Fish Assemblages on Estuarine Artificial Reefs: Natural Rocky-Reef Mimics or Discrete Assemblages?

Folpp, Heath; Lowry, Michael B.; Gregson, Marcus; Suthers, Iain M.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0063505

Cited by 74 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 43 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The dominant scavenger in this study, yellowfin bream, is harvested heavily by both recreational and commercial fishers throughout its range (Curley, Jordan, Figueira, & Valenzuela, ; Webley, McInnes, Teixeira, Lawson, & Quinn, ), which suggests that carrion consumption may be sensitive to changes in fishing pressure. Because carrion consumption was strongly correlated with variation in the abundance of a single species, which aggregates around urban structures, rock bars and mangroves in estuaries (Clynick, Chapman, & Underwood, ; Folpp, Lowry, Gregson, & Suthers, ; Meynecke, Lee, & Duke, ), careful management of both yellowfin bream and the structurally complex habitats they frequent might help to maintain this important ecological function across disturbed estuaries, while also increasing trophic complexity in food webs (sensu Olds, Frohloff, et al, ). The conservation of common and functionally important species could help to improve management outcomes that focus on enhancing ecological functions in estuaries, and other low‐diversity ecosystems (Oliver et al, ; Winfree et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low redundancy and complementarity shape ecosystem functioning in a low‐diversity ecosystem

Henderson

Gilby

Schlacher

et al. 2019

Journal of Animal Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ecosystem functioning is positively linked to biodiversity on land and in the sea. In high‐diversity systems (e.g. coral reefs), species coexist by sharing resources and providing similar functions at different temporal or spatial scales. How species combine to deliver the ecological function they provide is pivotal for maintaining the structure, functioning and resilience of some ecosystems, but the significance of this is rarely examined in low‐diversity systems such as estuaries. We tested whether an ecological function is shaped by biodiversity in a low‐diversity ecosystem by measuring the consumption of carrion by estuarine scavengers. Carrion (e.g. decaying animal flesh) is opportunistically fed on by a large number of species across numerous ecosystems. Estuaries were chosen as the model system because carrion consumption is a pivotal ecological function in coastal seascapes, and estuaries are thought to support diverse scavenger assemblages, which are modified by changes in water quality and the urbanization of estuarine shorelines. We used baited underwater video arrays to record scavengers and measure the rate at which carrion was consumed by fish in 39 estuaries across 1,000 km of coastline in eastern Australia. Carrion consumption was positively correlated with the abundance of only one species, yellowfin bream Acanthopagrus australis, which consumed 58% of all deployed carrion. The consumption of carrion by yellowfin bream was greatest in urban estuaries with moderately hardened shorelines (20%–60%) and relatively large subtidal rock bars (>0.1 km2). Our findings demonstrate that an ecological function can be maintained across estuarine seascapes despite both limited redundancy (i.e. dominated by one species) and complementarity (i.e. there is no spatial context where the function is delivered significantly when yellowfin bream are not present) in the functional traits of animal assemblages. The continued functioning of estuaries, and other low‐diversity ecosystems, might therefore not be tightly linked to biodiversity, and we suggest that the preservation of functionally dominant species that maintain functions in these systems could help to improve conservation outcomes for coastal seascapes.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low redundancy and complementarity shape ecosystem functioning in a low‐diversity ecosystem

Henderson

Gilby

Schlacher

et al. 2019

Journal of Animal Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The D 50 distances evaluated in this study (100–300 m) were kept small for model tractability and probably underestimate the ability of many species to move to new habitat, although there is some evidence that reefs <600 m to 1 km apart show reduced connectivity (Bohnsack and Sutherland ; Chang ; Folpp et al. ). Without accurate knowledge of these parameter values, our model cannot be used predictively to determine how far an artificial reef should be deployed from natural reefs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fish attraction to artificial reefs not always harmful: a simulation study

Smith

Lowry²,

Suthers

2015

Ecology and Evolution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The debate on whether artificial reefs produce new fish or simply attract existing fish biomass continues due to the difficulty in distinguishing these processes, and there remains considerable doubt as to whether artificial reefs are a harmful form of habitat modification. The harm typically associated with attraction is that fish will be easier to harvest due to the existing biomass aggregating at a newly deployed reef. This outcome of fish attraction has not progressed past an anecdotal form, however, and is always perceived as a harmful process. We present a numerical model that simulates the effect that a redistributed fish biomass, due to an artificial reef, has on fishing catch per unit effort (CPUE). This model can be used to identify the scenarios (in terms of reef, fish, and harvest characteristics) that pose the most risk of exploitation due to fish attraction. The properties of this model were compared to the long‐standing predictions by Bohnsack (1989) on the factors that increase the risk or the harm of attraction. Simulations revealed that attraction is not always harmful because it does not always increase maximum fish density. Rather, attraction sometimes disperses existing fish biomass making them harder to catch. Some attraction can be ideal, with CPUE lowest when attraction leads to an equal distribution of biomass between natural and artificial reefs. Simulations also showed that the outcomes from attraction depend on the characteristics of the target fish species, such that transient or pelagic species are often at more risk of harmful attraction than resident species. Our findings generally agree with Bohnsack's predictions, although we recommend distinguishing “mobility” and “fidelity” when identifying species most at risk from attraction, as these traits had great influence on patterns of harvest of attracted fish biomass.

show abstract

“…The BRUV data used here were also published as part of the data reported in Folpp et al . () and Lowry et al . ().…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Comparing the utility of fishery‐independent and fishery‐dependent methods in assessing the relative abundance of estuarine fish species in partial protection areas

Ochwada‐Doyle

Johnson

Lowry

2016

Fisheries Management Eco

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In partial protection management areas such as Recreational Fishing Havens (RFHs) where commercial fishing is prohibited there are fewer sampling methods available for quantifying the relative abundance of species. Consequently, a framework is needed in such areas to decide whether sampling should be based on: (1) fishery‐independent techniques; (2) fishery‐dependent methods that rely on recreational fishery harvests; or (3) a combination of the two. This study compared fishery‐independent data derived from baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS) and independent fishing surveys (IFS) with fishery‐dependent data based on recreational angler surveys (AS) to identify the fish species that were best enumerated by each method in two Australian RFHs. Each method captured/detected disparate species and each consistently showed correlations with the relative abundance of particular suites of species. The species that were correlated with and best enumerated by BRUVS were Microcanthus strigatus (Cuvier) and Pelates sexlineatus (Qouy & Gaimard); those correlated with IFS were Gerres subfasciatus Cuvier, Girella tricuspidata (Qouy & Gaimard), Mugil cephalus L. and Pomatomus saltatrix (L.); and those correlated with AS were Platycephalus fuscus Cuvier and Acanthopagrus australis (Owen). By identifying the species that were best quantified by each method, this study facilitates accurate monitoring of key species within RFHs.

show abstract

Fish Assemblages on Estuarine Artificial Reefs: Natural Rocky-Reef Mimics or Discrete Assemblages?

Cited by 74 publications

References 43 publications

Low redundancy and complementarity shape ecosystem functioning in a low‐diversity ecosystem

Low redundancy and complementarity shape ecosystem functioning in a low‐diversity ecosystem

Fish attraction to artificial reefs not always harmful: a simulation study

Comparing the utility of fishery‐independent and fishery‐dependent methods in assessing the relative abundance of estuarine fish species in partial protection areas

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About