Environmental disturbance events drive declines in juvenile wrasse biomass on inshore coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef
2020
Environmental disturbances and fishing are
well known drivers of coral reef fish population size,
length-frequency, and assemblage structure. However,
few studies have partitioned the spatial and temporal
impacts of multiple disturbance events and long-term
no-take marine reserve (NTMR) protection on the biomass of juvenile and adult reef-fishes based on the
known size of sexual maturity. Here, we document
responses in the biomass of juvenile and adult wrasses
(Labridae) Hemigymnus melapterus, H. fasciatus,
Cheilinus fasciatus, and Oxycheilinus digramma, to environmental disturbance events, NTMR protection, and
predator density on inshore fringing coral reefs at the
Palm and Whitsunday Island groups, Great Barrier Reef
(GBR), Australia from 2007 to 2018 (12 years). The
biomass of juvenile and adult wrasses on inshore GBR
reefs were driven predominantly by benthic habitat associations, rather than by NTMR protection or density
of wrasse predators (Plectropomus spp.). Despite similar species-specific associations of juvenile and adult
wrasses with benthic cover, juvenile wrasse biomass
consistently declined following coral bleaching and cyclone events. Conversely, adult wrasses had variable
responses to disturbance events, including some increases in biomass. Disturbance-mediated declines in
the biomass of juvenile wrasses are likely to generate
ongoing reductions in the abundance of these species on
inshore GBR reefs. Our findings provide further evidence that habitat loss impacts a range of coral reef
fishes beyond those that are directly reliant upon live
coral. Shifts in assemblage structure, loss of biodiversity, and reductions in fishery productivity will become
increasingly apparent in coral reef ecosystems if anthropogenic global warming continues unabated.
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