large mesopredatory fishes between years (2.00 hr−1 ± 0.65 to 4.56 hr−1 ± 1.11), although only smaller increases in sharks (0.67 hr−1 ± 0.25 to 1.22 hr−1 ± 0.34) and smaller mesopredatory fishes. Although the abundance of most mesopredatory groups increased with recovery from fishing, we suggest that the large decline of small mesopredatory fish in reef habitat was mostly due to higher predation pressure following the increase in sharks and large mesopredatory fishes. At the regional scale, the structure of fished communities at Ashmore Reef in 2004 resembled those of present day Scott Reefs, where fishing still continues today. In 2016, Ashmore fish communities resembled those of the Rowley Shoals, which have been protected from fishing for decades.

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“…How these potential factors interact to drive fish assemblage structure is complex and not well defined. Prior studies have linked coral reef fish assemblage patterns to reef structural complexity [5,11], wave exposure [12][13][14], depth and water motion [15], reef area [16], and reef geomorphology [17,18]. However, spatial variation in biological patterns cannot be assessed without the consideration of scale.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity and Structure of Parrotfish Assemblages across the Northern Great Barrier Reef

et al. 2019

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The structure and dynamics of coral reef environments vary across a range of spatial scales, with patterns of associated faunal assemblages often reflecting this variability. However, delineating drivers of biological variability in such complex environments has proved challenging. Here, we investigated the assemblage structure and diversity of parrotfishes—a common and ecologically important group—across 6° of latitude on the Northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia. Parrotfish abundance and biomass were determined from stereo-video surveys across 82 sites spanning 31 reefs and assessed against geographic, biophysical, and management-related factors in a multivariate framework to determine major drivers and associated scales of assemblage structure. Large cross-shelf variation in parrotfish assemblages pervaded along the entire Northern GBR, with distinct assemblages associated with sheltered and exposed reefs. Species abundances and diversity generally decreased with decreasing latitude. The gradient of explicit predator biomass associated with management zoning had no effect on parrotfish assemblage structure, but was positively correlated with parrotfish diversity. Our results highlight the ubiquitous presence of cross-shelf variation, where the greatest differences in parrotfish community composition existed between sheltered (inner and mid shelf) and exposed (outer shelf) reef systems. Prior attempts to explain linkages between parrotfishes and fine-scale biophysical factors have demonstrated parrotfishes as habitat generalists, but recent developments in nutritional ecology suggest that their cross-shelf variation on the GBR is likely reflective of benthic resource distribution and species-specific feeding modes.

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Seascapes as drivers of herbivore assemblages in coral reef ecosystems

Cited by 39 publications

References 133 publications

Habitat zonation on coral reefs: Structural complexity, nutritional resources and herbivorous fish distributions

Habitat zonation on coral reefs: Structural complexity, nutritional resources and herbivorous fish distributions

Protection from illegal fishing and shark recovery restructures mesopredatory fish communities on a coral reef

Diversity and Structure of Parrotfish Assemblages across the Northern Great Barrier Reef

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