Temporal comparison and predictors of fish species abundance and richness on undisturbed coral reef patches
Large disturbances can cause rapid degradation of coral reef communities, but what baseline changes in species assemblages occur on undisturbed reefs through time? We surveyed live coral cover, reef fish abundance and fish species richness in 1997 and again in 2007 on 47 fringing patch reefs of vary...
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doaj-1d200c79cc2144b8a8962712b2a8e5782020-11-24T21:40:40ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592015-12-013e145910.7717/peerj.1459Temporal comparison and predictors of fish species abundance and richness on undisturbed coral reef patchesElena L.E.S. Wagner0Dominique G. Roche1Sandra A. Binning2Sharon Wismer3Redouan Bshary4Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, NE, SwitzerlandInstitute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, NE, SwitzerlandInstitute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, NE, SwitzerlandInstitute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, NE, SwitzerlandInstitute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, NE, SwitzerlandLarge disturbances can cause rapid degradation of coral reef communities, but what baseline changes in species assemblages occur on undisturbed reefs through time? We surveyed live coral cover, reef fish abundance and fish species richness in 1997 and again in 2007 on 47 fringing patch reefs of varying size and depth at Mersa Bareika, Ras Mohammed National Park, Egypt. No major human or natural disturbance event occurred between these two survey periods in this remote protected area. In the absence of large disturbances, we found that live coral cover, reef fish abundance and fish species richness did not differ in 1997 compared to 2007. Fish abundance and species richness on patches was largely related to the presence of shelters (caves and/or holes), live coral cover and patch size (volume). The presence of the ectoparasite-eating cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus, was also positively related to fish species richness. Our results underscore the importance of physical reef characteristics, such as patch size and shelter availability, in addition to biotic characteristics, such as live coral cover and cleaner wrasse abundance, in supporting reef fish species richness and abundance through time in a relatively undisturbed and understudied region.https://peerj.com/articles/1459.pdfCleaner wrasseCoral reef fishesLabroides dimidiatusRed SeaLong-term monitoringStability |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Elena L.E.S. Wagner Dominique G. Roche Sandra A. Binning Sharon Wismer Redouan Bshary |
spellingShingle |
Elena L.E.S. Wagner Dominique G. Roche Sandra A. Binning Sharon Wismer Redouan Bshary Temporal comparison and predictors of fish species abundance and richness on undisturbed coral reef patches PeerJ Cleaner wrasse Coral reef fishes Labroides dimidiatus Red Sea Long-term monitoring Stability |
author_facet |
Elena L.E.S. Wagner Dominique G. Roche Sandra A. Binning Sharon Wismer Redouan Bshary |
author_sort |
Elena L.E.S. Wagner |
title |
Temporal comparison and predictors of fish species abundance and richness on undisturbed coral reef patches |
title_short |
Temporal comparison and predictors of fish species abundance and richness on undisturbed coral reef patches |
title_full |
Temporal comparison and predictors of fish species abundance and richness on undisturbed coral reef patches |
title_fullStr |
Temporal comparison and predictors of fish species abundance and richness on undisturbed coral reef patches |
title_full_unstemmed |
Temporal comparison and predictors of fish species abundance and richness on undisturbed coral reef patches |
title_sort |
temporal comparison and predictors of fish species abundance and richness on undisturbed coral reef patches |
publisher |
PeerJ Inc. |
series |
PeerJ |
issn |
2167-8359 |
publishDate |
2015-12-01 |
description |
Large disturbances can cause rapid degradation of coral reef communities, but what baseline changes in species assemblages occur on undisturbed reefs through time? We surveyed live coral cover, reef fish abundance and fish species richness in 1997 and again in 2007 on 47 fringing patch reefs of varying size and depth at Mersa Bareika, Ras Mohammed National Park, Egypt. No major human or natural disturbance event occurred between these two survey periods in this remote protected area. In the absence of large disturbances, we found that live coral cover, reef fish abundance and fish species richness did not differ in 1997 compared to 2007. Fish abundance and species richness on patches was largely related to the presence of shelters (caves and/or holes), live coral cover and patch size (volume). The presence of the ectoparasite-eating cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus, was also positively related to fish species richness. Our results underscore the importance of physical reef characteristics, such as patch size and shelter availability, in addition to biotic characteristics, such as live coral cover and cleaner wrasse abundance, in supporting reef fish species richness and abundance through time in a relatively undisturbed and understudied region. |
topic |
Cleaner wrasse Coral reef fishes Labroides dimidiatus Red Sea Long-term monitoring Stability |
url |
https://peerj.com/articles/1459.pdf |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT elenaleswagner temporalcomparisonandpredictorsoffishspeciesabundanceandrichnessonundisturbedcoralreefpatches AT dominiquegroche temporalcomparisonandpredictorsoffishspeciesabundanceandrichnessonundisturbedcoralreefpatches AT sandraabinning temporalcomparisonandpredictorsoffishspeciesabundanceandrichnessonundisturbedcoralreefpatches AT sharonwismer temporalcomparisonandpredictorsoffishspeciesabundanceandrichnessonundisturbedcoralreefpatches AT redouanbshary temporalcomparisonandpredictorsoffishspeciesabundanceandrichnessonundisturbedcoralreefpatches |
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