Ocean Bottom Reconnaissance Off the East Coast of Andros Island, Bahamas

Busby, Roswell F.; Bright, Chester V.; Pruna, Andres

doi:10.21236/ad0804975

Cited by 3 publications

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“…The majority of larval recruitment is likely to be from local sources since the shallow, extensive carbonate platform banks surrounding the Tongue of the Ocean probably form natural barriers restricting entry of external larvae. Flow through Providence Channel is relatively low (Busby et al, 1966) and may not play a significant role in recruitment dynamics. Thus, fish populations may be influenced primarily by local recruitment processes rather than by input from external larval sources (Cowen et al, 2000) and local gyres, or eddies may play a significant role in their abundance.…”

Section: T ---mentioning

confidence: 99%

Bahamas. Assessment of the Andros Island Reef System, Bahamas (Part 2: Fishes)

Kramer¹,

Marks²,

Turnbull³

2003

Atoll Research Bulletin

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Coral reef fish assemblages mere surveycd at 38 reef-crest and fore-reef habitats along approximate13 200 km of reefs on the eastern side of Andros Island in August of 1997 and 1998. A total of 164 species were recorded in roving diver suivc s. averaging 7'55 species per site. Select species density averaged 37.4 individuals/100m-in belt tranwcts and was significantly more abundant in reef crests than fore reefs. The select fish asseinblages were dominated by scarids, haemulids, and acanthurids, while serranids were ubiquitous but present in low densities (<0.5/100m~. Small differences in the community structure of four geographic areas (north, central, bights, south) are indicative of well-mixed populations. Species richness and abundance were comparatively low, particularly in fore-reef habitats, although mean size and biomass were relatively high. The Andros reef fish assemblages may be naturally limited by low recruitment, lack of nurseiy habitat, or possibly by high levels of predation. The entire reef system may be at high risk to even modest increases in fishing.Intact fish assemblages are integral to the functioning of coral reefs and patterns in their diversity, abundance, and size can be used to understand underlying ecological processes such as recruitment, predation, and herbivory. These patterns vary at different spatial and temporal scales and are likely to be influenced by habitat variables such as topographic complexity (e

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Section: T ---mentioning

confidence: 99%

Bahamas. Assessment of the Andros Island Reef System, Bahamas (Part 2: Fishes)

Kramer¹,

Marks²,

Turnbull³

2003

Atoll Research Bulletin

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Community ecology of mesophotic coral reef ecosystems

et al. 2010

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Using light-dependent scleractinia to define the upper boundary of mesophotic coral ecosystems on the reefs of Utila, Honduras

2017

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Shallow water zooxanthellate coral reefs grade into ecologically distinct mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) deeper in the euphotic zone. MCEs are widely considered to start at an absolute depth limit of 30m deep, possibly failing to recognise that these are distinct ecological communities that may shift shallower or deeper depending on local environmental conditions. This study aimed to explore whether MCEs represent distinct biological communities, the upper boundary of which can be defined and whether the depth at which they occur may vary above or below 30m. Mixed-gas diving and closed-circuit rebreathers were used to quantitatively survey benthic communities across shallow to mesophotic reef gradients around the island of Utila, Honduras. Depths of up to 85m were sampled, covering the vertical range of the zooxanthellate corals around Utila. We investigate vertical reef zonation using a variety of ecological metrics to identify community shifts with depth, and the appropriateness of different metrics to define the upper MCE boundary. Patterns observed in scleractinian community composition varied between ordination analyses and approaches utilising biodiversity indices. Indices and richness approaches revealed vertical community transition was a gradation. Ordination approaches suggest the possibility of recognising two scleractinian assemblages. We could detect a mesophotic and shallow community while illustrating that belief in a static depth limit is biologically unjustified. The switch between these two communities occurred across bathymetric gradients as small as 10m and as large as 50m in depth. The difference between communities appears to be a loss of shallow specialists and increase in depth-generalist taxa. Therefore, it may be possible to define MCEs by a loss of shallow specialist species. To support a biological definition of mesophotic reefs, we advocate this analytical framework should be applied around the Caribbean and extended into other ocean basins where MCEs are present.

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Ocean Bottom Reconnaissance Off the East Coast of Andros Island, Bahamas

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Bahamas. Assessment of the Andros Island Reef System, Bahamas (Part 2: Fishes)

Bahamas. Assessment of the Andros Island Reef System, Bahamas (Part 2: Fishes)

Community ecology of mesophotic coral reef ecosystems

Using light-dependent scleractinia to define the upper boundary of mesophotic coral ecosystems on the reefs of Utila, Honduras

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