Influence of habitat condition and competition on foraging behaviour of parrotfishes

Nash, Kirsty L.; Graham, Nicholas A. J.; Januchowski‐Hartley, Fraser A.; Bellwood, David R.

doi:10.3354/meps09742

Cited by 46 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…Fine-scale foraging mobility of target individuals was estimated using two metrics: (1) intra-foray distance and (2) inter-foray distance, where a foray was defined as a cluster of feeding bites separated from the previous cluster of bites by elevation of the fish's head greater than 45 degrees from the substratum and a period of active swimming (following Nash et al 2012). A focal individual was identified and followed until it commenced feeding.…”

Section: Behavioral Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The three sites were chosen due to their similar benthic composition and geographic location. Changing habitat condition, and therefore resource availability and distribution, is likely to result in changes to both the intercept and slope of these relationships; Nash et al (2012) reported reduced inter-foray distances of parrotfishes in response to increasing coral cover, but the shape of this decrease differed among species. Further work is needed to analyze whether these variations among species result in stronger or weaker allometric foraging relationships in the face of habitat degradation.…”

Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fish foraging patterns, vulnerability to fishing, and implications for the management of ecosystem function across scales

Nash

Graham

Bellwood

2013

Ecological Applications

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Abstract. The function of species has been recognized as critical for the maintenance of ecosystems within desired states. However, there are still considerable gaps in our knowledge of interspecific differences in the functional roles of organisms, particularly with regard to the spatial scales over which functional impact is exerted. This has implications for the delivery of function and the maintenance of ecosystem processes. In this study we assessed the allometric relationship between foraging movements and fish body length at three sites, for 20 species of herbivorous reef fishes within four different functional groups: browsers, farmers, grazer/ detritivores, and scraper/excavators. The relationship between vulnerability of species to fishing and their scale of foraging was also examined. We present empirical evidence of the strong, positive, log-linear relationship between the scale of foraging movement and fish body length. This relationship was consistent among sites and between the two different movement metrics used. Phylogeny did not affect these results. Functional groups foraged over contrasting ranges of spatial scales; for example, scraper/excavators performed their role over a wide range of scales, whereas browsers were represented by few species and operated over a narrow range of scales. Overfishing is likely not only to remove species operating at large scales, but also to remove the browser group as a whole. Large fishes typically have a significant role in removing algae on reefs, and browsers are key to controlling macroalgae and reversing shifts to macroalgal-dominated states. This vulnerability to exploitation has serious consequences for the ability of fish assemblages to deliver their functional role in the face of anthropogenic impacts. However, identification of the scales at which herbivorous fish assemblages are susceptible to fishing provides managers with critical knowledge to design management strategies to support coral-dominated reefs by maintaining function at the spatial scales at which vulnerable species operate.

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Section: Behavioral Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fish foraging patterns, vulnerability to fishing, and implications for the management of ecosystem function across scales

Nash

Graham

Bellwood

2013

Ecological Applications

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“…Parrotfishes (scarine Labridae), with their unique jaw morphology and numerical abundance, dominate several of these functional groups [23]. Recent research, however, suggests that the ecosystem functions of parrotfishes depend on their home-ranging behaviour [24,25]. While it is well documented that the role of herbivores changes with ontogeny [26][27][28], it is not yet known (i) how the home range of an individual scales with body size and (ii) which factors are most important in determining changes in home range size through time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ontogeny of home ranges: evidence from coral reef fishes

2013

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The concept of home ranges is fundamental to ecology. Numerous studies have quantified how home ranges scale with body size across taxa. However, these relationships are not always applicable intraspecifically. Here, we describe how the home range of an important group of reef fish, the parrotfishes, scales with body mass. With masses spanning five orders of magnitude, from the early postsettlement stage through to adulthood, we find no evidence of a response to predation risk, dietary shifts or sex change on home range expansion rates. Instead, we document a distinct ontogenetic shift in home range expansion with sexual maturity. Juvenile parrotfishes displayed rapid home range growth until reaching approximately 100-150 mm length. Thereafter, the relationship between home range and mass broke down. This shift reflected changes in colour patterns, social status and reproductive behaviour associated with the transition to adult stages. While there is a clear relationship between body mass and home ranges among adult individuals of different species, it does not appear to be applicable to size changes within species. Ontogenetic changes in parrotfishes do not follow expected mass -area scaling relationships.

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“…On coral reefs, food availability , competition (Nash et al 2012), habitat structural complexity , and territorial damselfish can influence foraging decisions of large mobile herbivorous fishes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Living corals and the underlying matrices of dead coral skeletons form the major structural complexity (often termed 'rugosity') of coral reefs. Rugosity is often positively related to the diversity, abundance, and/or biomass of reef fishes (for a meta-analysis see: Graham and Nash 2012). The few studies examining the influence of structural complexity on reef fish predator-prey interactions suggest that it is likely context dependent.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-Consumptive Effects of Predators in Coral Reef Communities and the Indirect Consequences of Marine Protected Areas

Catano¹

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Influence of habitat condition and competition on foraging behaviour of parrotfishes

Cited by 46 publications

References 74 publications

Fish foraging patterns, vulnerability to fishing, and implications for the management of ecosystem function across scales

Fish foraging patterns, vulnerability to fishing, and implications for the management of ecosystem function across scales

The ontogeny of home ranges: evidence from coral reef fishes

Non-Consumptive Effects of Predators in Coral Reef Communities and the Indirect Consequences of Marine Protected Areas

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