Functional diversity of fish and invertebrates in coral and rocky reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific
Georgina Ramírez‐Ortiz
Luis E. Calderon‐Aguilera
Hector Reyes‐Bonilla
Arturo Ayala‐Bocos
Luis Hernández
Francisco Fernández Rivera‐Melo
Andres López‐Pérez
Arturo Dominici‐Arosamena
Abstract
To define the functional groups of fish and macroinvertebrates in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), visual censuses were performed in 18 areas of four biogeographic provinces: Cortés, Mexican, Panamic and Oceanic Islands. A total of 257 fish and macroinvertebrate species were recorded, and from them, 27 morpho-functional groups (MFGs) were constructed on the basis of trophic level, maximum size, taxonomy and morphology. Biomass, richness, diversity and evenness of MFGs were calculated for each province and compared statistically; a regression analysis between taxonomic and functional diversity was conducted to observe the relationship between these two indicators. There were significant differences in all ecological indices (p < .002), highlighting the high biomass and richness of MFGs in the Cortés and Oceanic Islands provinces (>400 g/m2), associated with the influence of cold currents in the northernmost region and less fishing pressure in protected areas. A decreasing pattern of MFG richness towards the tropics was observed, which demonstrates that in the ETP, the relationship between habitat heterogeneity and species diversity has been translated into functional complexity. The Mexican province was the most functionally diverse (biomass well distributed in the MFG; H′ = 0.46 ± 0.009). Related to this, it is predicted that biomass is biased towards certain functional groups (i.e., large carnivores), which shows that the H′ index of the MFG is not a good indicator of the conservation status of ETP reefs. Finally, regression analysis suggests that functional diversity increases at low species diversity but eventually reaches an asymptote (almost all possible functions are represented).
Ramírez‐Ortiz G., Calderon‐Aguilera L.E., Reyes‐Bonilla H., Ayala‐Bocos A., Hernández L., Fernández Rivera‐Melo F., López‐Pérez A. and Dominici‐Arosamena A. (2017) Functional diversity of fish and invertebrates in coral and rocky reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Marine Ecology 38(4). 10.1111/maec.12447
@article{Ramírez‐Ortiz2017,
Title = {Functional diversity of fish and invertebrates in coral and rocky reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific},
Author = {Ramírez‐Ortiz, Georgina and Calderon‐Aguilera, Luis E. and Reyes‐Bonilla, Hector and Ayala‐Bocos, Arturo and Hernández, Luis and Fernández Rivera‐Melo, Francisco and López‐Pérez, Andres and Dominici‐Arosamena, Arturo},
Editor = {},
Journal = {Marine Ecology},
Year = {2017},
Volume = {38},
Doi = {10.1111/maec.12447},
Abstract = {To define the functional groups of fish and macroinvertebrates in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), visual censuses were performed in 18 areas of four biogeographic provinces: Cortés, Mexican, Panamic and Oceanic Islands. A total of 257 fish and macroinvertebrate species were recorded, and from them, 27 morpho-functional groups (MFGs) were constructed on the basis of trophic level, maximum size, taxonomy and morphology. Biomass, richness, diversity and evenness of MFGs were calculated for each province and compared statistically; a regression analysis between taxonomic and functional diversity was conducted to observe the relationship between these two indicators. There were significant differences in all ecological indices (p < .002), highlighting the high biomass and richness of MFGs in the Cortés and Oceanic Islands provinces (>400 g/m2), associated with the influence of cold currents in the northernmost region and less fishing pressure in protected areas. A decreasing pattern of MFG richness towards the tropics was observed, which demonstrates that in the ETP, the relationship between habitat heterogeneity and species diversity has been translated into functional complexity. The Mexican province was the most functionally diverse (biomass well distributed in the MFG; H′ = 0.46 ± 0.009). Related to this, it is predicted that biomass is biased towards certain functional groups (i.e., large carnivores), which shows that the H′ index of the MFG is not a good indicator of the conservation status of ETP reefs. Finally, regression analysis suggests that functional diversity increases at low species diversity but eventually reaches an asymptote (almost all possible functions are represented).},
}
TY - JOUR
AU - Ramírez‐Ortiz, Georgina
AU - Calderon‐Aguilera, Luis E.
AU - Reyes‐Bonilla, Hector
AU - Ayala‐Bocos, Arturo
AU - Hernández, Luis
AU - Fernández Rivera‐Melo, Francisco
AU - López‐Pérez, Andres
AU - Dominici‐Arosamena, Arturo
TI - Functional diversity of fish and invertebrates in coral and rocky reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific
T2 - Marine Ecology
PY - 2017
VL - 38
DO - 10.1111/maec.12447
AB - To define the functional groups of fish and macroinvertebrates in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), visual censuses were performed in 18 areas of four biogeographic provinces: Cortés, Mexican, Panamic and Oceanic Islands. A total of 257 fish and macroinvertebrate species were recorded, and from them, 27 morpho-functional groups (MFGs) were constructed on the basis of trophic level, maximum size, taxonomy and morphology. Biomass, richness, diversity and evenness of MFGs were calculated for each province and compared statistically; a regression analysis between taxonomic and functional diversity was conducted to observe the relationship between these two indicators. There were significant differences in all ecological indices (p < .002), highlighting the high biomass and richness of MFGs in the Cortés and Oceanic Islands provinces (>400 g/m2), associated with the influence of cold currents in the northernmost region and less fishing pressure in protected areas. A decreasing pattern of MFG richness towards the tropics was observed, which demonstrates that in the ETP, the relationship between habitat heterogeneity and species diversity has been translated into functional complexity. The Mexican province was the most functionally diverse (biomass well distributed in the MFG; H′ = 0.46 ± 0.009). Related to this, it is predicted that biomass is biased towards certain functional groups (i.e., large carnivores), which shows that the H′ index of the MFG is not a good indicator of the conservation status of ETP reefs. Finally, regression analysis suggests that functional diversity increases at low species diversity but eventually reaches an asymptote (almost all possible functions are represented).
ER -
