Highly localized replenishment of coral reef fish populations near nursery habitats

Nagelkerken, Ivan; Huebert, Klaus B.; Serafy, Joseph E.; Grol, Monique G. G.; Dorenbosch, M.; Bradshaw, Corey J. A.

doi:10.3354/meps12062

Cited by 33 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…One potentially counterintuitive result of our study was that most reef fish species were associated with survey sites farther from mangroves, especially given that a recent study found distance from juvenile fish habitats to have a negative effect on offshore fish densities (Nagelkerken et al. ). However, we did not find this result entirely surprising given that several studies have found increased distance from shore to be correlated with increased fish metrics.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Non‐linear thresholds characterize the relationship between reef fishes and mangrove habitat

et al. 2017

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. 2017. Non-linear thresholds characterize the relationship between reef fishes and mangrove habitat. Ecosphere 8(9):e01943. 10. 1002/ecs2.1943 Abstract. A significant obstacle to evaluating the importance of mangrove habitat to coral reef fishes has been the difficulty of disentangling its effects from other subtidal/nearshore habitats or human population pressures. Florida's seascape, unlike most others, has been extensively surveyed and mapped, and there are reliable estimates of human population density. Despite many studies that have correlated reef fish abundance with nearby mangrove habitat, some researchers continue to question the importance of mangroves to reef fishes. Previous studies that have investigated the mangrove-reef fish subsidy effect have applied methods that either compared averages or examined linear relationships; yet there is a body of literature that indicates that the effects of habitat are characterized by thresholds and limiting functions. Here, we employed a generalized additive model to investigate whether species richness of 106 mangrove-associated reef fishes is related to thresholds in the extent of nearby mangrove forests along the Florida Keys Reef Tract. In addition, we used linear discriminant analyses (LDAs) to examine the relationships between the occurrence of 77 reef fish species and extent of Florida mangrove forests. We found that after accounting for confounding factors, at scales <20 km 2 , species richness declines with decreasing mangrove extent, whereas richness increases with increasing mangrove extent at scales >80 km 2 . Results of our LDA suggested that at least 49 reef fish species (64% of focal species) were associated with higher nearby mangrove forest extent. Our results indicate that of all habitat attributes considered, mangroves played the most substantial role in the diversity of nearby reef fish populations. These apparent thresholds (i.e., non-linearities) in the extent of mangrove forests should be incorporated into fisheries critical habitat management and emphasize the need to consider non-linear relationships between fishes and their habitat.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Non‐linear thresholds characterize the relationship between reef fishes and mangrove habitat

et al. 2017

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“…Marine fish nurseries are critical habitats for maintaining ecosystem diversity and productivity because they act as population sources for larger ecosystems via recruitment and replenishment (Beck et al, 2001;Dahlgren et al, 2006;Gillanders, Able, Brown, Eggleston, & Sheridan, 2003;Vasconcelos et al, 2010). For example, mangrove and lagoon nurseries make substantial contributions to adult populations in nearby ecosystems, as they provide productive structural habitats suitable for rapid growth and maturation (Nagelkerken et al, 2017;Tournois et al, 2017). Thus, changes in fish nurseries could have major impacts in larger, adjacent ecosystems.…”

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confidence: 99%

Functional reorganization of marine fish nurseries under climate warming

McLean

Mouillot

Goascoz

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

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While climate change is rapidly impacting marine species and ecosystems worldwide, the effects of climate warming on coastal fish nurseries have received little attention despite nurseries’ fundamental roles in recruitment and population replenishment. Here, we used a 26‐year time series (1987–2012) of fish monitoring in the Bay of Somme, a nursery in the Eastern English Channel (EEC), to examine the impacts of environmental and human drivers on the spatial and temporal dynamics of fish functional structure during a warming phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). We found that the nursery was initially dominated by fishes with r‐selected life‐history traits such as low trophic level, low age and size at maturity, and small offspring, which are highly sensitive to warming. The AMO, likely superimposed on climate change, induced rapid warming in the late 1990s (over 1°C from 1998 to 2003), leading to functional reorganization of fish communities, with a roughly 80% decline in overall fish abundance and increased dominance by K‐selected fishes. Additionally, historical overfishing likely rendered the bay more vulnerable to climatic changes due to increased dominance by fishing‐tolerant, yet climatically sensitive species. The drop in fish abundance not only altered fish functional structure within the Bay of Somme, but the EEC was likely impacted, as the EEC has been unable to recover from a regime shift in the late 1990s potentially, in part, due to failed replenishment from the bay. Given the collapse of r‐selected fishes, we discuss how the combination of climate cycles and global warming could threaten marine fish nurseries worldwide, as nurseries are often dominated by r‐selected species.

