SGER: Between-Reef Movements of Predators and Density-Dependent Mortality in Reef Fish

研究者之前的工作表明，短暂的捕食者（杰克鱼群）能够根据密度捕食新定居的珊瑚礁鱼类（蓝藻）。这项研究将使用新的遥测技术来帮助回答有关捕食者如何调节当地海洋鱼类种群的基本问题，从而更好地了解鱼类种群动态以及捕鱼和其他人类活动的潜在影响。研究者将在2000年8月和9月的5周内捕捉、标记和声学追踪多达20只小斑马鱼，跟踪它们（连同它们的相关学校）的活动。研究区域位于巴哈马群岛，将是一个由32个天然珊瑚礁和16个人工珊瑚礁组成的矩阵，在那里猎物的密度可以通过实验来控制。目标是确定：是否像之前使用远程视频样本记录的那样，被标记的杰克花更多的时间在猎物密度高的珊瑚礁上；千斤顶在礁石间是随机移动还是系统移动；以及捕食者的整体活动范围。这些数据将为捕食者导致密度依赖性死亡的行为机制提供新的见解，并导致更详细的研究，以分离捕食者-猎物动态中聚集反应与功能反应的相对作用。

Previous work by the investigator showed that transient predators (schools of jacks) are capable of density-dependent predation on newly-settled coral reef fish (Chromis cyanea). This study will use new telemetry techniques to help answer fundamental questions about how predators can regulate local populations of marine fish, leading to a better understanding of both fish population dynamics and also potential impacts of fishing and other human activities. The investigator will capture, tag, and acoustically track up to 20 small bar jack, following their movement (along with their associated schools) for 5 weeks during August and September 2000. The study area, in the Bahamas, will be a matrix of 32 natural and 16 artificial reefs, where prey density can be experimentally manipulated. The goal is to determine: whether tagged jacks spend more time at reefs with high prey densities, as previously documented using remote video samples; whether jacks move randomly or systematically among reefs; and what the overall range of movement of the predator is. The data should provide new insights on the behavioral mechanisms by which predators cause density-dependent mortality and lead to more detailed studes that separate the relative roles of aggregative vs. functional responses in predator-prey dynamics among marine fishes.