restoring and sustaining diversity of tropical pacific...

EPHE International Coral Reef Fish Workshop Univ. California Moorea, French Polynesia

Restoring and Sustaining Diversity of Tropical Pacific Coral Reef Fish Communities

Social Goals and Scientific Constraints

An International Workshop Co-Hosted by:

Centre de Recherches Insulaires et

Observatoire de l'Environnement Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes

UMR 8046 EPHE-CNRS UR 128 IRD

Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research

Station, PEARL University of California

Berkeley

http://nature.berkeley.edu/gump/Research/fish_workshop.shtml

Moorea, French Polynesia

2-6 April 2002

l’Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, France

University of California, USA (Pacific Rim Program)

Polynesia Education and Research Laboratories, UC Berkeley, USA

le Secrétariat Permanent pour le Pacifique

le Ministère de la Recherche

et pour la Polynésie française - Ministères en charge de la Recherche, de l’Environnement et de la Pêche -

- Municipalité de Moorea-Maiao - - l’Initiative Française Pour les Récifs Coralliens -

http://nature.berkeley.edu/gump/Research/fish_workshop.shtml

mailto:[email protected]

EPHE

6 à 7 7 à

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Early Ar

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International CoMoorea

CRIOBE April

8 8 à 9 9 à 10 10 à 11 11 à 12

Early Ar

Field Trip

Opening CeremonyBEACHCOMBER

PANEL 2

PANEL 3

PANEL 5a

rival Field Trips (arranged on request)

ral Reef , French P

2-6, 2002

12 à 13

LUG

rival Fiel

ArriveGUMP

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Fish Workshop Univ. California olynesia

PEARL - Gump Station

13 à 14 14 à 15 15 à 16 16 à 17 17 à 18 18 à 19 19 à 22

NCH

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d Trips (arranged on request)

FieldTrip

/Register or CRIOBE

PANEL 1

PANEL 4

Depart 16h50 Ferry

AquafishVisit

PANEL 5b

FFET UMP

NCH UMP

UNCH IOBE

NCH UMP

Dinner CRIOBE

Dinner CRIOBE

FETIA URA Sunset Cruise

BANQUET GUMP

Dinner GUMP

Closing Ceremony PAPEETE

AHI MA’A Tahitian Feast GUMP


CRIOBE April 2-6, 2002 PEARL - Gump Station

OBJECTIVES : * The workshop will focus on research and management efforts in Moorea and

French Polynesia as model systems for the rest of the Pacific Islands. ** Participation is by invitation only, with three main objectives

1. To attract new scientists to Moorea to start long-term studies, or to integrate French Polynesia into their research programs

2. To encourage increased collaboration among researchers already working in French Polynesia

3. To disseminate the state of the science to local and South Pacific management agencies, and to identify in conjunction with those agencies, the main priorities for future basic research on coral reef ecosystems (particularly reef fish and particularly with respect to proposed Marine Protected Areas in Moorea).



PROGRAM :

Tuesday 2 April 2002

Opening Ceremony – Moorea Beachcomber Hotel

7h15: Le Truck transfer from the Ono Ono ferry, Paopao to Beachcomber (RSVP) 8h00 – 8h30 Welcome by Dr Neil Davies, Director, UCB Moorea 8h30 – 9h30 Official opening by representatives of France, French Polynesia,

Moorea, EPHE, and UCB 9h 30 :

Official photograph - Coffee break

10h15 – 11h15:

Plenary Lectures

Yvanhoé TEAMOTUAITAU (Papa Matarau)

Papetoai, Moorea

Te ti’a-ara tai

René P. Galzin, Directeur du CRIOBE

EPHE, France Les poissons lagonaires en Polynésie française

11h30: Le Truck transfer to Cook’s Bay; RSVP 12h00: Buffet (Gump Station, pk 11.5, Cook’s Bay) 13h00: Transfer to Ono Ono, Paopao (departs 13h15); RSVP

Presentations on the first morning will be in French, Tahitian, and English thanks to a

simultaneous translation. The scientific sessions will be held in English.



SCIENTIFIC SESSIONS: Tuesday 14h00 -18h00 Panel 1: Social goals and conflicts associated with

restoration and sustainability of tropical reef fish communities

Arsène Stein

Service de la Pêche, Tahiti, Polynésie française

Actual lagoon fisheries impacts in the French Polynesian economy?

Barbara Walker1 and Eric G. Edlund2

1 University of California Santa Barbara, USA 2 University of Montana, USA

Mapping Moorea’s lagoon: understanding the effects of the Plan de Gestion de l'Espace Maritime (PGEM)

Michel Kulbicki

Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Nouvelle Calédonie

What can we do with marine protected areas in the lagoon of Moorea?

Claude Chauvet

Université de Nouvelle Calédonie, Nouvelle Calédonie

New Caledonia’s marine protected area experiment

Pierre Labrosse Secrétariat Général de la

Communauté du Pacifique, Nouvelle Calédonie

Reef and lagoon fish management and exploitation in the pacific islands: a reality or challenge?

