Local Biomass Baselines and the Recovery Potential for Hawaiian Coral Reef Fish Communities
Understanding the influence of multiple ecosystem drivers, both natural and anthropogenic, and how they vary across space is critical to the spatial management of coral reef fisheries. In Hawaii, as elsewhere, there is uncertainty with regards to how areas should be selected for protection, and mana...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2018-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2018.00162/full |
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| author | Kelvin D. Gorospe Kelvin D. Gorospe Megan J. Donahue Adel Heenan Adel Heenan Adel Heenan Jamison M. Gove Ivor D. Williams Russell E. Brainard |
| author_facet | Kelvin D. Gorospe Kelvin D. Gorospe Megan J. Donahue Adel Heenan Adel Heenan Adel Heenan Jamison M. Gove Ivor D. Williams Russell E. Brainard |
| author_sort | Kelvin D. Gorospe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Understanding the influence of multiple ecosystem drivers, both natural and anthropogenic, and how they vary across space is critical to the spatial management of coral reef fisheries. In Hawaii, as elsewhere, there is uncertainty with regards to how areas should be selected for protection, and management efforts prioritized. One strategy is to prioritize efforts based on an area's biomass baseline, or natural capacity to support reef fish populations. Another strategy is to prioritize areas based on their recovery potential, or in other words, the potential increase in fish biomass from present-day state, should management be effective at restoring assemblages to something more like their baseline state. We used data from 717 fisheries-independent reef fish monitoring surveys from 2012 to 2015 around the main Hawaiian Islands as well as site-level data on benthic habitat, oceanographic conditions, and human population density, to develop a hierarchical, linear Bayesian model that explains spatial variation in: (1) herbivorous and (2) total reef fish biomass. We found that while human population density negatively affected fish assemblages at all surveyed areas, there was considerable variation in the natural capacity of different areas to support reef fish biomass. For example, some areas were predicted to have the capacity to support ten times as much herbivorous fish biomass as other areas. Overall, the model found human population density to have negatively impacted fish biomass throughout Hawaii, however the magnitude and uncertainty of these impacts varied locally. Results provide part of the basis for marine spatial planning and/or MPA-network design within Hawaii. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T06:47:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0c3f4ff0d8624244867a7c2a4924fe68 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T06:47:59Z |
| publishDate | 2018-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-0c3f4ff0d8624244867a7c2a4924fe682022-12-21T17:56:30ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452018-05-01510.3389/fmars.2018.00162347710Local Biomass Baselines and the Recovery Potential for Hawaiian Coral Reef Fish CommunitiesKelvin D. Gorospe0Kelvin D. Gorospe1Megan J. Donahue2Adel Heenan3Adel Heenan4Adel Heenan5Jamison M. Gove6Ivor D. Williams7Russell E. Brainard8Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, United StatesEcosystem Sciences Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Honolulu, HI, United StatesHawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Kaneohe, HI, United StatesJoint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, United StatesEcosystem Sciences Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Honolulu, HI, United StatesSchool of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Anglesey, United KingdomEcosystem Sciences Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Honolulu, HI, United StatesEcosystem Sciences Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Honolulu, HI, United StatesEcosystem Sciences Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Honolulu, HI, United StatesUnderstanding the influence of multiple ecosystem drivers, both natural and anthropogenic, and how they vary across space is critical to the spatial management of coral reef fisheries. In Hawaii, as elsewhere, there is uncertainty with regards to how areas should be selected for protection, and management efforts prioritized. One strategy is to prioritize efforts based on an area's biomass baseline, or natural capacity to support reef fish populations. Another strategy is to prioritize areas based on their recovery potential, or in other words, the potential increase in fish biomass from present-day state, should management be effective at restoring assemblages to something more like their baseline state. We used data from 717 fisheries-independent reef fish monitoring surveys from 2012 to 2015 around the main Hawaiian Islands as well as site-level data on benthic habitat, oceanographic conditions, and human population density, to develop a hierarchical, linear Bayesian model that explains spatial variation in: (1) herbivorous and (2) total reef fish biomass. We found that while human population density negatively affected fish assemblages at all surveyed areas, there was considerable variation in the natural capacity of different areas to support reef fish biomass. For example, some areas were predicted to have the capacity to support ten times as much herbivorous fish biomass as other areas. Overall, the model found human population density to have negatively impacted fish biomass throughout Hawaii, however the magnitude and uncertainty of these impacts varied locally. Results provide part of the basis for marine spatial planning and/or MPA-network design within Hawaii.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2018.00162/fullcoral reef fisherypopulation assessmentpristine biomasshierarchical modelhuman impacts |
| spellingShingle | Kelvin D. Gorospe Kelvin D. Gorospe Megan J. Donahue Adel Heenan Adel Heenan Adel Heenan Jamison M. Gove Ivor D. Williams Russell E. Brainard Local Biomass Baselines and the Recovery Potential for Hawaiian Coral Reef Fish Communities Frontiers in Marine Science coral reef fishery population assessment pristine biomass hierarchical model human impacts |
| title | Local Biomass Baselines and the Recovery Potential for Hawaiian Coral Reef Fish Communities |
| title_full | Local Biomass Baselines and the Recovery Potential for Hawaiian Coral Reef Fish Communities |
| title_fullStr | Local Biomass Baselines and the Recovery Potential for Hawaiian Coral Reef Fish Communities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Local Biomass Baselines and the Recovery Potential for Hawaiian Coral Reef Fish Communities |
| title_short | Local Biomass Baselines and the Recovery Potential for Hawaiian Coral Reef Fish Communities |
| title_sort | local biomass baselines and the recovery potential for hawaiian coral reef fish communities |
| topic | coral reef fishery population assessment pristine biomass hierarchical model human impacts |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2018.00162/full |
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