Zonation of Benthic Communities on the Subtropical Aliwal Shoal, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Olbers, Jennifer; Celliers, Louis; Schleyer, Michael H.

doi:10.3377/004.044.0102

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Species richness and composition vary along latitudinal gradients (Floeter et al, 2005;Smith et al, 2008;Olbers et al, 2009) but trends can differ for different taxa. While coral cover on high-latitude reef patches is frequently similar to that of tropical coral reefs (Harrison et al, 1998;Harriott & Banks, 2002;Wallace et al, 2009;Thomson & Frisch, 2010), reef accretion and development are often limited due to cumulative stress from a combination of physical and biological factors (Kleypas et al, 1999;Harriott & Banks, 2002).…”

Section: Community Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…2). Coral species richness generally declines with increasing latitude (Harriott & Banks, 2002), and at high latitudes, the benthos is more frequently dominated by macroalgae, soft corals and other sessile invertebrates such as ascidians, sponges and barnacles (Harriott et al, 1994;Schleyer et al, 2008;Olbers et al, 2009;Wicks et al, 2010a). Similarly, the diversity and abundance of fish communities decline with increasing latitude .…”

Section: Community Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Conserving potential coral reef refuges at high latitudes

Beger

Sommer

Harrison

et al. 2013

Diversity and Distributions

156

149

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aim High-latitude coral reef communities composed of tropical, subtropical and temperate species are heralded as climate change refuges for vulnerable tropical coral reef species, giving them high, but as yet unrealized, conservation priority. We review the ecology of subtropical reefs in the context of climate change and evaluate management strategies ensuring both their own continuity and their potential to act as refuges for tropical species.Location Global high-latitude coral reef environments.Methods We review the literature about refuges management, high-latitude reefs, climate change effects on reef organisms and the conservation of reefs.Results High-latitude coral reef systems are functionally different from their tropical counterparts, characterized by unique biogeographical overlap of taxa at their range margins, endemic species and strong seasonality in species composition. They are shaped by marginal environmental conditions, which are predicted to undergo greater changes than reefs at lower latitudes, resulting in community re-assembly through range shifts, altered dispersal patterns, survivorship and habitat loss. The combined impact of these changes, however, is difficult to assess, as some effects may be antagonistic. Climate change conservation options include passive management strategies such as no-take reserves that aim to minimize local disturbances, and active strategies such as relocating populations to refuge sites. Success of active intervention relies on the long-term persistence of relocated populations, which is unlikely for highlatitude populations once source tropical populations at lower latitudes are locally extinct.Main conclusion High-latitude reefs are poised for rapid modification under climate change. Management should anticipate these changes by setting up no-take reserves on suitable subtropical reefs now to foster ecosystem resilience through reduced anthropogenic impacts. Given the uncertainty over which species will arrive or depart and lack of knowledge about the history of most subtropical reef development, active management is presently not the best use of management resources.

show abstract

Section: Community Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Community Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Conserving potential coral reef refuges at high latitudes

Beger

Sommer

Harrison

et al. 2013

Diversity and Distributions

156

149

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Macro-benthic invertebrate assemblages in the Betty’s Bay Marine Protected Area (Kogelberg region South Africa)

Joshua

Toefy

Sparks

et al. 2018

Regional Studies in Marine Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Refuges and risks: Evaluating the benefits of an expanded MPA network for mobile apex predators

Daly

Smale

Singh

et al. 2018

Diversity and Distributions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

AimConcurrently, assessing the effectiveness of marine protected areas and evaluating the degree of risk from humans to key species provide valuable information that can be integrated into conservation management planning. Tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) are a wide‐ranging ecologically important species subject to various threats. The aim of this study was to identify “hotspots” of tiger shark habitat use in relation to protected areas and potential risks from fishing.LocationSouthwest Indian Ocean, east coast of South Africa and Mozambique.MethodsSatellite tags were fitted to 26 tiger sharks. A subset of 19 sharks with an average period at liberty of 197 (SD = 110) days were analysed using hotspot analysis to identify areas of core habitat use. The spatial and temporal overlap of significant hotspots with current and planned marine protected areas as well as risks from fishing and culling was then calculated.ResultsThere was a 5.97% spatial overlap between tiger shark hotspots and marine protected areas, which would increase significantly (p < .05) to 24.36% with the expansion of planned protected areas in South Africa and could be as high as 41.43% if Mozambique similarly expanded neighbouring protected area boundaries. Tiger sharks remained largely coastal, but only showed a spatial overlap of 5.12% with shark culling nets in South Africa. Only three sharks undertook open ocean migrations during which they were more likely to interact with longline fisheries in the region.Main conclusionsThis study demonstrates how spatial information can be used to assess the overlap between marine protected areas and the core habitats of top marine predators and highlights how congruent transnational conservation management can improve the effectiveness of protected areas. Core habitat use of marine apex predators may also be indicative of productive habitats, and therefore, predators such as tiger sharks could act as surrogate species for identifying key habitats to prioritize for conservation planning.

show abstract

Zonation of Benthic Communities on the Subtropical Aliwal Shoal, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Cited by 7 publications

References 25 publications

Conserving potential coral reef refuges at high latitudes

Conserving potential coral reef refuges at high latitudes

Macro-benthic invertebrate assemblages in the Betty’s Bay Marine Protected Area (Kogelberg region South Africa)

Refuges and risks: Evaluating the benefits of an expanded MPA network for mobile apex predators

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About