Interactive effects of live coral and structural complexity on the recruitment of reef fishes
Interactive effects of live coral and structural complexity on the recruitment of reef fishes
复制标题
DOI：
10.1007/s00338-012-0920-1
复制
发表时间：
2012-12-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.5
通讯作者：
Pratchett, M. S.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Coker, D. J.;Graham, N. A. J.;Pratchett, M. S.
珊瑚礁受到多种干扰，改变珊瑚覆盖水平和珊瑚礁基质的结构复杂性，进而影响相关鱼类群落的结构。随着干扰预计将增加，洞察如何在基板条件的变化将影响许多鱼类的招聘是必不可少的了解珊瑚礁鱼类种群的生物和物理干扰后的恢复。虽然研究表明，活珊瑚覆盖和结构复杂性对许多鱼类都很重要，但人们对这些变化的结合如何影响鱼类的补充缺乏了解。本研究使用实验构建的补丁珊瑚礁组成的六个不同的栖息地治疗，三个级别的活珊瑚覆盖（高，中，低）与两个级别的结构复杂性（高，低）交叉，测试独立和综合的影响，活珊瑚覆盖和结构复杂性的鱼类群落的招聘和恢复。鱼类的丰度和物种多样性变化显着的六个栖息地的治疗，但差异并没有明显的珊瑚覆盖或结构的复杂性，并随着时间的推移而变化。更引人注目的是，然而，是一个显着的差异，在治疗之间的鱼组合的组成，主要是由于不成比例的丰富的珊瑚栖息的鱼类高珊瑚覆盖，高复杂性的珊瑚礁。总的来说，珊瑚覆盖比结构复杂性有更重要的影响，至少对于实验补丁珊瑚礁实现的结构复杂性的对比水平。此外，我们发现，活珊瑚覆盖是重要的招聘一些非珊瑚依赖鱼类。这项研究证实，活珊瑚覆盖对于维持热带珊瑚礁的高度生物多样性至关重要，而珊瑚覆盖的持续和持续下降将对许多不同种类的珊瑚鱼的补充产生不利影响。
Corals reefs are subjected to multiple disturbances that modify levels of coral cover and structural complexity of the reef matrix, and in turn influence the structure of associated fish communities. With disturbances predicted to increase, insight into how changes in substrate condition will influence the recruitment of many fishes is essential for understanding the recovery of reef fish populations following biological and physical disturbances. While studies have revealed that both live coral cover and structural complexity are important for many fishes, there is a lack of understanding regarding how a combination of these changes will impact the recruitment of fishes. This study used experimentally constructed patch reefs consisting of six different habitat treatments; three levels of live coral cover (high, medium, low) crossed with two levels of structural complexity (high, low), to test the independent and combined effects of live coral cover and structural complexity on the recruitment and recovery of fish communities. The abundance and species diversity of fishes varied significantly among the six habitat treatments, but differences were not clearly associated with either coral cover or structural complexity and varied through time. More striking, however, was a significant difference in the composition of fish assemblages among treatments, due mostly to disproportionate abundance of coral-dwelling fishes on high coral cover, high complexity reefs. Overall, it appears that coral cover had a more important influence than structural complexity, at least for the contrasting levels of structural complexity achieved on experimental patch reefs. Furthermore, we found that live coral cover is important for the recruitment of some non-coral-dependent fishes. This study confirms that live coral cover is critical for the maintenance of high biodiversity on tropical coral reefs, and that sustained and ongoing declines in coral cover will adversely affect recruitment for many different species of reef fishes.