Characteristics of reef fish assemblages relative to aspects of adjacent seagrass meadows and other peripheral communities.
Item
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Title
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Characteristics of reef fish assemblages relative to aspects of adjacent seagrass meadows and other peripheral communities.
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Identifier
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AAI9510639
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identifier
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9510639
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Creator
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Buckley, Lorraine Madsen.
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Contributor
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Adviser: C. Lavett Smith
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Date
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1994
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Biology, Ecology | Biology, Zoology | Biology, Oceanography
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Abstract
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Video transects of four natural reefs and their peripheral habitats in shallow water off South Caicos Island, B.W.I., revealed significant differences in species density, diversity, evenness, structure of size classes and biomass of fishes. These differences were correlated with density and height of contiguous seagrass meadows.;To test correlative relationships for causality, twenty-seven artificial reefs were constructed of conch shells and located in areas surrounded by sparse and dense seagrass meadows of differing shoot height, and non-seagrass habitats such as soft coral flats, sand flats, and halo zones. Density of fishes, species density, recruitment rates, species composition, and relative abundances of juveniles and adults varied with type of peripheral habitat.;Data from natural and artificial reefs revealed species-specific relationships between abundance of reef fish and contiguous habitat types. These associations were sometimes different between adults and juveniles.;Patterns observed in this study suggest that reef fish assemblages have predictable structures that are in dynamic equilibrium and that peripheral communities such as seagrass meadows are critical to processes which determine structure of these reef fish assemblages. Processes of community interaction include nutrient transfer, migrations of adult fish, habitat selection by settlement-stage fish from plankton, and secondary colonization of reefs by juveniles from nursery habitats.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
