The importance of live coral for small-sized herbivorous reef fishes in physically challenging environments

2012 ◽  
Vol 63 (8) ◽  
pp. 672 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. L. Johansson ◽  
D. R. Bellwood ◽  
M. Depczynski

Tropical coral reefs are facing increasing levels of disturbance, with predictions of ongoing reductions in live coral cover. The response of herbivorous fishes to loss of coral cover was investigated by analysing the relationship between the abundance of different sized herbivorous fishes and live coral cover, on a high flow reef slope and a sheltered back reef on Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia. We found positive relationships between coral cover and the abundance of small (10–20 cm) excavating and scraping parrotfishes on the slope, but a negative relationship between corals and small (10–15 cm) grazers. These relationships were not evident on back reefs. Generally, the abundance of large individuals were not correlated with live coral in either habitat. We suggest that in physically demanding environments small parrotfishes may utilise the structural complexity of corals to resist strong water flow and/or to reduce predation. Small acanthurid grazers may school to reduce energy costs and minimise predation risk. The loss of coral cover appears to be particularly important for small fishes in high energy habitats, especially non-schooling species.

2009 ◽  
Vol 373 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Feary ◽  
Mark I. McCormick ◽  
Geoffrey P. Jones

Author(s):  
Robert Towoliu

In order to know the coral reef conditions at several diving points around Bunaken Island, three dive locations (Ron’s point, Lekuan, and Tawara) were chosen as representative locations receiving pressures from snorkeling and SCUBA diving activities, while  core zone was representative of location for  no diving and fishing activities.  Results showed that location with diving activities had live coral cover  ranging from 16.89% to 45.78% at 3 and 10m depths, with condition range of bad to moderate, while the location for no diving and fishing activities (core zone) had live coral cover of 55.03% at 3m and 58.15% at 10m, respectively,  with good condition category.  The present study indicated that the diving activities have affected the coral reef condition, so that a sustainable integrated management system is needed to use the marine ecotourism potency without degrading the coral reef condition in Bunaken Island. Untuk mengetahui kondisi terumbu karang di beberapa lokasi penyelaman di Pulau Bunaken, tiga lokasi penyelaman(Ron’s point, Lekuan, dan Tawara) dipilih mewakili lokasi dengan tekanan aktivitas penyelaman snorkeling maupun SCUBA, sedangkan satu lokasi lainnya yaitu zona inti dipilih mewakili lokasi tanpa aktivitas penyelaman maupun aktivitas penangkapan ikan.  Hasil penelitian ini memperlihatkan bahwa lokasi dengan tekanan aktivitas penyelaman memiliki prosentase tutupan karang batu/hidup berkisar antara 16,89% - 45,78% pada kedalaman 3 dan 10m, dengan kategori kondisi terumbu karang buruk sampai cukup, sedangkan pada lokasi yang tidak memiliki aktivitas penyelaman memiliki prosentase tutupan karang batu/hidup sebesar 53,03% pada 3m dan 58,15% pada 10m dengan kategori kondisi terumbu karang adalah baik.  Hasil penelitian ini mengindikasikan bahwa aktivitas penyelaman snorkeling maupun SCUBA berdampak pada kondisi terumbu karang di Pulau Bunaken, sehingga sangat diperlukan system pengelolaan yang terpadu dan berkesinambungan dalam memanfaatkan secara maksimal potensi ekowisata bahari tanpa merusak ekosistem terumbu karang di Pulau Bunaken.


2021 ◽  
Vol 324 ◽  
pp. 03007
Author(s):  
Ni Wayan Purnama Sari ◽  
Rikoh Manogar Siringoringo ◽  
Muhammad Abrar ◽  
Risandi Dwirama Putra ◽  
Raden Sutiadi ◽  
...  

