Grimsditch G, Pisapia C, Huck M, Karisa J, Obura D, Sweet M
International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Merryrose 2nd Floor, Malé 20006, Maldives.
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia.
Mar Environ Res. 2017 Oct;131:146-155. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2017.09.017. Epub 2017 Sep 23.
This study aimed to assess how the size-frequency distributions of coral genera varied between reefs under different fishing pressures in two contrasting Indian Ocean locations (the Maldives and East Africa). Using generalized linear mixed models, we were able to demonstrate that complex interactions occurred between coral genera, coral size class and fishing pressure. In both locations, we found Acropora coral species to be more abundant in non-fished compared to fished sites (a pattern which was consistent for nearly all the assessed size classes). Coral genera classified as 'stress tolerant' showed a contrasting pattern i.e. were higher in abundance in fished compared to non-fished sites. Site specific variations were also observed. For example, Maldivian reefs exhibited a significantly higher abundance in all size classes of 'competitive' corals compared to East Africa. This possibly indicates that East African reefs have already been subjected to higher levels of stress and are therefore less suitable environments for 'competitive' corals. This study also highlights the potential structure and composition of reefs under future degradation scenarios, for example with a loss of Acropora corals and an increase in dominance of 'stress tolerant' and 'generalist' coral genera.
本研究旨在评估在印度洋两个形成对比的地点（马尔代夫和东非），不同捕捞压力下的珊瑚礁中珊瑚属的大小频率分布是如何变化的。通过广义线性混合模型，我们能够证明珊瑚属、珊瑚大小类别和捕捞压力之间发生了复杂的相互作用。在这两个地点，我们发现与捕捞区域相比，鹿角珊瑚属物种在未捕捞区域更为丰富（这种模式在几乎所有评估的大小类别中都是一致的）。被归类为“耐胁迫”的珊瑚属则呈现出相反的模式，即在捕捞区域的丰度高于未捕捞区域。还观察到了特定地点的差异。例如，与东非相比，马尔代夫珊瑚礁在所有大小类别的“竞争性”珊瑚中都表现出显著更高的丰度。这可能表明东非珊瑚礁已经受到了更高程度的胁迫，因此对于“竞争性”珊瑚来说是不太适宜的环境。这项研究还强调了在未来退化情景下珊瑚礁的潜在结构和组成，例如鹿角珊瑚属的减少以及“耐胁迫”和“广适性”珊瑚属优势地位的增加。