Craig W. Osenberg

University of Florida, USA

Marine protected areas: a critique of current assessment approaches



Wednesday 08h30 – 12h30 Panel 2: Patterns of diversity and structure of tropical

Pacific reef fish communities

Andrew J. Brooks University of California Santa Barbara, USA

Predictability of fish assemblages on coral patch reefs

Eldredge Bermingham

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama

Inferring the pattern and process of marine speciation from species-level phylogenies

Mireille Harmelin-Vivien

UMR CNRS 6540, Université de la Méditerranée, France

The evolution of fish feeding and latitudinal gradients of fish diversity

Owen McMillan

University of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico

Molecular tools for grouper population biology

Serge Planes

EPHE - ESA CNRS 8046, Université de Perpignan, France

Understanding genetic diversity pattern throughout the pacific

Bret Danilowicz

University College Dublin, Ireland

The contribution of physical forcing, biological input, and spatial scale to the metapopulation theory of marine fishes



Thursday 08h30 – 12h30 Panel 3: Factors limiting populations and controlling

community structure of reef fishes in the tropical Pacific

Benjamin Victor Ocean Science Foundation, USA

Larval dispersal in reef fishes: how far, how long, and does it really matter?

Mark Meekan

Northern Territory University, Australia

Larval growth, settlement and survivorship in coral reef fishes

Craig W. Osenberg

University of Florida, USA

Density-dependence in reef fish: insights from a meta-analysis

Jeffrey S. Shima

Victoria University, New Zealand

Cryptic density dependence: effects of spatial-temporal covariation between density and habitat quality in reef fish

Sally J. Holbrook

University of California Santa Barbara, USA

Variation in morphological attributes of patch-forming corals and patterns of associated fish assemblages

Geoff P. Jones

James Cook University, Australia

What’s a coral reef to fish on coral reefs and what will happen if all the corals die?



Thursday 14h00 – 18h00 Panel 4: Alternative approaches to restoring and sustaining

biodiversity of reef fishes in the tropical Pacific Russell J. Schmitt

University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

Identifying and targeting restoration bottlenecks: an eco-technology approach

Peter Doherty Australian Institute of

Marine Science, Australia Implications of a population bottleneck during the settlement of coral reef fishes

Vincent Dufour

Aquafish Technology S.A., France

Collecting post-larvae of coral reef fishes and invertebrates: a multiple purpose and sustainable exploitation principle

Hunter S. Lenihan University of California,

Santa Barbara, USA Experimental coral reef restoration: lessons learned from temperate latitude oyster reefs

Colette M. St. Mary

University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

Density dependence in a marine ornamental and its effects on the efficacy of alternative management strategies

Michael J. Kingsford

James Cook University, Australia

Connectivity among reefs by fishes during the presettlement phase



Friday 08H30 – 12h30

Panel 5a: Synthesis, research priorities, and collaborative projects

Neil Davies

University of California Berkeley, USA

Polynesia: a divine experiment in biocomplexity

René Galzin and José Garcia-Charton

EPHE - ESA CNRS 8046, Université de Perpignan, France

Research initiatives from Panel 1

Serge Planes EPHE - ESA CNRS 8046,

Université de Perpignan, France


Sally Holbrook1 and Craig Osenberg2

1 University of California Santa Barbara, USA 2 University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA


Russell Schmitt1 and Colette St. Mary2

1 University of California Santa Barbara, USA 2 University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA


Saturday 12H00 – 16h00

Panel 5b continued: Synthesis, research priorities, and collaborative projects



Restoring and Sustaining Diversity of Tropical Pacific Coral Reef Fish Communities: Social Goals and Scientific Constraints

Introduction The scientific significance of biodiversity research in Moorea, French

Polynesia

POLYNESIA: A DIVINE EXPERIMENT IN BIOCOMPLEXITY

Neil Davies University of California Berkeley, USA

The islands of Polynesia represent a model system for understanding the forces that shape biocultural communities; that is, the complex interactions among humans, their culture, the biological and physical environment. The study of entire ecosystems, including humans, requires an unprecedented level of interdisciplinary, inter-institutional, and often international collaboration. This is the new science of biocomplexity. Biocomplexity addresses the emergent properties of ecosystems; characteristics and behaviors of the whole that are inexplicable from an examination of the constituent parts alone. Such an endeavor, however, can only be attempted when based on a solid understanding of the lower levels of organization, from molecule to population. We are only now attaining the sophistication required to address biocomplexity. I argue that the Pacific Islands could significantly influence the science of biocomplexity in the 21st century, just as they profoundly impacted the geological and biological sciences of the 19th and 20th century. The Pacific Islands belong to the Indo-Pacific biogeographic provenance, a region that accounts for much of the world’s biodiversity. Generally new landscapes consisting of discrete ecosystems that gradually attenuate in diversity from their principal mainland sources in South East Asia, the Pacific Islands have long been recognized by biologists as natural laboratories for evolutionary and ecological study. Importantly for students of biocomplexity, anthropologists have also identified an exceptional cultural laboratory within this unique biological setting. Anthropologists consider the fifty ethnographically known societies of Polynesia a particularly tractable system for reasons familiar to biologists, notably Polynesian societies represent a single cultural genus that has filled in and adapted to a variety of local habitats. The geographic, biological, and cultural setting of Polynesia thus offers scientists an unparalleled opportunity to collaborate in the study of biocomplexity: • Insular system - facilitates the powerful comparative approach • New landscapes – all lineages stem from a successful colonization



• Clear chronology - the history of insular development is uniquely well documented in the central Pacific thanks to the movement of the Pacific plate across “hot-spots”

