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Letessier TB, Mouillot D, Mannocci L, Jabour Christ H, Elamin EM, Elamin SM, Friedlander AM, Hearn A, Juhel JB, Kleiven AR, Moland E, Mouquet N, Nillos-Kleiven PJ, Sala E, Thompson CDH, Velez L, Vigliola L, Meeuwig JJ. Divergent responses of pelagic and benthic fish body-size structure to remoteness and protection from humans. Science 2024; 383:976-982. [PMID: 38422147 DOI: 10.1126/science.adi7562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
Animal body-size variation influences multiple processes in marine ecosystems, but habitat heterogeneity has prevented a comprehensive assessment of size across pelagic (midwater) and benthic (seabed) systems along anthropic gradients. In this work, we derive fish size indicators from 17,411 stereo baited-video deployments to test for differences between pelagic and benthic responses to remoteness from human pressures and effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs). From records of 823,849 individual fish, we report divergent responses between systems, with pelagic size structure more profoundly eroded near human markets than benthic size structure, signifying greater vulnerability of pelagic systems to human pressure. Effective protection of benthic size structure can be achieved through MPAs placed near markets, thereby contributing to benthic habitat restoration and the recovery of associated fishes. By contrast, recovery of the world's largest and most endangered fishes in pelagic systems requires the creation of highly protected areas in remote locations, including on the High Seas, where protection efforts lag.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tom B Letessier
- CESAB - FRB, Montpellier, France
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, UK
- Marine Futures Lab, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - David Mouillot
- MARBEC, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Laura Mannocci
- CESAB - FRB, Montpellier, France
- MARBEC, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Hanna Jabour Christ
- Marine Futures Lab, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | | | - Sheikheldin Mohamed Elamin
- Faculty of Marine Science and Fisheries, Red Sea State University, P.O. Box 24, Port Sudan, Red Sea State, Sudan
| | - Alan M Friedlander
- National Geographic Society, Washington, DC 20036, USA
- Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawai'i, Kāne'ohe, Hawai'i, USA
| | - Alex Hearn
- Galapagos Science Center, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador
- MigraMar, Olema, CA, USA
| | - Jean-Baptiste Juhel
- ENTROPIE, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, IRD-UR-UNC-IFREMER-CNRS, Centre IRD de Nouméa, Nouméa Cedex, New-Caledonia, France
| | - Alf Ring Kleiven
- Institute of Marine Research, Nye Flødevigveien 20, 4817 His, Norway
| | - Even Moland
- Institute of Marine Research, Nye Flødevigveien 20, 4817 His, Norway
- Centre for Coastal Research (CCR), Department of Natural Sciences, University of Agder, P.O. Box 422, N-4604 Kristiansand, Norway
| | - Nicolas Mouquet
- CESAB - FRB, Montpellier, France
- MARBEC, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | | | - Enric Sala
- National Geographic Society, Washington, DC 20036, USA
| | - Christopher D H Thompson
- Marine Futures Lab, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Laure Velez
- MARBEC, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Laurent Vigliola
- ENTROPIE, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, IRD-UR-UNC-IFREMER-CNRS, Centre IRD de Nouméa, Nouméa Cedex, New-Caledonia, France
| | - Jessica J Meeuwig
- Marine Futures Lab, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
- Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
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Stelling‐Wood TP, Poore AGB, Hughes AR, Everett JD, Gribben PE. Habitat traits and predation interact to drive abundance and body size patterns in associated fauna. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10771. [PMID: 38053789 PMCID: PMC10694384 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2023] [Revised: 10/29/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Habitat-forming organisms provide three-dimensional structure that supports abundant and diverse communities. Variation in the morphological traits of habitat formers will therefore likely influence how they facilitate associated communities, either via food and habitat provisioning, or by altering predator-prey interactions. These mechanisms, however, are typically studied in isolation, and thus, we know little of how they interact to affect associated communities. In response to this, we used naturally occurring morphological variability in the alga Sargassum vestitum to create habitat units of distinct morphotypes to test whether variation in the morphological traits (frond size and thallus size) of S. vestitum or the interaction between these traits affects their value as habitat for associated communities in the presence and absence of predation. We found morphological traits did not interact, instead having independent effects on epifauna that were negligible in the absence of predation. However, when predators were present, habitat units with large fronds were found to host significantly lower epifaunal abundances than other morphotypes, suggesting that large frond alga provided low-value refuge from predators. The presence of predators also influenced the size structure of epifaunal communities from habitat units of differing frond size, suggesting that the refuge value of S. vestitum was also related to epifauna body size. This suggests that habitat formers may chiefly structure associated communities by mediating size-selective predation, and not through habitat provisioning. Furthermore, these results also highlight that habitat traits cannot be considered in isolation, for their interaction with biotic processes can have significant implications for associated communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Talia P. Stelling‐Wood
- Evolution & Ecology Research CentreUNSW SydneySydneyNew South WalesAustralia
- Centre of Marine Science and InnovationUNSW SydneySydneyNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Alistair G. B. Poore
- Evolution & Ecology Research CentreUNSW SydneySydneyNew South WalesAustralia
- Centre of Marine Science and InnovationUNSW SydneySydneyNew South WalesAustralia
| | | | - Jason D. Everett
- Centre of Marine Science and InnovationUNSW SydneySydneyNew South WalesAustralia