Observations of the condition of coral reefs have been carried out in Spermonde waters from 2015 to 2018. The method used in this observation uses Underwater Photo Transect (UPT), and the data obtained is analyzed using CPCe (Coral Point Count with Excel Extensions) software. The results show that the percentage of coral cover has increased from year to year. The percentage of live coral cover in 2015 was 19.64%, 23.60 in 2016, 23.72% in 2017, and 27.83% in 2018. The increase in live coral cover from year to year is thought to occur due to the availability of nutrients. or increasing public awareness, considering this location is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Makassar. Coral reef health index values can be used to classify coral reef health. Through the analysis of the coral reef health index, an index value of 4 was obtained, which means that the condition of the coral reefs is in the “moderate” category.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 147
Author(s):  
Ana Faricha ◽  
Isa Nagib Edrus ◽  
Rizkie Satriya Utama ◽  
Ahmad R. Dzumalex ◽  
Abdullah Salatalohi ◽  
...  

Ikan terumbu karang memiliki peranan penting baik secara ekonomi maupun ekologi, namun kondisi terumbu karang termasuk di perairan Indonesia yang menjadi habitat utama ikan karang mengalami degradasi. Penelitian ikan karang sudah banyak dilakukan, namun di Indonesia kondisi habitat ikan karang memiliki karakter yang berbeda-beda. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui hubungan antara komposisi ikan karang target dan tutupan karang hidup. Penelitian ini dilakukan pada bulan Oktober 2019 di Kepulauan Kei Kecil, Maluku. Metode yang digunakan adalah UVC (Underwater Visual Census) untuk data ikan karang dan UPT (Underwater Photo Transect) untuk mengkaji tutupan karang hidup. Hasil pengamatan menunjukkan bahwa terdapat 130 spesies ikan karang target yang mewakili 19 famili, dengan variasi jenis ikan target antar lokasi pengamatan berkisar antara 25-66 spesies. Kepadatan rata-rata ikan karang target sebesar 8.811 ± 4.107 Ind/ha, dan biomassa rata-rata 1.335 ± 899 Kg/ha. Komposisi ikan karang target yang memiliki kedekatan dengan tutupan karang hidup yaitu famili Siganidae, Serranidae, Lutjanidae, Holocentridae, dan Pomacentridae. Akan tetapi hubungan tersebut rendah, dan kemungkinan besar ada faktor lain yang mempengaruhi. Reef fishes have an important economic and ecological values. However, the coral reef of the globe including in the most of the Indonesian waters which is the vital habitat for reef fishes is degraded. Study on the reef fishes is an abundance, while the habitat characteristic of reef fishes in Indonesian waters has a differences. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between the target reef fishes compositions and the percentage live coral covers. This study was carried out in October 2019 at the Kei Kecil islands, Maluku. The method used in this study is UVC (Underwater Visual Census) for collecting the reef fishes data, and the UPT (Underwater Photo Transect) for assessing the live coral coverage. The result shows that there are about 130 fishes, which representing 19 families, with species variation ranges from 25 to 66 species among the observation sites. The average density of target fishes was about 8.811 ± 4.107 Ind/ha, whereas the average biomass of target fishes was 1,335 ± 899 Kg/ha. The target reef fishes compositions that has relation with live coral covers is family Siganidae, Serranidae, Lutjanidae, Holocentridae, and Pomacentridae. However, this relationship is weak, and may influenced by other factors.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 164
Author(s):  
I Made Raditya Putra ◽  
I Gusti Ngurah Putra Dirgayusa ◽  
Elok Faiqoh