• Unusually simple communities – small, isolated islands with relatively low biodiversity

• Predominantly unidirectional colonization pathway and diversity gradient from west to east

• Virtually the last place on earth to be disturbed by humans • Numerous human societies derived from a recent common ancestor (i.e.,

monophyletic) • Clearly defined biocultural epochs: pre-human, Polynesian, Euro-Polynesian,

Modern Complex systems have been successfully understood in the past through scientific reductionism; focusing on the relatively simple component elements first and working to more complex levels as more knowledge is gained. While biocomplexity examines an inherently holistic entity, the biocultural community, studying simpler systems first still makes sense. Thus, we should begin investigating biocultural communities in relatively uncomplicated places, such as Moorea at the eastern end of the South Pacific biocomplexity gradient. From Moorea, one can ratchet up diversity, and hence biocomplexity, by moving west, ultimately to the richest ecosystems of South East Asia. Preserving, managing, and understanding biodiversity is clearly one of the most pressing issues of our time. Strategically located in the islands of Polynesia, Moorea is set to make a major contribution to this human endeavor. To conserve biodiversity, one might buy a reef in New Caledonia, a forest in New Guinea and seal them off from humans. To understand biodiversity, however, we should open the research stations of eastern Polynesia to as many scientists and students as possible. Nowhere else on Earth provides the possibility of progressively increasing biocomplexity in such a broadly nested fashion. For scientists, Polynesia is truly a gift from God: one might say ‘a divine experiment’.




Panel 1 Social goals and conflicts associated with restoration and sustainability of

tropical reef fish communities

The intent here is address the following: (a) what are the specific social goals underlying restoration and sustainability; (b) what has been, is, and could be the social and economic significance of tropical reef fishes to Pacific island nations; (c) what are the current uses of tropical reef fishes and how do they conflict with respect to restoration and sustainable use goals; and (d) what other types of human and natural disturbances degrade communities of reef fishes in the tropical Pacific. The panel will consider data from around the world but with particular emphasis on the Pacific Islands. A major aim is to make specific recommendations for research programs needed to support the marine management plans (PGEM) currently being developed for Moorea and other islands in French Polynesia.

FRENCH POLYNESIAN TROPICAL REEF FISH COMMUNITIES

René P. Galzin Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, ESA 8046 CNRS, Université de Perpignan, France While oceanic fisheries are expanding in French Polynesia, no planning has gone into ensuring well thought-out management of lagoon fisheries. What will happen to the 5,500 metric tonnes of lagoon fish caught in French Polynesia in 2000 with just 200,000 inhabitants when some 400,000 inhabitants are foreseen for 2025? Recent genetic tests on fish populations have shown that lagoon fish management must be conducted on the island level (auto-recruitment) rather than the Territorial level (allo-recruitment). If we want to avoid a decline in fish in Moorea's lagoon, we need to propose a five-year integrated management plan. This plan will help protect adult fish by creating protected marine areas and setting minimum sizes for first capture of the fish. It would also help increase recruitment of juveniles by restoring the fringing reefs hatchery and rearing areas.



ACTUAL LAGOONAL FISHERIES IMPACTS IN THE FRENCH POYNESIA ECONOMY?

Arsène Stein

Service de la Pêche, Tahiti, Polynésie française

The lagoons, which used to serve as the community’s pantry and were exploited in accordance with strict regulations designed to lower the risks of famine, have gradually fallen target to "free" exploitation of their resources. Towards the end of the 1980s, an overall exploitation estimate, including subsistence fishing, gave a figure of about 5500 metric tonnes for all of French Polynesia as compared to 2100 tonnes for coastal and oceanic fisheries. By 2002, the situation had changed completely due to a very significant expansion in the oceanic fishing fleet, whose catches reached some 10,000 tonnes in 2001 whereas lagoon fisheries catches probably declined. However, the recent slowdown in pearl oyster farming could bring back this activity in the Tuamotus, French Polynesia’s main lagoon fish supplier. For that reason, lagoon fishing and the thousand fishers involved in it are still vital elements of the local socio-economic fabric, despite the real resources problems which have been brought to light in highly urban areas.



MAPPING MOOREA'S LAGOON: UNDERSTANDING THE EFFECTS OF THE PLAN DE GESTION DE L'ESPACE MARITIME (PGEM)

Barbara Walker

University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Eric G. Edlund University of Montana, MT, USA

In this presentation we describe our on-going project to understand the social and ecological effects of a new management plan in Moorea's lagoon. Because the sustainability of natural resource management depends on both social and ecological factors, this interdisciplinary study has been organized to measure the effects of the new management plan in three different areas: social and economic factors including the values placed on lagoon resources and changes in lagoon use by a variety of stakeholders; ecological factors including measures of species diversity and habitat quality; and physical geographic factors related to land-based pollution measures of sediments and nutrients in stream effluents. We present baseline data collected in 2000 and 2001; these will be the basis for future comparisons and assessment of the effectiveness of MPAs in the two years after the PGEM goes into effect. Data layers have been compiled and analyzed in an ArcView Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. The GIS is available for online collaboration among researchers using ArcIMS map services.



WHAT CAN WE DO WITH MARINE PROTECTED AREAS IN THE LAGOON OF MOOREA?

