scholarly journals Global assessment of the status of coral reef herbivorous fishes: evidence for fishing effects

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1774) ◽  
pp. 20131835 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. B. Edwards ◽  
A. M. Friedlander ◽  
A. G. Green ◽  
M. J. Hardt ◽  
E. Sala ◽  
...  

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 Using a large-scale synthesis of peer-reviewed and unpublished data, we examine variability in abundance and biomass of herbivorous reef fishes and explore evidence for fishing impacts globally and within regions.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.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khaled M. El-Haddad ◽  
Saad Z. Mohamed ◽  
Tarek A. Temraz ◽  
Abdel-Hamid A. Ali ◽  
Mohamed S. Abdel-Rahman

Herbivorous reef fishes are critically important for maintaining the health and resilience of coral reefs. In the Egyptian Gulf of Aqaba (GoA), many of these herbivores are important fishery targets and little is known about their population size structure and biomass patterns. Here, we conduct a large-scale (~250 km of coastline) assessment of the status of herbivorous fish populations along a fishing pressure gradient at 30 sites and eight regions in the GoA. These regions are subjected to three levels of fishing and protection, ranging from almost no fishing (No take, NT), and moderately fished (via Gear restriction, GR) to heavily fished (Open access, OA). We found that the NT fishery reserve was the most effective to maintain herbivorous fish size, biomass, and richness across all functional groups, though numerical density was not. Total herbivore biomass was 4.3 and 2.8 times higher on NT reefs and GR reefs, respectively than on OA reefs. Among GoA regions, only Ras Mohammed and Sharm El-Sheikh (unfished), and Nabq (fished) met the global mean herbivore biomass target of ~30 kg/500 m2. Our work also highlights three important results regarding the impacts of fishing and fisheries management on herbivorous fish populations: (i) size structure was heavily skewed toward smaller individuals, with fishes less than (20 cm) accounting for 81.1% of the population in heavily fished OA reefs vs. 52.8% at unfished NT reefs, (ii) biomass of larger herbivore individuals (>35 cm) accounting for less than 1% of the total biomass in OA reefs vs. 37% at NT reefs, and (iii) large-bodied target species, Cetoscarus bicolor, Naso unicorn, and Kyphosus spp., accounting for 15.9% of the total biomass at NT reefs on average, while they were virtually absent from OA reefs. Collectively, these findings suggest that many principal fisheries species in the central northern regions of the GoA have been overexploited, which in turn can lead to reef degradation. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a participatory management approach and enforce restrictions on destructive fishing gear in order to promote recovery of herbivore biomass.


1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
TIMOTHY R. McCLANAHAN ◽  
NYAWIRA A. MUTHIGA

Many coral reefs in the Caribbean, and elsewhere, have undergone changes from hard coral to fleshy algal dominance over the past two decades which has often been interpreted as a localized response to eutrophication and fishing. Here, data on the abundance of hard corals and algae from lagoonal patch reefs distributed throughout a large (260 km2) remote reef atoll located approximately 30 km offshore from the sparsely-populated coast of Belize, Central America, are compared with a study of these patch reefs conducted 25 years previously. Data and observations indicate that these patch reefs have undergone a major change in their ecology associated with a 75% reduction in total hard coral, a 99% loss in the cover of Acropora cervicornis and A. palmata, and a 315% increase in algae, which are mostly erect brown algae species in the genera Lobophora, Dictyota, Turbinaria and Sargassum. Such changes have been reported from other Caribbean reefs during the 1980s, but not on such a remote reef and the present changes may be attributed primarily to both a disease that began killing Acropora in this region in the mid 1980s and a reduction in herbivory. The low level of herbivory may be attributable to the disease-induced loss of the sea urchin Diadema antillarum in 1983, or fishing of herbivorous fishes, but both explanations are speculative. The present density of fisherfolk is low, and their efforts are not targetted at herbivorous fishes, and population densities of D. antillarum 14 years after the mortality are <1 individual per 1000 m2, but there is no comparative data from before the die off. There is, however, no indication that these major changes occurred on the fore reef, because A. palmata is abundant and erect algal abundance is low. We suggest that reported changes in other Caribbean reefs are not necessarily or exclusively influenced by local human factors such as localized intense eutrophication or fishing.


