scholarly journals Large‐scale, multidirectional larval connectivity among coral reef fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (24) ◽  
pp. 6039-6054 ◽  
Author(s):  
David H. Williamson ◽  
Hugo B. Harrison ◽  
Glenn R. Almany ◽  
Michael L. Berumen ◽  
Michael Bode ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Reef Fish ◽  
Coral Reef Fish ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fish Populations ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Marine Park ◽  
Larval Connectivity

scholarly journals Multivariate life-history indices of exploited coral reef fish populations used to measure the performance of no-take zones in a marine protected area

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 679-692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin A Begg ◽  
Bruce D Mapstone ◽  
Ashley J Williams ◽  
Samantha Adams ◽  
Campbell R Davies ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Coral Reef ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Reef Fish ◽  
Coral Reef Fish ◽  
Marine Protected Area ◽  
Fish Populations ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Life History Parameters ◽  
Coral Trout

We investigate the use of multivariate life-history indices to assess the performance of no-take zones with respect to ameliorating the impacts of harvest on exploited coral reef fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. A range of life-history parameters were estimated for the two major target species of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) line fishery, common coral trout (Plectropomus leopardus) and red throat emperor (Lethrinus miniatus), collected from five adjacent reefs (three of which were closed to all forms of fishing) in each of three geographically dispersed regions between 1995 and 1998. Life-history parameters were used to compare the status of populations on open and closed reefs over regions and years. Principal components (PC) analyses were used to effectively reduce the number of parameters to four significant PCs for each species, accounting for 84% and 94% of the total variation in the data for common coral trout and red throat emperor, respectively. We were able to clearly identify those populations that were sampled from reefs open or closed to fishing based on the multivariate descriptors of life-history parameters. The concurrent use of several life-history indices maximised our potential to differentiate changes related to no-take zones from background variation.

Phylogeography of colour polymorphism in the coral reef fish Pseudochromis fuscus, from Papua New Guinea and the Great Barrier Reef

Coral Reefs ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 392-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Messmer ◽  
Lynne van Herwerden ◽  
Philip L. Munday ◽  
Geoffrey P. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Reef Fish ◽  
Coral Reef Fish ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Colour Polymorphism ◽  
Barrier Reef

scholarly journals Variability in the functional composition of coral reef fish communities on submerged and emergent reefs in the central Great Barrier Reef, Australia

PLoS ONE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. e0216785 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda M. Cooper ◽  
Chancey MacDonald ◽  
T. Edward Roberts ◽  
Tom C. L. Bridge
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Reef Fish ◽  
Coral Reef Fish ◽  
Fish Communities ◽  
Functional Composition ◽  
Barrier Reef

The effects of marine reserve protection on the trophic relationships of reef fishes on the Great Barrier Reef

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.A.J. Graham ◽  
R.D. Evans ◽  
G.R. Russ
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Reef Fish ◽  
Coral Reef Fish ◽  
Habitat Complexity ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Marine Reserve ◽  
Trophic Relationships ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Prey Fish

What are the effects of no-take marine reserves on trophic relationships of coral reef fish? Previous studies often have lacked detailed dietary information on major predators, and have often been confounded by differences in habitat complexity between reserve and fished sites. This study investigates the effects of marine reserve protection on predator-prey interactions of coral reef fish on the inshore islands of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The abundance of species of prey fish of Plectropomus leopardus (Serranidae), a piscivore and the major target of the hook and line fisheries on the GBR, were estimated in protected and fished zones. These prey species were identified from previous detailed studies of the diet of P. leopardus. Fish populations and habitat characteristics were surveyed by underwater visual census. Previous studies had determined that the biomass of P. leopardus was 3–4 times higher in protected than fished zones in the Whitsunday and Palm Islands, central GBR, after 14 years of protection. Eight of the nine prey species had a higher density within fished zones than protected zones, six significantly so. The density of all prey fish was twice that in the fished than the protected zone (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in availability of different sized refuge holes, structural complexity or live coral cover between zones. Thus, important attributes of habitat complexity did not confound the comparisons between reserve and fished zones. Finally, a significant negative correlation (r = 0.46) between coral trout biomass and summed prey fish biomass suggested that predation may be an important structuring process in this system. The results have implications for the conservation of fishery targets and their prey. The study highlights the potential ecosystem implications of the use of no-take marine reserves as conservation and fisheries management tools.

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