Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, , San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0202, USA, U.S. Geological Survey, Hawaii Cooperative Fishery Research Unit, University of Hawaii at Manoa, , Honolulu, HI 96822, USA, The Nature Conservancy, , Brisbane, Queensland 4101, Australia, OceanInk, , Kamuela, HI 96743, USA, National Geographic Society, , Washington, DC 20090, USA, Australian Institute of Marine Science, TMC, , Townsville, Queensland 4810, Australia, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Coral Reef Ecosystem Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), , Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
Proc Biol Sci. 2013 Nov 20;281(1774):20131835. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2013.1835. Print 2014 Jan 7.
On coral reefs, herbivorous fishes consume benthic primary producers and regulate competition between fleshy algae and reef-building corals. Many of these species are also important fishery targets, yet little is known about their global status. Using a large-scale synthesis of peer-reviewed and unpublished data, we examine variability in abundance and biomass of herbivorous reef fishes and explore evidence for fishing impacts globally and within regions. We show that biomass is more than twice as high in locations not accessible to fisheries relative to fisheries-accessible locations. Although there are large biogeographic differences in total biomass, the effects of fishing are consistent in nearly all regions. We also show that exposure to fishing alters the structure of the herbivore community by disproportionately reducing biomass of large-bodied functional groups (scraper/excavators, browsers, grazer/detritivores), while increasing biomass and abundance of territorial algal-farming damselfishes (Pomacentridae). The browser functional group that consumes macroalgae and can help to prevent coral-macroalgal phase shifts appears to be most susceptible to fishing. This fishing down the herbivore guild probably alters the effectiveness of these fishes in regulating algal abundance on reefs. Finally, data from remote and unfished locations provide important baselines for setting management and conservation targets for this important group of fishes.
在珊瑚礁上，草食性鱼类会消耗底栖初级生产者，并调节肉质藻类和造礁珊瑚之间的竞争。这些物种中的许多也是重要的渔业目标，但人们对它们的全球状况知之甚少。我们利用同行评议和未发表数据的大规模综合分析，研究了草食性珊瑚礁鱼类丰度和生物量的可变性，并探讨了全球和区域范围内捕捞活动影响的证据。结果表明，与可捕捞的区域相比，不可捕捞的区域的生物量要高出两倍多。尽管总生物量在很大程度上存在生物地理差异，但在几乎所有地区，捕捞的影响都是一致的。我们还表明，捕捞会通过不成比例地减少大型功能组（刮食者/挖掘者、食草动物、食碎屑动物）的生物量，同时增加具有领地性的藻类养殖雀鲷（Pomacentridae）的生物量和丰度，从而改变食草动物群落的结构。消耗大型藻类并有助于防止珊瑚-大型藻类转变的食草动物功能组似乎最容易受到捕捞的影响。这种食草动物群的减少可能会改变这些鱼类在调节珊瑚礁藻类丰度方面的有效性。最后，来自偏远和未捕捞地区的数据为这一重要鱼类群体设定管理和保护目标提供了重要的基线。
