The role of marine reserves in the replenishment of a locally impacted population of anemonefish on the Great Barrier Reef

Bonin, Mary C.; Harrison, Hugo B.; Williamson, David H.; Frisch, Ashley J.; Saenz‐Agudelo, Pablo; Berumen, Michael L.; Jones, Geoffrey P.

doi:10.1111/mec.13484

Cited by 18 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…Reefs inside marine reserves that contain stable and abundant populations of giant sea anemones, such as those examined in the present study, can potentially contribute to the replenishment of populations in surrounding areas ('spill-over effects'; Planes et al 2009), in that they benefit both the recruitment (Mumby et al 2007) and recovery of nearby populations (Mumby and Harborne 2010). Marine reserves also provide a source of anemonefish recruits to anemones outside the protected area (Planes et al 2009;Bonin et al 2016), which could contribute to mitigating declines in nearby anemone populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Demographic modelling of giant sea anemones: population stability and effects of mutualistic anemonefish in the Jordanian Red Sea

Dixon

McVay

Chadwick

2017

Mar. Freshwater Res.

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Giant sea anemones serve as important hosts for mutualistic anemonefish on Indo-Pacific coral reefs, but their population dynamics and turnover rates remain largely unknown. We used size-based demographic models to determine recruitment, changes in body size and mortality of bulb-tentacle anemones Entacmaea quadricolor and leathery anemones Heteractis crispa over 2years on coral reefs in the northern Red Sea, Jordan. Individuals recruited at consistent rates and grew rapidly until they reached ~300-cm2 tentacle crown surface area, then mostly remained static or shrank. Mortality rate decreased with body size, and the retention of large individuals strongly influenced population size. Individuals of H. crispa were more dynamic than those of E. quadricolor, possibly due to their hosting significantly smaller anemonefish. Both populations were abundant and stable but dynamic in terms of individuals, with estimated turnover times of only ~5 and 3years for E. quadricolor and H. crispa respectively. We conclude that some giant anemones may be short lived relative to their fish symbionts, and that stasis rates of large individuals disproportionately affect their populations. These results have implications for conservation management strategies of these major cnidarians on coral reefs, and indicate wide variation between species in the population-level effects of mutualistic interactions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Demographic modelling of giant sea anemones: population stability and effects of mutualistic anemonefish in the Jordanian Red Sea

Dixon

McVay

Chadwick

2017

Mar. Freshwater Res.

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“…Although reef fish larvae clearly have the potential for long-distance movements 14 , there is increasing evidence that dispersal may be more limited than previously assumed 15,16 . The most compelling evidence of larvae returning to natal or nearby reefs has come from chemical labelling of embryos 17,18 and genetic DNA parentage analyses [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] . However, few studies have been able to fully describe a dispersal kernel by determining the distances over which spatially fragmented subpopulations are connected by larval movements.…”

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confidence: 99%

Larval fish dispersal in a coral-reef seascape

et al. 2017

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Larval dispersal is a critical yet enigmatic process in the persistence and productivity of marine metapopulations. Empirical data on larval dispersal remain scarce, hindering the use of spatial management tools in efforts to sustain ocean biodiversity and fisheries. Here we document dispersal among subpopulations of clownfish (Amphiprion percula) and butterflyfish (Chaetodon vagabundus) from eight sites across a large seascape (10,000 km 2 ) in Papua New Guinea across 2 years. Dispersal of clownfish was consistent between years, with mean observed dispersal distances of 15 km and 10 km in 2009 and 2011, respectively. A Laplacian statistical distribution (the dispersal kernel) predicted a mean dispersal distance of 13-19 km, with 90% of settlement occurring within 31-43 km. Mean dispersal distances were considerably greater (43-64 km) for butterflyfish, with kernels declining only gradually from spawning locations. We demonstrate that dispersal can be measured on spatial scales sufficient to inform the design of and test the performance of marine reserve networks. R obust descriptions of larval dispersal are fundamental to studies of fish population dynamics 1,2 , fisheries management 3,4 and the design of reserve networks tasked with conserving ocean biodiversity 5,6 . Yet descriptions of larval dispersal patterns in ocean environments remain scarce. The combination of a pelagic larval phase that may last several days to many months and an ocean environment characterized by energetic diffusive and advective flows may allow passive larvae to disperse hundreds to thousands of kilometres from natal locations 7,8 . It has proved difficult, however, to verify directly how far fish larvae travel, because it is almost impossible to follow them as they disperse rapidly from spawning sites and are subject to high rates of natural mortality throughout the larval phase 9 . Our inability to describe the spatial extent of larval dispersal is problematic because our understanding of metapopulation dynamics relies on largely untested models that quantify where larvae arriving at a subpopulation originate from and where larvae spawned at each subpopulation eventually settle [10][11][12] . Moreover, to be of practical use, these data must be assembled on large enough scales for evaluating and optimizing spatial management strategies for fisheries or conservation 1,13 .Patches of reef habitat are frequently isolated from each other by deeper water that forms a barrier to adult movement, and so larval dispersal is likely to be a critical process in the persistence of many reef fish populations over demographic and evolutionary timescales 10,14 . Effective management of coral-reef seascapes is therefore particularly reliant on spatial tools to achieve conservation objectives. Although reef fish larvae clearly have the potential for long-distance movements 14 , there is increasing evidence that dispersal may be more limited than previously assumed 15,16 . The most compelling evidence of larvae returning to natal or nearby reefs has...

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“…This information can be incorporated into the design of MPAs and for defining management areas to help ensure continuous larval supply, enhancing the capacity of populations to recover from disturbances (Berumen et al, 2012 ; Hughes et al, 2010 ; Van Oppen & Gates, 2006 ) and improving the effectiveness of a broad range of conservation interventions (Christie et al, 2010 ; Magris et al, 2018 ). For instance, Bonin et al ( 2016 ) highlighted the resilience of anemonefish populations at the Keppel Islands (GBR) that are supplied and maintained by recruits from distant source populations even if local breeders are lost. Additionally, Hock et al ( 2017 ) showed that 112 reefs in the GBR have sufficient dispersal ability to facilitate recovery of disturbed areas, providing evidence for systemic resilience within the large reef system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%