Kenyan coral reef lagoon fish: effects of fishing, substrate complexity, and sea urchins

Coral Reefs - Tập 13 - Trang 231-241 - 1994
T. R. McClanahan1
1Coral Reef Conservation Project, The Wildlife Conservation Society, Mombasa, Kenya

Tóm tắt

Population density, number of species, diversity, and species-area relationships of fish species in eight common coral reef-associated families were studied in three marine parks receiving total protection from fishing, four sites with unregulated fishing, and one reef which recently received protection from fishing (referred to as a transition reef). Data on coral cover, reef topographic complexity, and sea urchin abundance were collected and correlated with fish abundance and species richness. The most striking result of this survey is a consistent and large reduction in the population density and species richness of 5 families (surgeonfish, triggerfish, butterflyfish, angelfish, and parrotfish). Poor recovery of parrotfish in the transition reef, relative to other fish families, is interpreted as evidence for competitive exclusion of parrotfish by sea urchins. Reef substrate complexity is significantly associated with fish abundance and diversity, but data suggest different responses for protected versus fished reefs, protected reefs having higher species richness and numbers of individuals than unprotected reefs for the same reef complexity. Sea urchin abundance is negatively associated with numbers of fish and fish species but the interrelationship between sea urchins, substrate complexity, coral cover, and management make it difficult to attribute a set percent of variance to each factor-although fishing versus no fishing appears to be the strongest variable in predicting numbers of individuals and species of fish, and their community similarity. Localized species extirpation is evident for many species on fished reefs (for the sampled area of 1.0 ha). Fifty-two of 110 species found on protected reefs were not found on unprotected reefs.

Tài liệu tham khảo

Allen GR (1985) Butterfly and Angelfishes of the World. Hans A. Baensch, Melles, Germany Allen GR (1991) Damselfishes of the World. Hans A. Baensch, Melles, Germany Bellwood DR (1990) A functional analysis of grazing in parrotfishes (family Scaridae): the ecological implications. Environ Biol Fish 28:189–214 Bohnsack JA (1990) The potential of marine fishery reserves for reef fish management in the US southern Atlantic. NOAA Technical Memorandom NMFS-SEFC-261, Miami Bray JR, Curtis JT (1957) An ordination of the upland forest communities of sourthern Wisconsin. Ecol Monogr 27:325–349 Carpenter RC (1990) Mass mortality of Diadema antillarum effects on population densities and grazing intensities of parrotfishes and surgeonfishes. Mar Biol 104:79–86 Fischer W, Bianchi G (1984) FAO species indentification sheets: for fishery purposes. FAO Rome Fowler AJ (1987) The development of sampling strategies for population studies of coral reef fishes: a case study. Coral Reefs 6:49–58 Goeden GB (1982) Intensive fishing and “keystone” predator species: ingredients for community instability. Biol Cons 22:273–281 Greene LE (1990) The use of discrete group censusing for assessment and monitoring of reef fish assemblages. PhD Dissertation, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne Grigg RW (1994) Effects of sewage discharge, fishing pressure and habitat complexity on coral ecosystems and reef fishes in Hawaii. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 103:25–34 Hay ME, Taylor PR (1985) Competition between herbivorous fishes and urchins on Caribbean reefs. Oecologia 65:591–598 Koslow JA, Hanley F, Wicklund R (1988) Effects of fishing on reef fish communities at Pedro Bank and Port Royal Cays, Jamaica. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 43:201–212 Lincoln-Smith MP (1988) Effects of observer swimming speed on sample counts of temperate rocky reef fish assemblages. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 43:223–231 Ludwig JA, Reynolds JF (1988) Statistical ecology: a primer on methods and computing. Wiley, New York McClanahan TR (1989) Kenyan coral reef-associated gastropod fauna: a comparison between protected and unprotected reefs. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 53:11–20 McClanahan TR (1990a) Hierarchical control of coral reef ecosystems. PhD Dissertation, University of Florida, Gainesville McClanahan TR (1990b) Kenyan coral reef-associated gastropod assemblages: distribution and diversity patterns. Coral Reefs 9:63–74 McClanahan TR (1992) Resource utilization, competition and predation: a model and example from coral reef grazers. Ecol Mod 61:195–215 McClanahan TR, Kurtis JD (1991) Population regulation of the rock-boring sea urchin Echinometra mathaei (de Blainville). J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 147:121–146 McClanahan TR, Muthiga NA (1988) Changes in Kenyan coral reef community structure due to exploitation. Hydrobiologia 166:269–276 McClanahan TR, Shafir SH (1990) Causes and consequences of sea urchin abundance and diversity in Kenyan coral reef lagoons. Oecologia 83:362–370 McClanahan TR, Muthiga NA (1992) Comparative sampling of epibenthic subtidal gastropods. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 164:87–101 McClanahan TR, Mutere JC (1994) Coral and sea urchin assemblage structure and inter-relationship in Kenyan reef laggons. Hydrobiologia (in press) Roberts CM, Polunin NVC (1991) Are marine reserves effective in management of reef fisheries? Rev Fish Biol Fisheries 1:65–91 Robertson DR (1991) Increases in surgeonfish populations after mass mortality of the sea urchin Diadema antillarum in Panama indicate food limitation. Mar Biol 111:437–444 Routledge RD (1979) Diversity indices: which ones are admissible? J Theor Biol 76:502–515 Russ GR (1991) Coral reef fisheries: effects and vields. In: Sale PF (ed) The ecology of fishes on coral reefs. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 601–635 Russ GR, Alcala AC (1989) Effects of intense fishing pressure on an assemblage of coral reef fishes. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 56:13–27 Sale PF (1991a) The ecology of fishes on coral reefs. Academic Press, San Diego Sale PF (1991b) Reef fish communities: open nonequilibrial systems. In: Sale PF (ed) The ecology on coral reefs. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 564–598 Sale PF, Guy JA (1991) Persistence of community structure: what happens when you change taxonomy scale. Coral Reefs 11:147–160 Samoilys MA (1988) Abundance and species richness of coral reef fish on the Kenyan Coast: the effects of protective management and fishing. Proc 6th Int Coral Reef Symp 2:261–266 Smith MM, Heemstra PC (1986) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer, New York Berlin Heidelberg Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Biometry (2nd ed). Freeman, New York Stoddart JA (1984) Genetic differentiation amongst populations of the coral Pocillopora damicornis of southwestern Australia. Coral Reefs 3:149–156 Watts RJ, Johnson MS, Black R (1990) Effects of recruitment on genetic patchiness in the urchin Echinometra mathaei in Western Australia. Mar Biol 105:145–151