Michel Kulbicki

Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, IRD Nouméa, Nouvelle Calédonie

Marine Protected Areas (MPA) are one solution amongst many to the management of the lagoon of Moorea. The following will be briefly considered in the case of Moorea: 1- what is expected from MPAs; 2- how can MPAs contribute to these expectations; 3 which constraints are linked to the use of MPAs. In the light of these questions, some ideas will be presented on how one could monitor this (these) MPA(s). In particular, a theoritical basis will give some principles governing major parameters of fish assemblages (such as diversity, density, biomass, structure). A number of practical considerations will then be examined such as the role of indicators in this monitoring, the various types of fish surveys which could be performed, and the distribution of this monitoring work amongst the various actors (users, managers, scientists).



NEW CALEDONIA’S MARINE PROTECTED AREA EXPERIMENT

Claude Chauvet Université de Nouvelle Calédonie, Nouméa, Nouvelle Calédonie

New Caledonia is surrounded with a large lagoon with a low anthropic fishing pressure: 1 kg/ha..y-1 on average, from 3.5 kg/ha..y-1 in the far south to 0 kg/ha..y-1 in the far north. However around the town of Noumea the 1500 km2 lagoon needs a special and careful management. A MPA complex with different statutes (fixed, rotatives, no entry) has been held between 1982 and 1990. Multiannual surveys started in 1988 and a more thorough study focusing on the different statutes effects on the ichtyofauna was done from 1993 to 1998. Moreover, from 1999 to 2001 MPA fishes specific behaviours have been studied. Those studies show that Specific Richness, Biomass, Mean Size increase inside MPAs, but differently according to the size of the MPA, to its coastal proximity and to the number of visitors. On the other hand, Fish Density and particularly density of Juveniles decrease. From a behavior point of view, MPA fish population can be divided into two parts: resident and non resident fauna. A part of the non resident ichtyofauna use to come into the protected areas only by night, other fish are attracted by the visitors on boat. Results show that MPAs work as a vacuum for the residents and as a DCP for the non-residents. For different reasons Rotative MPAs have been stopped in 1996 in favour of a large fixed one. Their results were the opposite of the prospects. In this south-west lagoon context (e.i: fishing is not the main activity but tourism and aquatic pleasures) MPAs appear like a peculiar good tool against site degradations, and for education, marine ecosystem discovery and in general terms for the developing of tourism and entertaining activities in due respect of marine environment.



REEF AND LAGOON FISH MANAGEMENT AND EXPLOITATION IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS: A REALITY OR CHALLENGE?

Pierre Labrosse

Secrétariat Général de la Communauté du Pacifique, Nouméa, Nouvelle Calédonie A certain number of reef and lagoon resource management and conservation methods have been devised in the past by Indo-Pacific island societies, e.g. total or partial marine reserves, individual or group quotas, assigning maritime areas to specific individuals or groups. In spite of efforts undertaken to record and better understand this information and local management systems, traditional knowledge about the marine and reef environments and related practices have been gradually eroding ever since Western countries first colonised the Pacific. What's more, scientific data are often lacking and this gave rise to the idea of basing fisheries management on traditional knowledge and know-how, which are themselves based on how fishing communities perceive their fishing systems. In a context where information is rare, rural communities and local governments are not always properly armed to deal with the problems in reef and lagoon resource management. Aside from the limited nature of their means, the leverage and control they have is as poorly known as the resource ecology which could probably provide at least partial responses to the questions raised. Setting up protected marine reserves remains a very attractive precautionary management technique, but its effects are poorly know and often no hard figures exist in this regard. Rather than a reality, reef and lagoon fish management and exploitation seem more to be a challenge to be met in an ever-changing context which gives rise to more questions and, in which, the goals of governments and rural communities can be at odds."



MARINE PROTECTED AREAS: A CRITIQUE OF CURRENT ASSESSMENT APPROACHES

Craig W. Osenberg

University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA Marine protected areas (MPAs) provide a powerful management tool for protecting valuable marine resources. There's little doubt that MPAs can have significant and positive results on marine populations and ecosystems. However, the stakes are potentially high. Considerable political capital can be spent creating MPAs. If they don't measure-up to expectations, future designation of MPAs can be jeopardized. Thus, it's important that scientists provide a complete case, including uncertainty about benefits as well as possible negative outcomes. In this talk, we use a recent review of the effects of MPAs by Halpern (2002) to raise a variety of issues that have not been adequately assessed in empirical investigations of MPAs. In particular, we discuss and critique assessments of the effects of MPAs. Almost all studies to date use a Control-Impact design and document (at best) that MPAs have local effects (within the boundaries of the MPA). The more controversial (and important) aspect of MPAs (i.e., "spillover") has not been commonly assessed, and demands a different approach. We discuss the application of the BACIPS design in this context. Our goal is not to detract from the expeditious establishment of marine reserves, but rather to suggest several ways in which their establishment can facilitate sound scientific assessment.




Panel 2 Patterns of diversity and structure of tropical Pacific reef fish

communities Here the goals are to: (a) identify the expected diversity and structure of reef fish communities in the tropical Pacific in the absence of disturbance, (b) understand the origins and historical biogeography of reef fishes with respect to longitudinal and latitudinal gradients within the tropical Pacific; and (c) examine if and how modern trends have altered historical patterns. The session will focus on trends that were established before very recent times (i.e. the 50s) to establish ‘baseline’ conditions against which to judge how much biodiversity and structure of fish communities are likely to have been altered by recent events. It will help to define the ‘natural’ target for restoration and provides a platform for biologists and anthropologists to interact.

