cE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
Fauna & Flora, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2024 Nov 1;19(11):e0312849. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312849. eCollection 2024.
Understanding species distribution across habitats and environmental variables is important to inform area-based management. However, observational data are often lacking, particularly from developing countries, hindering effective conservation design. One such data-poor area is the Gulf of Guinea, an understudied and biodiverse region where coastal waters play a critical role in coastal livelihoods. Here, we describe the results of the largest national-scale Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems (BRUVS) survey in the region, aiming to understand the effects of several environmental variables on fish community composition and diversity. From 2018 to 2020, we successfully deployed 417 benthic BRUVS in the coastal waters of the São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) archipelago. Species richness and relative abundance were higher in deeper waters, on steeper slopes, and in rocky reef habitats. Nevertheless, maerl and sand habitats also hosted unique, and economically important species. Our results potentially indicate historical impacts of fishing in the archipelago, especially in São Tomé Island, where observed fishing effort is higher. Indeed, abundance of large predatory fish was low in both islands and abundance of species targeted by artisanal fisheries was lower in São Tomé than in Príncipe. Our results provide crucial information supporting the designation and future monitoring of marine protected areas in STP.
了解物种在栖息地和环境变量中的分布对于基于区域的管理至关重要。然而，观测数据通常很缺乏，尤其是在发展中国家，这阻碍了有效的保护设计。几内亚湾就是这样一个数据匮乏的地区，该地区研究较少，但生物多样性丰富，沿海水域对沿海生计起着至关重要的作用。在这里，我们描述了该地区规模最大的国家范围的诱捕式水下视频系统（BRUVS）调查的结果，旨在了解几种环境变量对鱼类群落组成和多样性的影响。从 2018 年到 2020 年，我们在圣多美和普林西比（STP）群岛的沿海水域成功部署了 417 个底栖 BRUVS。物种丰富度和相对丰度在较深的水域、较陡的坡度和岩石礁栖息地中较高。尽管如此，马尾藻和沙质栖息地也有独特的、具有经济重要性的物种。我们的结果可能表明了在该群岛，尤其是在圣多美岛上，渔业历史上的影响，在圣多美岛上观察到的捕鱼活动更高。事实上，在两个岛屿上，大型掠食性鱼类的数量都较少，而在圣多美岛，手工渔业的目标物种的数量也低于普林西比岛。我们的结果提供了至关重要的信息，支持了 STP 海洋保护区的指定和未来监测。