- School of Mathematics and PhysicsThe University of QueenslandSt LuciaQueenslandAustralia
| | - Paul E. Gribben
- Centre of Marine Science and InnovationUNSW SydneySydneyNew South WalesAustralia
- Sydney Institute of Marine ScienceMosmanNew South WalesAustralia
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Wolfe K, Desbiens AA, Mumby PJ. Emigration patterns of motile cryptofauna and their implications for trophic functioning in coral reefs. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e9960. [PMID: 37006892 PMCID: PMC10049886 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Patterns of movement of marine species can reflect strategies of reproduction and dispersal, species' interactions, trophodynamics, and susceptibility to change, and thus critically inform how we manage populations and ecosystems. On coral reefs, the density and diversity of metazoan taxa are greatest in dead coral and rubble, which are suggested to fuel food webs from the bottom up. Yet, biomass and secondary productivity in rubble is predominantly available in some of the smallest individuals, limiting how accessible this energy is to higher trophic levels. We address the bioavailability of motile coral reef cryptofauna based on small-scale patterns of emigration in rubble. We deployed modified RUbble Biodiversity Samplers (RUBS) and emergence traps in a shallow rubble patch at Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef, to detect community-level differences in the directional influx of motile cryptofauna under five habitat accessibility regimes. The mean density (0.13-4.5 ind cm-3) and biomass (0.14-5.2 mg cm-3) of cryptofauna were high and varied depending on microhabitat accessibility. Emergent zooplankton represented a distinct community (dominated by the Appendicularia and Calanoida) with the lowest density and biomass, indicating constraints on nocturnal resource availability. Mean cryptofauna density and biomass were greatest when interstitial access within rubble was blocked, driven by the rapid proliferation of small harpacticoid copepods from the rubble surface, leading to trophic simplification. Individuals with high biomass (e.g., decapods, gobies, and echinoderms) were greatest when interstitial access within rubble was unrestricted. Treatments with a closed rubble surface did not differ from those completely open, suggesting that top-down predation does not diminish rubble-derived resources. Our results show that conspecific cues and species' interactions (e.g., competition and predation) within rubble are most critical in shaping ecological outcomes within the cryptobiome. These findings have implications for prey accessibility through trophic and community size structuring in rubble, which may become increasingly relevant as benthic reef complexity shifts in the Anthropocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kennedy Wolfe
- Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, School of Biological Sciences and ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesUniversity of QueenslandBrisbaneQueensland4072Australia
| | - Amelia A. Desbiens
- Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, School of Biological Sciences and ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesUniversity of QueenslandBrisbaneQueensland4072Australia
| | - Peter J. Mumby
- Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, School of Biological Sciences and ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesUniversity of QueenslandBrisbaneQueensland4072Australia
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Coghlan AR, Blanchard JL, Heather FJ, Stuart‐Smith R, Edgar GJ, Audzijonyte A. Community size structure varies with predator-prey size relationships and temperature across Australian reefs. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8789. [PMID: 35414896 PMCID: PMC8987491 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2022] [Revised: 03/11/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Climate change and fisheries exploitation are dramatically changing the abundances, species composition, and size spectra of fish communities. We explore whether variation in 'abundance size spectra', a widely studied ecosystem feature, is influenced by a parameter theorized to govern the shape of size-structured ecosystems-the relationship between the sizes of predators and their prey (predator-prey mass ratios, or PPMRs). PPMR estimates are lacking for avast number of fish species, including at the scale of trophic guilds. Using measurements of 8128 prey items in gut contents of 97 reef fish species, we established predator-prey mass ratios (PPMRs) for four major trophic guilds (piscivores, invertivores, planktivores, and herbivores) using linear mixed effects models. To assess the theoretical predictions that higher community-level PPMRs leads to shallower size spectrum slopes, we compared observations of both ecosystem metrics for ~15,000 coastal reef sites distributed around Australia. PPMRs of individual fishes were remarkably high (median ~71,000), with significant variation between different trophic guilds (~890 for piscivores; ~83,000 for planktivores), and ~8700 for whole communities. Community-level PPMRs were positively related to size spectrum slopes, broadly consistent with theory, however, this pattern was also influenced by the latitudinal temperature gradient. Tropical reefs showed a stronger relationship between community-level PPMRs and community size spectrum slopes than temperate reefs. The extent that these patterns apply outside Australia and consequences for community structure and dynamics are key areas for future investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy Rose Coghlan
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS)University of TasmaniaHobartTasmaniaAustralia
| | - Julia L. Blanchard
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS)University of TasmaniaHobartTasmaniaAustralia
- Centre for Marine SocioecologyUniversity of TasmaniaHobartTasmaniaAustralia
| | - Freddie J. Heather
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS)University of TasmaniaHobartTasmaniaAustralia
| | - Rick D. Stuart‐Smith
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS)University of TasmaniaHobartTasmaniaAustralia
| | - Graham J. Edgar
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS)University of TasmaniaHobartTasmaniaAustralia
| | - Asta Audzijonyte
- Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS)University of TasmaniaHobartTasmaniaAustralia
- Centre for Marine SocioecologyUniversity of TasmaniaHobartTasmaniaAustralia
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