PREDICTABILITY OF FISH ASSEMBLAGES ON CORAL PATCH REEFS

Andrew J. Brooks University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA

Attributes of fish assemblages on coral patch reefs reflect both deterministic and stochastic processes. Our inability to predict assemblage characteristics accurately may stem from a lack of knowledge of underlying mechanisms or the inherent stochasticity in these systems. We surveyed fish associated with the common patch-forming coral, Porites rus, in lagoons of Moorea, French Polynesia to examine the degree to which attributes of the coral predicted aspects of the fish assemblage. Physical characteristics of the colonies such as size, morphology, and degree of isolation from other patch reefs varied greatly, as did species richness, total abundance and composition of the fish assemblage. Multiple regression analyses revealed that variation in potential living space (live surface area; number of holes; amount of interior empty space) accounted for over half of the variation in species richness and total abundance of fish on a coral. In contrast, species composition appeared to be influenced more by the physical setting within the lagoon (water depth; distance to deep-water; degree of isolation). Relationships derived from the initial analyses predicted 65 to 78 percent of the variation in species richness among a different set of corals. Together the results indicate that physical attributes of the corals can help account for spatial variation in assemblage structure and provide a starting point for studies of the underlying mechanisms.



INFERRING THE PATTERN AND PROCESS OF MARINE SPECIATION FROM SPECIES-LEVEL PHYLOGENIES

Eldredge Bermingham

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama The increasing number of species-level phylogenies for tropical reef fishes permits enhanced study of marine speciation. Although still to few in number for extensive synthesis and conclusive interpretation, species-level phylogenies permit considerable insight into geographic modes of speciation, the tempo of marine diversification, and changes in geographic range of reef fishes over evolutionary time. Detecting geographical patterns of speciation and measuring net diversification rates provide historical 'baseline' conditions for reef fishes that constitute one of the goals of the Mo'orea workshop. Furthermore, species-level reef fish phylogenies can be placed in a comparative context that includes terrestrial and freshwater organisms thus permitting enriched assessment of contemporary impacts on reef fish communities and possible remedial measures for their rehabilitation.



THE EVOLUTION OF FISH FEEDING AND LATITUDINAL GRADIENTS OF FISH DIVERSITY

Mireille Harmelin-Vivien

Centre d’Océanologie de Marseille, UMR CNRS 6540, Université de la Méditerranée, France

Feeding behaviors of coral reef fish have evolved during geological times. The most ancient families are all carnivores, whereas the consumption of algae, seagrasses and sessile invertebrates only occurs among derived perciforms. The evolution of feeding within several fish families for which phylogenetic trees are available (Chaetodontidae, Scaridae, Acanthuridae) will be presented. Different mechanisms of evolution are acting at different levels and on different processes: at a molecular level on genome evolution, at organism level on digestive physiology and at community level on competitive interactions and niche differentiation. Implications of these evolutionary processes in biogeographic and latitudinal comparisons of the trophic structure of fish assemblages will be discussed.



UNDERSTANDING GENETIC DIVERSITY PATTERN THROUGHOUT THE

PACIFIC

Serge Planes EPHE - ESA CNRS 8046, Université de Perpignan, France

The Indo-Pacific area has been recognised as the most diverse biogeographic area among marine ecosystems. This diversity shows gradient with higher diversity in the Indonesia-Philippines area and decrease of species richness going East in the Pacific islands. Three major theories (center of origins, center of accumulation, and center of overlap) have proposed mechanisms that lead to higher diversity in the Indonesian-Philippines area. Up to now, classic biogeography based on species richness is unable to distinguish the most likely model among the three. We investigate genetic approach as a new tool that could give evolutionary perspective in biogeography. The rationale of such an approach is that genetic diversity has been found to be correlated to species richness. First results on coral reef fishes, revealed a hierarchy of the factors affecting the genetic diversity and consequently the species richness.



MOLECULAR TOOLS FOR GROUPER POPULATION BIOLOGY

Owen McMillan University of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico

With the advent of hypervariable microsatellite markers, it is now possible to uniquely identify individuals (and in some cases their gametes and offspring) and place them within a larger ecological and microevolutionary context. This ability has important ramifications for identifying centers of diversity, exploring species boundaries, and reconstructing historical and contemporary patterns of gene flow. However, the large time and monetary cost associated with developing microsatellite loci for particular species is often restrictive. We have tested 12 microsatellite loci initially developed for a project on Epinephelus gutattus against 16 additional grouper species. Species examined fell within two large genera, Epinephelus and Mycteroperca, and included individuals collected from the West Pacific, East Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans. Eleven of the twelve primer pairs worked broadly and amplified homologous genomic regions. For most loci, the microsatellite repeat was present in all tested species and allelic variants were identified. We have identified an additional 100-150 loci that contain microsatellite repeats in E. guttattus. These added loci will greatly extend the available molecular toolbox for groupers and permit more detailed demographic studies of this ecologically and commercially important group of coral reef fishes.



