Ecotone Effects on Seagrass and Saltmarsh Habitat Use by Juvenile Nekton in a Temperate Estuary
Ecotone Effects on Seagrass and Saltmarsh Habitat Use by Juvenile Nekton in a Temperate Estuary
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DOI：
10.1007/s12237-014-9898-y
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发表时间：
2015-09-01
影响因子：
2.7
通讯作者：
Fodrie, F. Joel
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Baillie, Christopher J.;Fear, John M.;Fodrie, F. Joel
虽然单独考虑重要的幼鱼生境，但海草和盐沼往往与其他潮下和潮间带生境高度相关。因此，幼鱼和甲壳类可能利用潮汐、潜流或季节循环中的多种生境，使生境间的接近成为鱼类分布和群落组成的重要驱动因素。在此背景下，我们研究了海草(Zostera marina和Halodule wright tii)和盐沼(Spartina Terniflora)生境特征在温带、多盐-真盐河口鱼类和甲壳类捕获率和群落组成中的重要性。我们发现，海草和盐沼植被高度相连的生境比仅由海草或盐沼生境组成的生境显示出许多具有娱乐和商业价值的鱼类和甲壳类物种的平均捕获率以及总体Nekton捕获率和香农多样性(H)。尼克顿-栖息地关联在时间上是不同的，表现出强烈的季节性趋势，这可能表明相对栖息地价值的时间变化。许多休闲和商业目标物种的捕获率与斑块尺度变量相关，特别是海草冠层高度、水温和深度；然而，回归分析表明，生境类型对总体Nekton捕获率和Shannon多样性(H)的预测能力更强。我们的结论是，浮现特性(即，在10-100s米处运行的特性)是生境之间和生境内奈克顿分布的重要驱动因素。考虑到人类侵占河口生态系统的空间和时间尺度，我们的研究结果突出表明，需要在扩大的空间尺度上调查生物-生境关联，以及需要通过在多个空间尺度上考虑生境特征的渔业和沿海管理计划，以考虑生境间的连通性。
While considering important juvenile fish habitats individually, both seagrass and saltmarsh are often highly connected with other subtidal and intertidal habitats. As a result, juvenile fishes and crustaceans may utilize multiple habitats across tidal, diel, or seasonal cycles in a manner that makes interhabitat proximity an important driver of fish distribution and community composition. In this context, we examined the importance of seagrass (Zostera marina and Halodule wrightii) and saltmarsh (Spartina alterniflora) habitat characteristics in driving fish and crustacean catch rates and community composition in a temperate, polyhaline-euhaline, estuary. We found that habitats with highly connected seagrass and saltmarsh vegetation exhibited higher average catch rates of many recreationally and commercially valuable fish and crustacean species, as well as overall nekton catch rates and Shannon diversity (H), than habitats composed of either seagrass or saltmarsh habitat alone. Nekton-habitat associations varied temporally, showing strong seasonal trends which were potentially indicative of temporal shifts in relative habitat value. Catch rates of numerous recreationally and commercially targeted species were correlated with patch-scale variables, particularly seagrass canopy height, water temperature, and depth; however, regression analysis indicated that habitat type was more powerful in predicting overall nekton catch rates and Shannon diversity (H). We conclude that emergent properties (i.e., those operating at 10-100s m) are important drivers of nekton distributions among and within habitats. Considering the spatial and temporal scales at which humans are encroaching on estuarine ecosystems, our findings highlight the need for investigating organism-habitat associations at expanded spatial scales, as well as the need to adopt fishery and coastal management plans that consider habitat characteristics at multiple spatial scales to account for interhabitat connectivity.