2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (04) ◽  
pp. 681-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
PASQUALE BLASI ◽  
STEFANO GABICI ◽  
GIANFRANCO BRUNETTI

Clusters of galaxies and the large scale filaments that connect neighboring clusters are expected to be sites of acceleration of charged particles and sources of non-thermal radiation from radio frequencies to gamma rays. Gamma rays are particularly interesting targets of investigation, since they may provide precious information on the nature and efficiency of the processes of acceleration and magnetic confinement of hadrons within clusters of galaxies. Here we review the status of viable scenarios that lead to the production of gamma rays from large scale structures and are compatible with the multifrequency observations that are already available. We also discuss the possibility of detection of gamma rays with space-borne telescopes such as GLAST and ground based Cherenkov telescopes, and the physical information that may be gathered from such observations.


2005 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. 823-842 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Stewart

Despite a fair amount of conjecture regarding the circumstances that lead to the generation of status orders, most of the previous literature in this area typically has studied the effects of social cues within a laboratory setting. This article analyzes the evolution of the status hierarchy within a large-scale, natural setting. The results of empirical analyses assessing a large online community of software developers show that in the process of status attainment, community members tend to evaluate a focal actor's reputation according to publicly available social references. Ironically, these same social references also work to constrain an actor's status mobility.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 75-82
Author(s):  
P. V. Troshchinskiy ◽  

The article is devoted to the study of the process of introducing digital technologies into the work of the People’s Courts of China and the issues of its legal regulation. The judicial system of the modern Chinese state is based on courts of three levels and two courts. Judicial bodies include the Supreme People’s Court, local people's courts, military courts and other special courts. For several years, various digital technologies have been used in all Chinese courts. In addition, since August 2017, special Internet courts have appeared in the PRC (three such courts have now been created in Hangzhou, Beijing and Guangzhou), which consider civil, administrative and criminal cases online without the personal presence of participants. The use of digital technologies in the judicial system of the PRC contributes to its transparency, reducing corruption, combating the spread of coronavirus, increasing the general level of legal literacy of the people. So, the creation of a unified platform for online broadcasting of court hearings online, the public disclosure of court sentences (decisions, rulings) in various categories of cases allows society to control the activities of the people's courts of the country. Considering the case online during the confrontation of the coronavirus epidemic prevents the spread of infection among participants in the process. The experience of China in the large-scale implementation of digital technologies in judicial activity is not only of scientific interest, but also important from a practical point of view for the Russian expert community. The Russian Federation has also embarked on the path of using digital technologies in litigation, but China is following it ahead of the schedule, which is important in terms of studying the results it has achieved and the mistakes made so that the Russian legislator can take them into account in their law-making activities. It is also important that China, in the process of digitalizing its national system, uses exclusively national platforms and databases. Access to information by foreign intelligence services is not possible. The main providers of digital services for the judicial system are also national corporations, which legally have the status of private companies, but in fact they are completely controlled by the СРС.


2018 ◽  
Vol 78 (8) ◽  
pp. 1704-1714 ◽  
Author(s):  
François-René Bourgeois ◽  
Frédéric Monette ◽  
Daniel G. Cyr

Abstract To develop a better understanding for fixed biomass processes, the development of a nitrifying bacterial biofilm, as well as the performance of treatment during modifications to operational conditions of a full-scale submerged biological filter were examined. The development of the nitrifying biofilm was investigated at four depth levels (1, 2, 4 and 5 feet). The result of bacterial subpopulations analyzed by qPCR relative to the physico-chemical parameters of the wastewater during the various tests (sustained aeration, modified backwash parameters and inflow restriction) revealed an increase of the relative presence of nitrifying microorganisms throughout the biofilm (especially for nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB)), but this was not necessarily accompanied by a better nitrification rate. The highest observed nitrification rate was 49% of removal in the test cell during backwashing conditions, whereas the relative ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) population was 0.032% and NOB was 0.008% of the total biomass collected. The highest percentage of nitrifying bacteria observed (0.034% AOB and 0.18% NOB) resulted in a nitrification rate of 21%. The treatment of organic matter determined by measuring the chemical and biochemical oxygen demand (COD, CBOD5) was improved.