THE CONTRIBUTION OF PHYSICAL FORCING, BIOLOGICAL INPUT, AND SPATIAL SCALE TO THE METAPOPULATION THEORY OF

MARINE FISHES

Bret Danilowicz University College Dublin, Ireland

Summarise a comparison of temperate and tropical marine fishes in the following areas:

1) How well does predictive physical modeling indicate the pattern of larval dispersal?

2) Evidence of choice by fish: selective movement of fish beyond physical forcing.

3) How are the above conclusions‚ influenced by the spatial scale and methods used in these regional studies?

Provide an example of evidence for the reversal of dispersal patterns in Atlantic herring, which counters the currently accepted metapopulation/ adopted-migrant hypothesis of temperate fishes. This example integrates the conclusions being drawn in metapopulation theory in tropical v. temperate fishes.




Panel 3 Factors limiting populations and controlling community structure of reef

fishes in the tropical Pacific

The ability to restore degraded fish communities and devise sustainable use practices hinges greatly on our scientific understanding of what controls the presence and abundance of tropical reef fish populations. Here, we will examine what we know regarding the relative importance of (a) larval supply (recruitment), (b) habitat limitation, and (c) natural enemies (e.g., predators, parasites, and competitors) in limiting populations. This will lead to the relationship of these population-level processes to biodiversity and community structure. In addition to ecological diversity, such issues related to the maintenance of genetic diversity as (a) local adaptation, (b) larval/adult dispersal, and (c) speciation will be examined. It is crucial that the demographic bottlenecks and processes affecting biodiversity be accurately characterized to devise the most appropriate and effective approaches to restoration.

LARVAL DISPERSAL IN REEF FISHES: HOW FAR? HOW LONG? AND DOES IT REALLY MATTER?

Benjamin Victor

Ocean Science Foundation, Irvine, CA, USA We still do not know very much about larval dispersal of reef fishes. Recent evidence suggests that retention of larvae may be common; however it is clear that rapid long-distance dispersal does happen. It is important to separate the ecological importance of dispersal from the biogeographic and evolutionary significance: they are quite different processes. In an ecological framework, the role of recruitment in population regulation and the local retention fraction of propagules are fundamental. Over evolutionary time, the dispersal ability of reef fish species has little to do with density or retention fractions. Understanding the geographic and spatial scale of larval dispersal is also critical to the conservation of reef fishes. The connectivity of reef fish populations profoundly affects the design of marine reserves and fishery management decisions.



LARVAL GROWTH, SETTLEMENT AND SURVIVORSHIP IN CORAL REEF FISHES

Mark Meekan

Northern Territory University, NT, Australia Variable growth rates of larvae in the plankton are thought to be a principal determinant of the fluctuations in recruitment that characterize marine fish populations. the evidence for this idea is largely derived from temperate environments and there have been some suggestions that this may not be the case in tropical regions where warm water temperatures promote relatively fast larval growth. I review evidence from a number of new studies of coral reef fishes that show that larval growth has a strong influence on the magnitude of settlement and recruitment patterns of reef fishes in the tropics. This work also demonstrates that size and growth advantages that are present during the planktonic stage can have an important influence on the outcome of mortality events, weeks and even months after settlement of young fish into benthic habitats. This link between pre- and post-settlement phases occurs because of the cumulative nature of the trait on which selective mortality acts. Such links may not only occur between life history phases in the same individuals, but even between those of different generations via maternal effects on size at hatching.



DENSITY-DEPENDENCE IN REEF FISH: INSIGHTS FROM A META-ANALYSIS

Craig W. Osenberg

University of Florida, FL, USA Density-dependent survival can play an important role in population dynamics. The strength of density-dependence in marine fishes, however, continues to engender considerable debate. Some investigators argue that density-dependence plays a critical role, essentially homogenizing the variation introduced through variable larval supply, while others argue that larval supply drives patterns of local abundance with little subsequent modification by density-dependent processes. Using a quantitative framework based on a continuous time version of the Berverton-Holt recruitment, we conducted a meta-analysis based on a literature search of papers published in 20 journals over the past 30 years. Overall, effects of density on survival were strong but heterogeneous (i.e., varied among studies). We therefore examined the role of various factors on the strength of density-dependence (e.g., region of study, age of fish, size of fish, duration of study, presence or absence of predators). We also examined differences in studies that concluded that survival was density-dependent vs. density-independent. Studies in which the authors concluded that survival was density-independent, showed the strongest per capita effects of density. However, these studies were performed in systems that had lower ambient densities. Thus, the total effect of density on survival was relatively homogeneous: systems with greater per capita density-dependence had lower settlement rates, which compensated for the more intense within-cohort interactions.



CRYPTIC DENSITY DEPENDENCE: EFFECTS OF SPATIAL-TEMPORAL COVARIATION BETWEEN DENSITY AND HABITAT QUALITY IN REEF

FISH

Jeffrey S. Shima Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

The importance and strength of density-dependence continues to engender debate because of its central importance to population dynamics and regulation. Here, we show how confounding effects of habitat attributes can mask strong effects of density-dependence. In particular, we explore spatio-temporal variation and covariation in (1) densities of newly settled coral reef fish (Thalassoma hardwicke), (2) environmental characteristics and site quality, and (3) the strength of density dependent mortality. Environmental features of patch reefs were spatially and temporally variable and influenced density-dependent survival. Higher quality sites (i.e., reefs possessing features yielding greater numbers of recruits at any given settlement level) received greater settlement, and this relationship masked the operation of density-dependence when variation in quality among sites (or times) was not distinguished (a common limitation of many observational studies of density-dependence). Our work illustrates how spatio-temporal covariation in settlement density and site quality can obscure patterns of density dependence at larger scales, contributing to a phenomenon we call cryptic density dependence. Acknowledging patterns and consequences of covariance may alter the way we study population dynamics, especially of marine organisms where the link between processes that affect settlement and post-settlement survival remains relatively poorly understood.