The existence of coral reef fish is closely related to the availability of coral reef resource as a habitat. Coral reef fish is a biota that has a fascination with a variety of color patterns and fascinating. Differences in coral cover conditions will affect the abundance of coral reef fish, especially those with strong linkages to living corals. This research was conducted in June - August 2017 by using line intercept transect (LIT) method for coral cover percentage and visual census method for biodiversity and biomass of coral reef fish with 3 research stations in Manggis waters, Karangasem. From the research results, it shows that the diversity index ranged between 2.54 - 2.70 which means the diversity of coral reef fish in the medium category and the stability of the community is in the medium. Furthermore, total biomass of coral reef fish ranged between 186,17 - 1692,08 kg / ha. The results stated that the percentage of live coral cover in Manggis waters ranged from 3.83% to 12.44% which means that live coral cover is categorized as bad. A very strong positive correlation between living coral conditions and coral reef fish biomass was 92.42%. Meanwhile, the relationship between living coral conditions and the diversity of coral reef fish had a strong positive correlation of 65.4%. The diversity of coral reef fish in waters is not only caused by live coral cover; however, it is caused by coral reef ecosystems that are associated in the bottom of the waters.


Coral Reefs ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 919-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Coker ◽  
N. A. J. Graham ◽  
M. S. Pratchett

Radiocarbon ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 624-630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Gulliver ◽  
Suzanne Palmer ◽  
Chris Perry ◽  
Scott Smithers

Use of coral skeletons to determine growth histories of reefs situated in warm, clear tropical waters is well established. Recently, however, there has been increasing awareness of the significance of reefs occurring in environments that are considered as marginal for coral growth, such as turbid inshore settings characterized by episodes of elevated turbidity, low light penetration, and periodic sediment burial. While these conditions are generally considered as limiting for coral growth, coral reefs in these settings can exhibit high live coral cover and species diversity, and thus can be both ecologically and geologically significant. Turbid-zone reefs are also commonly concentrated along eroding shorelines with many analogues to erosional shorelines developed during the Holocene transgression. A growing number of studies of these previously undocumented reefs reveal that the reef deposits are detrital in nature, comprising a framework dominated by reef rubble and coral clasts and set within a fine-grained terrigenous sediment matrix. In addition to the recognized effects of diagenesis or algal encrustations on the radiocarbon signature of coral samples, episodic high-energy events may rework sediments and can result in age reversals in the same stratigraphic unit. As in other reef settings, the possibility of such reworking can complicate the reconstruction of turbid-zone reef growth chronologies. In order to test the accuracy of dating coral clasts for developing growth histories of these reef deposits, 5 replicate samples from 5 separate coral clasts were taken from 2 sedimentary units in a core collected from Paluma Shoals, an inshore turbid-zone reef located in Halifax Bay, central Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Results show that where care is taken to screen the clasts for skeletal preservation, primary mineralogical structures, and δ13C values indicative of marine carbonate, then reliable 14C dates can be recovered from individual turbid reef coral samples. In addition, the results show that these individual clasts were deposited coevally.


Author(s):  
David J.W. Lane

The submerged coral reefs of Brunei, little-impacted by human activity and characterized by high live coral cover, have no recorded history in recent decades of the presence of the crown-of-thorns (COT), Acanthaster planci. This sea star, first recorded on Brunei reefs in 2008, attained outbreak densities in 2010. At Littledale Shoal its impact on corals at permanent transect sites has been quantified; mean live coral cover reduced by half from 2006 to 2010 due predominantly to predation. Line intersect transect data confirm a predisposition for tabular Acropora species, a prominent feature at this site, although other scleractinian taxa were also predated. Other regional outbreaks are reviewed, including episodes, and their timing, within the neighbouring Coral Triangle (CT). Mounting evidence implicates nutrient-enhanced increases in primary production as a primary cause of COT outbreaks. However, this stands in contrast with a report of global oceanic phytoplankton decline in the past century, and there is little evidence of such a link in the CT, even though this region is characterized by high precipitation, erosional plumes and seasonal upwelling-associated phytoplankton blooms. Furthermore, until survivorship and competency for a wider spectrum of mass-spawned invertebrate planktotrophs in relation to elevated phytoplankton densities is better understood, such evidence, suggesting release from food limitation as the principal cause of enhanced COT recruitment, should be interpreted with caution.


2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. 6116-6137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Joyce ◽  
Stuart Phinn ◽  
Chris Roelfsema

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