In:
Scientific Reports, Springer Science and Business Media LLC, Vol. 11, No. 1 ( 2021-12-06)
Abstract:
Marine reserves are known to impact the biomass, biodiversity, and functions of coral reef fish communities, but the effect of protective management on fish traits is less explored. We used a time-series modelling approach to simultaneously evaluate the abundance, biomass, and traits of eight fish families over a chronosequence spanning 44 years of protection. We constructed a multivariate functional space based on six traits known to respond to management or disturbance and affect ecosystem processes: size, diet, position in the water column, gregariousness, reef association, and length at maturity. We show that biomass increased with a log-linear trend over the time-series, but abundance only increased after 20 years of closure, and with more variation among reserves. This difference is attributed to recovery rates being dependent on body sizes. Abundance-weighted traits and the associated multivariate space of the community change is driven by increased proportions over time of the trait categories: 7–15 cm body size; planktivorous; species low in the water column; medium-large schools; and species with high levels of reef association. These findings suggest that the trait compositions emerging after the cessation of fishing are novel and dynamic.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2045-2322
DOI:
10.1038/s41598-021-03038-9
Language:
English
Publisher:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication Date:
2021
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2615211-3
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