Large-scale invasion of western Atlantic mesophotic reefs by lionfish potentially undermines culling-based management
Large-scale invasion of western Atlantic mesophotic reefs by lionfish potentially undermines culling-based management
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DOI：
10.1007/s10530-016-1358-0
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发表时间：
2017-03-01
影响因子：
2.9
通讯作者：
Exton, Dan A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Andradi-Brown, Dominic A.;Vermeij, Mark J. A.;Exton, Dan A.
入侵的狮子鱼（Pterois volitans和Pterois miles）对西大西洋浅水珊瑚礁的有害影响有充分的记录，包括珊瑚覆盖率和本地鱼类数量的下降，在一些地方对极度濒危的珊瑚鱼的捕食不成比例。然而，尽管个体达到深度>100米，中光珊瑚生态系统（MCES;珊瑚礁30-150米）在狮子鱼生态中的作用还没有得到解决。由于潜水限制，大多数入侵地点的狮子鱼控制计划仅限于30米，了解MCE在狮子鱼分布中的作用仍然是一个关键的知识差距，可能会阻碍保护管理。在这里，我们综合了未发表和以前发表的研究狮子鱼的丰度和体长在配对浅礁（0-30米）和MCE网站在63个地点在7个西大西洋国家和8个网站在3个印度太平洋国家狮子鱼是本地的。狮子鱼被发现在类似的丰度在整个深度梯度从浅到相邻的MCE，入侵和本地网站之间没有差异。五个入侵的国家，长度数据，有三个较大的狮子鱼的mesophotic比浅礁，一个没有显着差异，而第五个代表最近入侵的网站。这表明至少有一些中光种群可能代表自然个体发育迁移的延伸。有趣的是，尽管它们的关注点很浅，但在许多情况下，剔除程序似乎并没有改变深度之间的丰度。在一般情况下，我们确定广泛的入侵狮子鱼种群MCE，可能是负责保持高密度的狮子鱼新兵，尽管当地的浅偏见的控制程序。这项研究强调了管理计划的必要性，将狮子鱼种群低于休闲潜水的深度限制，以解决当地人口的各个方面，并最大限度地提高控制工作的有效性。
The detrimental effects of invasive lionfishes (Pterois volitans and Pterois miles) on western Atlantic shallow reefs are well documented, including declines in coral cover and native fish populations, with disproportionate predation on critically endangered reef fish in some locations. Yet despite individuals reaching depths >100 m, the role of mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs; reefs 30-150 m) in lionfish ecology has not been addressed. With lionfish control programs in most invaded locations limited to 30 m by diving restrictions, understanding the role of MCEs in lionfish distributions remains a critical knowledge gap potentially hindering conservation management. Here we synthesise unpublished and previously published studies of lionfish abundance and body length at paired shallow reef (0-30 m) and MCE sites in 63 locations in seven western Atlantic countries and eight sites in three Indo-Pacific countries where lionfish are native. Lionfish were found at similar abundances across the depth gradient from shallow to adjacent MCEs, with no difference between invaded and native sites. Of the five invaded countries where length data were available three had larger lionfish on mesophotic than shallow reefs, one showed no significant difference, while the fifth represented a recently invaded site. This suggests at least some mesophotic populations may represent extensions of natural ontogenetic migrations. Interestingly, despite their shallow focus, in many cases culling programs did not appear to alter abundance between depths. In general, we identify widespread invasive lionfish populations on MCE that could be responsible for maintaining high densities of lionfish recruits despite local shallow-biased control programs. This study highlights the need for management plans to incorporate lionfish populations below the depth limit of recreational diving in order to address all aspects of the local population and maximise the effectiveness of control efforts.