VARIATION IN MORPHOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES OF PATCH-FORMING CORALS AND PATTERNS OF ASSOCIATED FISH ASSEMBLAGES

Sally J. Holbrook

University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA Fish assemblages on patch reefs can show remarkable variation in species composition and abundance over short spatial scales, and understanding the underlying mechanisms has been a major challenge for ecologists. Increasingly, structural aspects of the habitat have been recognized to have an influence on both inputs and losses of individuals to local habitat patches. This suggests that at least some spatial variation in characteristics of local assemblages could be explained by variation in measurable features of the habitat, and that patch types with different structural attributes will contain different assemblages of fish. In lagoons of Moorea, French Polynesia, several species of Porites commonly form patch reefs. One species, P. rus, has a branched growth form, resulting in structurally complex colonies with numerous holes and interior cavities in which fish could shelter. By contrast, P. lobata – type colonies are massive structures that sometimes lack holes and always lack branches and interior cavities. We surveyed assemblages of fish associated with Porites patch reefs. Across similar size ranges of colonies, P. rus had substantially and significantly higher species richness and overall abundance than P. lobata, with systematic differences in species composition. These differences in the structure of the fish assemblages appear to be related to differences between these major patch-forming corals in the variety of microhabitat features each provides.



WHAT’S A CORAL REEF TO FISH ON CORAL REEFS AND WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF ALL THE CORALS DIE?

Geoff P. Jones

James Cook University, Queensland, Australia A variety of anthropogenic disturbances are contributing to a decline in coral cover that may be threatening the biodiversity of coral reefs. However, some recent studies have also suggested that the dynamics of reef fish communities may be to a great extent independent of changes in habitat structure. This begs the question - will the biodiversity of fishes be resilient to the degradation of coral reefs? To address this, I examined patterns of coral reef fish diversity and community structure in habitats ranging from zero to almost 100% coral cover on reefs in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu and Thailand. Unlike any previously described pattern, I consistently observed parabolic relationships between fish species richness and coral cover, with greatest diversity at intermediate levels of coral cover (~40-60%). Fish faunas at sites of ~0% coral cover were as diverse as those at ~100% cover, although the taxonomic structure of these communities overlapped very little. I hypothesized that greater fish diversity at intermediate coral cover could result from either: (i) habitat specialization and limitation in fish assemblages (with moderately disturbed habitats supporting a greater variety of habitats), or (ii) direct ecological interactions among the fish species that reduce fish diversity at the extremes of coral cover. These hypotheses were tested in a small-scale experiment in which habitat structure was manipulated, along with the abundance of resident predatory fishes and dominant competitors. It established that greater local species richness is promoted by the greater coral substratum diversity that is associated with moderately disturbed habitats and is largely independent of interactions among fish species. Detailed information on habitat specialization in coral reef fishes at a site in Papua New Guinea suggests that ~11% of reef fishes have an obligate dependence on live coral (for food and/or shelter). In the event of total coral decimation, I predict the immediate regional extinction of ~60 fish species (mainly from Chaetodontidae, Gobiidae, Labridae and Pomacentridae) and the extirpation of one family of reef fishes (the Caracanthidae).




Panel 4 Alternative approaches to restoring and sustaining biodiversity of reef

fishes in the tropical Pacific

Based on our knowledge of factors controlling population sizes and structure of communities, alternative approaches to restoring degraded habitats and developing sustainable harvest practices will be discussed. Options to be considered include marine protected areas and other such conservation approaches, pro-active techniques (that target demographic rates of fishes and/or of critical natural resources such as coral habitat or food), and shore based aquaculture. The social, economic and political contexts of these alternatives will be discussed

IDENTIFYING AND TARGETING RESTORATION BOTTLENECKS:

AN ECO-TECHNOLOGY APPROACH

Russell J. Schmitt University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA

The primary policy response to restoration of degraded biodiversity and population sizes of reef fishes is to abate the threats and wait for the system to recover on its own. Natural recovery rates can be exceedingly long, prompting the need for environmentally benign, pro-active methods to speed the process. Biologists and engineers at UC Santa Barbara are expanding a conceptual approach to pro-active restoration termed eco-technology (due to analogies with the field of bio-technology). Rather than manipulating the genes of an organism to obtain a desired medicinal or agricultural product, eco-technology involves the manipulation key demographic rates of species to facilitate recovery of damaged ecosystems. Successful application of an eco-technology approach rests on two factors: (1) identifying the ecological bottleneck(s) to restoration of a given system, and (2) developing practical tools to ease identified bottlenecks. Drawing on work done in collaboration with Sally Holbrook on planktivorous damselfishes (Genus Dascyllus) in lagoons surrounding Moorea, I illustrate several potential bottlenecks that can constrain the local abundances of coral reef fishes and which set the stage for developing techniques for surmounting those constraints. Depending on the locality within a lagoon, the presence and abundance of each of three species of Dascyllus depended on features that influence the input rates of young from the plankton (e.g., availability of suitable habitat, local flux of larvae, strength of environmental cues) and the subsequent loss rates of colonists (mortality from predators). The challenge is to devise alternative strategies and techniques that target each of these potential bottlenecks to restoration to provide a suite of effective, pro-active tools for marine conservation.



