Hernández-Andreu Ramón, Félix-Hackradt Fabiana Cézar, Kennedy Sara Buttrose, Texeira Jessyca Luana Silva, Bezerra Inajara Marques, Moura Rodrigo Leão, Schiavetti Alexandre, Hackradt Carlos Werner
Marine Ecology and Conservation Lab., Centre for Environmental Science, Universidade Federal do Sul da Bahia, Porto Seguro, Bahia, Brazil; Ethnoconservation and Protected Areas Lab., Department of Agrarian and Environmental Sciences (DCAA), Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil.
Marine Ecology and Conservation Lab., Centre for Environmental Science, Universidade Federal do Sul da Bahia, Porto Seguro, Bahia, Brazil.
Mar Environ Res. 2025 Aug 25;212:107483. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2025.107483.
Environmental conditions play a key role in shaping the functional composition of communities by favouring species with specific trait combinations. Certain habitat characteristics likely select for traits that confer advantages under specific local conditions, highlighting the importance of functional traits in mediating species' responses to environmental variation and in structuring community assembly. The main objective of this study was to identify the relationship of functional and taxonomic diversity, and biological traits against environmental variables across a coastal gradient to offshore reefs. Abundance and biomass data were collected from reef fish assemblages in Abrolhos Bank. Functional diversity (FD) indices were established with biomass data, calculated from fish traits. Differences in biomass, taxonomic diversity (TD), FD and redundancy patterns (RP) were assessed for spatial factors isolation, locality, and site. Also, the response of biological traits to onshore-offshore effects were evaluated with effect size analysis. Finally, RLQ ordination together with fourth-corner analyses were employed to establish significant correlations between environmental variables, biological traits and fish composition. The effect size was higher in offshore reefs for biomass, functional entities, richness species, while all FD, except functional richness, had higher effect in coastal areas. A strong environmental filtering mediated by coastal distance plays a role in community structure and reef fish distribution, with fish trophic group being most affected by the natural gradient. However, other traits' response revealed that protection measures might interact synergistically with environmental filtering, and mitigate the effects of anthropogenic pressure on coastal habitats. Ecological functionality, using functional indices considering specific environmental variables and habitats, can be used to monitor reef fish populations and to guide fisheries regulations and MPA establishment and management.
环境条件通过青睐具有特定性状组合的物种，在塑造群落的功能组成方面发挥着关键作用。某些栖息地特征可能会选择那些在特定局部条件下具有优势的性状，这凸显了功能性状在介导物种对环境变化的响应以及构建群落组装过程中的重要性。本研究的主要目的是确定沿沿海梯度至近海珊瑚礁的功能多样性和分类多样性以及生物性状与环境变量之间的关系。从阿布洛霍斯浅滩的珊瑚礁鱼类群落中收集了丰度和生物量数据。利用从鱼类性状计算得出的生物量数据建立了功能多样性（FD）指数。评估了生物量、分类多样性（TD）、FD和冗余模式（RP）在空间因素隔离、地点和站点方面的差异。此外，通过效应大小分析评估了生物性状对近岸 - 近海效应的响应。最后，采用RLQ排序和第四角分析来确定环境变量、生物性状和鱼类组成之间的显著相关性。近海珊瑚礁中生物量、功能实体、物种丰富度的效应大小较高，而除功能丰富度外的所有FD在沿海地区的效应较高。由沿海距离介导的强烈环境过滤在群落结构和珊瑚礁鱼类分布中起作用，鱼类营养组受自然梯度影响最大。然而，其他性状的响应表明，保护措施可能与环境过滤协同作用，并减轻人为压力对沿海栖息地的影响。利用考虑特定环境变量和栖息地的功能指数来衡量生态功能，可用于监测珊瑚礁鱼类种群，并指导渔业法规以及海洋保护区的建立和管理。
