Degradation and mortality of corals is increasing worldwide and is expected to have significant effects on
coral reef fish; hence studies on these effects are essential. In the present study, a field experiment was
set up within Mafia Island Marine Park in Tanzania (East Africa) to examine the effects of bleaching and
habitat structure on colonisation of coral reef fish assemblages. Live and bleached staghorn coral
Acropora formosa was transplanted onto plots in a site dominated by sand and rubble, and the experimental
design comprised of three treatments: live coral, bleached coral and eroded coral rubble. There
was an immediate increase (within 24 h) in fish abundance and diversity in the two treatments with
standing corals. Overall, live and bleached coral plots showed similar effects, but differed from the eroded
coral plots which had a much lower abundance and diversity of fish. In general, fish species diversity
changed with time over the study period while fish abundance did not. Multivariate analyses showed
that while there were differences in fish assemblage structure between standing corals and the eroded
coral treatment, there was neither a difference between live and bleached coral treatments nor any
temporal effects on fish assemblage structure. Our findings suggest that physical structure and
complexity of habitat have stronger effects on colonisation of reef fish assemblages than changes in coral
health (such as bleaching) which do not affect coral structure. This may have important implications for
appropriate coral reef management.
Degradation and mortality of corals is increasing worldwide and is expected to have significant effects on
coral reef fish; hence studies on these effects are essential. In the present study, a field experiment was
set up within Mafia Island Marine Park in Tanzania (East Africa) to examine the effects of bleaching and
habitat structure on colonisation of coral reef fish assemblages. Live and bleached staghorn coral
Acropora formosa was transplanted onto plots in a site dominated by sand and rubble, and the experimental
design comprised of three treatments: live coral, bleached coral and eroded coral rubble. There
was an immediate increase (within 24 h) in fish abundance and diversity in the two treatments with
standing corals. Overall, live and bleached coral plots showed similar effects, but differed from the eroded
coral plots which had a much lower abundance and diversity of fish. In general, fish species diversity
changed with time over the study period while fish abundance did not. Multivariate analyses showed
that while there were differences in fish assemblage structure between standing corals and the eroded
coral treatment, there was neither a difference between live and bleached coral treatments nor any
temporal effects on fish assemblage structure. Our findings suggest that physical structure and
complexity of habitat have stronger effects on colonisation of reef fish assemblages than changes in coral
health (such as bleaching) which do not affect coral structure. This may have important implications for
appropriate coral reef management.
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..