Soler et al 2015 PLoS One.pdf (1.01 MB)
Reef fishes at all trophic levels respond positively to effective marine protected areas
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 13:28 authored by German Soler AlarconGerman Soler Alarcon, Graham EdgarGraham Edgar, Thomson, RJ, Kininmonth, S, Campbell, SJ, Dawson, TP, Neville BarrettNeville Barrett, Bernard, ATF, Galvan, DE, Willis, TJ, Alexander, TJ, Richard Stuart-SmithRichard Stuart-SmithMarine Protected Areas (MPAs) offer a unique opportunity to test the assumption that fishing pressure affects some trophic groups more than others. Removal of larger predators through fishing is often suggested to have positive flow-on effects for some lower trophic groups, in which case protection from fishing should result in suppression of lower trophic groups as predator populations recover. We tested this by assessing differences in the trophic structure of reef fish communities associated with 79 MPAs and open-access sites worldwide, using a standardised quantitative dataset on reef fish community structure. The biomass of all major trophic groups (higher carnivores, benthic carnivores, planktivores and herbivores) was significantly greater (by 40% - 200%) in effective no-take MPAs relative to fished open-access areas. This effect was most pronounced for individuals in large size classes, but with no size class of any trophic group showing signs of depressed biomass in MPAs, as predicted from higher predator abundance. Thus, greater biomass in effective MPAs implies that exploitation on shallow rocky and coral reefs negatively affects biomass of all fish trophic groups and size classes. These direct effects of fishing on trophic structure appear stronger than any top down effects on lower trophic levels that would be imposed by intact predator populations. We propose that exploitation affects fish assemblages at all trophic levels, and that local ecosystem function is generally modified by fishing.
Funding
Australian Research Council
Department of Parks and Wildlife (Western Australia)
Dept of Environment & Natural Resources South Australia
NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water
Parks Victoria
Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service
History
Publication title
PloS OneVolume
10Issue
10Article number
e0140270Number
e0140270Pagination
1-12ISSN
1932-6203Department/School
Institute for Marine and Antarctic StudiesPublisher
Public Library of SciencePlace of publication
United StatesRights statement
© 2015 Soler et al. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Repository Status
- Open