eCite Digital Repository
Fish foraging patterns, vulnerability to fishing, and implications for the management of ecosystem function across scales
Citation
Nash, KL and Graham, NAJ and Bellwood, DR, Fish foraging patterns, vulnerability to fishing, and implications for the management of ecosystem function across scales, Ecological Applications, 23, (7) pp. 1632-1644. ISSN 1051-0761 (2013) [Refereed Article]
![]() | PDF 507Kb |
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2013 by the Ecological Society of America
Abstract
The function of species has been recognized as critical for the maintenance of
ecosystems within desired states. However, there are still considerable gaps in our knowledge
of interspecific differences in the functional roles of organisms, particularly with regard to the
spatial scales over which functional impact is exerted. This has implications for the delivery of
function and the maintenance of ecosystem processes. In this study we assessed the allometric
relationship between foraging movements and fish body length at three sites, for 20 species of
herbivorous reef fishes within four different functional groups: browsers, farmers, grazer/
detritivores, and scraper/excavators. The relationship between vulnerability of species to
fishing and their scale of foraging was also examined. We present empirical evidence of the
strong, positive, log-linear relationship between the scale of foraging movement and fish body
length. This relationship was consistent among sites and between the two different movement
metrics used. Phylogeny did not affect these results. Functional groups foraged over
contrasting ranges of spatial scales; for example, scraper/excavators performed their role over
a wide range of scales, whereas browsers were represented by few species and operated over a
narrow range of scales. Overfishing is likely not only to remove species operating at large
scales, but also to remove the browser group as a whole. Large fishes typically have a
significant role in removing algae on reefs, and browsers are key to controlling macroalgae and
reversing shifts to macroalgal-dominated states. This vulnerability to exploitation has serious
consequences for the ability of fish assemblages to deliver their functional role in the face of
anthropogenic impacts. However, identification of the scales at which herbivorous fish
assemblages are susceptible to fishing provides managers with critical knowledge to design
management strategies to support coral-dominated reefs by maintaining function at the spatial
scales at which vulnerable species operate.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
---|---|
Keywords: | allometry, coral reef, ecosystem processes, fisheries, functional group, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, herbivore, redundancy, resilience |
Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
Research Group: | Ecology |
Research Field: | Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) |
Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
Objective Group: | Marine systems and management |
Objective Field: | Marine biodiversity |
UTAS Author: | Nash, KL (Dr Kirsty Nash) |
ID Code: | 107682 |
Year Published: | 2013 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 36 |
Deposited By: | IMAS Research and Education Centre |
Deposited On: | 2016-03-22 |
Last Modified: | 2017-10-31 |
Downloads: | 229 View Download Statistics |
Repository Staff Only: item control page