Author(s):  
Ivan Dmitrievich Tuzovskii

The subject of this research is modern celebratory culture in the context of impact of globalization processes upon festivities. The author explores a new phenomenon that emerged in the early XXI century &ndash; a &ldquo;global holiday&rdquo; within the framework of sociocultural transformations related to transition of humanity towards the Digital Age, and formation of the global information space. Special attention is given to the following aspects: creation of media and post-mythological global holidays of the Digital Age, and transformation of the traditional holiday into new metanational forms. The methodological foundation for studying the holidays that received the status of "global" in modern culture became the adaptation of &ldquo;head page method&rdquo; applied in sociological, cultural and futurological research and sociocultural monitoring, including overt observation. The conclusion is made that modern culture marks the formation of several types of global holidays that carry metanational character: the first group includes media-produced holidays associated with post-folklore and post-mythology of modern society, or represent celebratory events as award ceremonies in the field of politics, art and science; the second group includes ethnic traditional holidays that received the global status (Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, Mexican Day of the Dead, Holi &ldquo;Festival of Spring&rdquo;, etc.). The phenomenon of global holidays should be taken into account in creation of the national strategies of cultural policy, and the global holiday itself may become one of the "soft power" tools in the Digital Age.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyeongho Choi ◽  
Euipyeong Lee

32,000 fire fighters from 451 fire departments in 41 prefectures were mobilized to support and assist fire extinguishing and lifesaving in the Hyogo Prefecture Nanbu Earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1995. Based on this experience, the emergency fire response team for disaster response (EFRT) was established by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA) on June 30, 1995. When large scale disasters occur over wide areas, EFRTs in Japan are dispatched to the disaster places to assist fire fighting on demand or by the order of the commissioner of the FDMA. This study analyzed the background required for establishing the EFRT; the process and details of the legislation; the establishment of basic plans, organizations, and operation plans; and assistance dispatch along with the plan for receiving outside support; registration and the plan for reinforcing equipment; the status of training for preparing assistance dispatch; and activity results in order to provide basic information to prepare large scale disasters and establish coping policies in Korea.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 10961 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subrat Debata ◽  
Tuhinansu Kar ◽  
Kedar Kumar Swain ◽  
Himanshu Shekhar Palei

The Indian Skimmer is a globally threatened bird native to Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Vietnam.  In India, it is more confined to the north, from Punjab through Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh to West Bengal, extending up to Odisha.  Earlier, the bird was known to breed only in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, we confirm here the breeding of the Indian Skimmer along the river Mahanadi near Mundali, Odisha, eastern India.  So, further monitoring at the breeding site and survey along the entire Mahanadi River are essential to understand the status of the Indian skimmer in Odisha.  The information will also aid in reassessing its global status and formulating conservation plans.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lili Song

<p>This thesis systematically considers the law and policy on refugee status in the People’s Republic of China. It considers relevant Chinese legal provisions, applicable bilateral and multinational treaties, as well as China’s refugee policy and practice. It also presents and analyses first-hand information collected through interviews with refugees and aid workers.  China is an emerging destination of refugees and other displaced foreigners. Although China is a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, Chinese law contains no provisions governing the definition of a refugee or the determination of refugee status. Further, there is a gap between the criteria for asylum in the 1982 Chinese Constitution and the criteria for refugee status in the 1951 Convention.  In practice, although the Chinese government has generally allowed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to process individual applications for refugee status, the Chinese government has practically performed the function of refugee status determination in large-scale influx situations through policy decisions. In these situations, the security, political, and strategic interests of China have often overshadowed China’s commitment under the 1951 Convention.  China has been cautious about recognising refugees on its territory. However, the Chinese government has clearly demonstrated a growing interest in addressing the issue of refugee recognition within a more formalised framework.  In conclusion, this thesis recommends that China adopt a legal refugee definition in line with the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and develop a predictable and fair national RSD mechanism.</p>


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