scholarly journals Reef fish communities of Praia do Tofo, Mozambique, and the need for best practice management

Author(s):  
Alexander John Fordyce

The coral reefs around Praia do Tofo, southern Mozambique, are known for their aggregations of marine megafauna but as yet few studies have comprehensively examined their broader biodiversity. This study is the first to assess the ichthyofaunal diversity of this economically important area. Methodology involved SCUBA and snorkel underwater visual censuses conducted between February and May, 2016, and the use of photographic records from 2015 to capture rare species. A total of 324 species, representing 79 families, were recorded from 16 reefs in the region. The area shows comparable species diversity and notably high family diversity in relation to other areas of the Western Indian Ocean. The trophic structure of the reefs, similar to that recorded in the wider region, suggests the reefs are in good health and fairly resilient to disturbance. This study highlights the area’s high biological value beyond its megafauna and lends support to greater management of these ecosystems for the benefit of the associated human population.

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander John Fordyce

The coral reefs around Praia do Tofo, southern Mozambique, are known for their aggregations of marine megafauna but as yet few studies have comprehensively examined their broader biodiversity. This study is the first to assess the ichthyofaunal diversity of this economically important area. Methodology involved SCUBA and snorkel underwater visual censuses conducted between February and May, 2016, and the use of photographic records from 2015 to capture rare species. A total of 324 species, representing 79 families, were recorded from 16 reefs in the region. The area shows comparable species diversity and notably high family diversity in relation to other areas of the Western Indian Ocean. The trophic structure of the reefs, similar to that recorded in the wider region, suggests the reefs are in good health and fairly resilient to disturbance. This study highlights the area’s high biological value beyond its megafauna and lends support to greater management of these ecosystems for the benefit of the associated human population.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 420-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. N. Barkley ◽  
M. Gollock ◽  
M. Samoilys ◽  
F. Llewellyn ◽  
M. Shivji ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Editors of the JIOWS

The editors are proud to present the first issue of the fourth volume of the Journal of Indian Ocean World Studies. This issue contains three articles, by James Francis Warren (Murdoch University), Kelsey McFaul (University of California, Santa Cruz), and Marek Pawelczak (University of Warsaw), respectively. Warren’s and McFaul’s articles take different approaches to the growing body of work that discusses pirates in the Indian Ocean World, past and present. Warren’s article is historical, exploring the life and times of Julano Taupan in the nineteenth-century Philippines. He invites us to question the meaning of the word ‘pirate’ and the several ways in which Taupan’s life has been interpreted by different European colonists and by anti-colonial movements from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. McFaul’s article, meanwhile, takes a literary approach to discuss the much more recent phenomenon of Somali Piracy, which reached its apex in the last decade. Its contribution is to analyse the works of authors based in the region, challenging paradigms that have mostly been developed from analysis of works written in the West. Finally, Pawelczak’s article is a legal history of British jurisdiction in mid-late nineteenth-century Zanzibar. It examines one of the facets that underpinned European influence in the western Indian Ocean World before the establishment of colonial rule. In sum, this issue uses two key threads to shed light on the complex relationships between European and other Western powers and the Indian Ocean World.


2012 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loïc Charpy ◽  
Katarzyna A. Palinska ◽  
Raeid M. M. Abed ◽  
Marie José Langlade ◽  
Stjepko Golubic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph A. Rohner ◽  
Roy Bealey ◽  
Bernerd M. Fulanda ◽  
Jason D. Everett ◽  
Anthony J. Richardson ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Elena Gadoutsis ◽  
Clare A.K. Daly ◽  
Julie P. Hawkins ◽  
Ryan Daly

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 749-765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rondrotiana Barimalala ◽  
Ross C. Blamey ◽  
Fabien Desbiolles ◽  
Chris J. C. Reason

AbstractThe Mozambique Channel trough (MCT) is a cyclonic region prominent in austral summer in the central and southern Mozambique Channel. It first becomes evident in December with a peak in strength in February when the Mozambique Channel is warmest and the Mascarene high (MH) is located farthest southeast in the Indian Ocean basin. The strength and the timing of the mean MCT are linked to that of the cross-equatorial northeasterly monsoon in the tropical western Indian Ocean, which curves as northwesterlies toward northern Madagascar. The interannual variability in the MCT is associated with moist convection over the Mozambique Channel and is modulated by the location of the warm sea surface temperatures in the south Indian Ocean. Variability of the MCT shows a strong relationship with the equatorial westerlies north of Madagascar and the latitudinal extension of the MH. Summers with strong MCT activity are characterized by a prominent cyclonic circulation over the Mozambique Channel, extending to the midlatitudes. These are favorable for the development of tropical–extratropical cloud bands over the southwestern Indian Ocean and trigger an increase in rainfall over the ocean but a decrease over the southern African mainland. Most years with a weak MCT are associated with strong positive south Indian Ocean subtropical dipole events, during which the subcontinent tends to receive more rainfall whereas Madagascar and northern Mozambique are anomalously dry.


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