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“…abundance and variety of patch types) and configuration (i.e. the spatial arrangement of habitat patches) has been found to influence fish assemblages in seagrasses (Pittman et al , Gullström et al , Staveley et al ), mangroves (Green et al ) and coral reefs (Dorenbosch et al , Pittman et al , Grober‐Dunsmore et al , Kendall et al , Nagelkerken et al ), highlighting that seascape structure affects fishes at multiple spatial scales across multiple habitats. The structure of spaces between preferred habitat patches (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…unvegetated sand or deep water), sometimes referred to as the matrix, can have profound consequences for connectivity across the seascape by forming barriers that prevent or impede movements for some species (Pittman et al , Turgeon et al , Watling et al , Santos et al ). However, there is still a lack of understanding of how far young post‐settlement (juvenile and sub‐adult) coral reef fishes may disperse within tropical seascapes and at what distances nurseries cease to affect adult communities on coral reefs (Nagelkerken et al ). Few formal tests exist on the decrease of reef fish population replenishment away from nurseries, measured in actual distances or isolation (Huijbers et al , Nagelkerken et al , Gilby et al ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, there is still a lack of understanding of how far young post‐settlement (juvenile and sub‐adult) coral reef fishes may disperse within tropical seascapes and at what distances nurseries cease to affect adult communities on coral reefs (Nagelkerken et al ). Few formal tests exist on the decrease of reef fish population replenishment away from nurseries, measured in actual distances or isolation (Huijbers et al , Nagelkerken et al , Gilby et al ). In order to effectively manage seascapes and mitigate effects of fragmentation and habitat loss, we need to understand patterns of connectivity and identify distances or thresholds where interconnections diminish.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thresholds in seascape connectivity: the spatial arrangement of nursery habitats structure fish communities on nearby reefs

et al. 2020

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Ecosystems are linked by the movement of organisms across habitat boundaries and the arrangement of habitat patches can affect species abundance and composition. In tropical seascapes many coral reef fishes settle in adjacent habitats and undergo ontogenetic habitat shifts to coral reefs as they grow. Few studies have attempted to measure at what distances from nursery habitats these fish migrations (connectivity) cease to exist and how the abundance, biomass and proportion of nursery species change on coral reefs along distance gradients away from nursery areas. The present study examines seascape spatial arrangement, including distances between habitats, and its consequences on connectivity within a tropical seascape in Mozambique using a seascape ecology approach. Fish and habitat surveys were undertaken in 2016/2017 and a thematic habitat map was created in ArcGIS, where cover and distances between habitat patches were calculated. Distance to mangroves and seagrasses were significant predictors for abundance and biomass of most nursery species. The proportions of nursery species were highest in the south of the archipelago, where mangroves were present and decreased with distance to nurseries (mangroves and seagrasses). Some nursery species were absent on reef sites farthest from nursery habitats, at 80 km from mangroves and at 12 km from seagrass habitats. The proportion of nursery/non-nursery snapper and parrotfish species, as well as abundance and biomass of seagrass nursery species abruptly declined at 8 km from seagrass habitats, indicating a threshold distance at which migrations may cease. Additionally, reefs isolated by large stretches of sand and deep water had very low abundances of several nursery species despite being within moderate distances from nursery habitats. This highlights the importance of considering the matrix (sand and deep water) as barriers for fish migration.

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Highly localized replenishment of coral reef fish populations near nursery habitats

Cited by 33 publications

References 72 publications

Non‐linear thresholds characterize the relationship between reef fishes and mangrove habitat

Non‐linear thresholds characterize the relationship between reef fishes and mangrove habitat

Functional reorganization of marine fish nurseries under climate warming

Thresholds in seascape connectivity: the spatial arrangement of nursery habitats structure fish communities on nearby reefs

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