IMPLICATIONS OF A POPULATION BOTTLENECK DURING THE SETTLEMENT OF CORAL REEF FISHES

Peter Doherty Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia

The replenishment of marine populations is a key process that often involves an abrupt transition between larval and juvenile habitats. The risk of mortality in this transition is unknown for any fish with pelagic larvae because of the difficulty with quantifying larval supply from a three dimensional water column. A collaboration among Australian-French-US researchers (mission COVARE) exploited the enclosed nature of Moorea Lagoon to estimate the nocturnal flux across the shallow reef margins of incoming settlers. Compared with daily counts of the densities of newly-settled fishes, 60% of the potential settlers of a unicornfish, Naso unicornis, were lost before the first recruitment census. Survival through this population bottleneck was not influenced by either age or size of individuals. Assuming generality, high random mortality suggests that collecting individuals before settlement and growing them in captivity could improve the sustainability of aquarium fish harvests from coral reefs while expanding economic opportunities for artisanal fishers. The result also suggests that natural predators will challenge the cost-effectiveness of any attempt to re-seed depleted fish stocks.



COLLECTING POST-LARVAE OF CORAL REEF FISHES AND INVERTEBRATES: A MULTIPLE PURPOSE AND SUSTAINABLE

EXPLOITATION PRINCIPLE

Vincent Dufour Aquafish Technology S.A., Pérols, France

Like the neolithic farmers understood 6 thousand years ago, using seeds instead of adult organisms represents the best optimization of the biological potential of life cycle with disperal strategy (K type). Reef organisms still have this potential at the settlement stage since they are more abundant by one or two orders of magnitude than adult populations. Collecting larvae allows two issues: (1) for managing natural populations by restocking depleted - or protected – areas; and (2) for sustainable fisheries on species that are heavily fishes and unable to be bred in captivity, especially those for aquarium and live food fish trades. This principle of using and protecting settlement was also used for decades in the culture of oyster and mussels with spats collectors.



EXPERIMENTAL CORAL REEF RESTORATION: LESSONS LEARNED FROM TEMPERATE LATITUDE OYSTER REEFS

Hunter S. Lenihan

University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA Successful restoration of marine habitat entails more than the abatement of threats, the planting of seedlings, or construction of physical structure. A new, pro-active approach to restoration, termed eco-technology, involves consideration of the functional attributes of a habitat, identification of ecological bottlenecks, and evaluation of alternative solutions through experimental contrasts. I recently applied just such an integrative strategy to the restoration of oyster reef habitat and communities in North Carolina estuaries. Oyster reefs are a temperate latitude analogue to coral reefs mainly because they help to maintain estuarine biodiversity. Of course, a major function of coral reefs is maintenance of fish species diversity through provision of settlement substrate, refuge, prey, and other resources. I will synthesize lessons learned from my experience restoring oyster reefs to demonstrate how manipulation of the physical and chemical structure of habitat, and the tactical placement of reefs within a seascape, can be utilized to influence demographic rates of reef fishes, including their settlement, growth, condition, and survival. Further, I will discuss how a suite of new technological advances in coral reef restoration, including coral “flypaper”, coral seeding, and chemical settlement cues might be combined with hydrodynamic modifications to examine ecological interactions such as that observed between live coral cover and the species diversity of fishes.



DENSITY DEPENDENCE IN A MARINE ORNAMENTAL AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE EFFICACY OF ALTERNATIVE MANAGEMENT

STRATEGIES

Colette M. St. Mary

University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

In many parts of the world, marine ornamentals, fishes and invertebrates collected and sold in the aquarium trade, comprise an increasingly important fishery. Few management strategies have been devised for these fisheries, yet they may represent unusually tractable systems: e.g., the benthic life stages are relatively site attached and easily sampled, and many species are amenable to experimental study. Here, a stochastic population model is developed with which to investigate the efficacy of exploitation strategies designed to manage a marine ornamental fishery. Extensive field studies of the tropical damselfish, Dascyllus trimaculatus, in Moorea were used to define functions and estimate associated parameters that govern the dynamics of the unexploited population. Sources of uncertainty in the predictions of the model were then evaluated and the responses to different exploitation-control rules simulated. Effects resulting from uncertainty due to variable larval settlement were comparable in magnitude to effects of uncertainty in parameter estimates. In addition, despite resident-facilitated settlement, yields were not a unimodal function of catch rate. Instead, yield typically increased with catch rate. The absence of a dome-shaped yield curve appeared to result from an interaction between facilitated settlement and subsequent density dependence. We discuss the implications of these insights for the management of similar species.



CONNECTIVITY AMONG REEFS BY FISHES DURING THE PRESETTLEMENT PHASE

Michael J. Kingsford

James Cook University, Queensland, Australia. Potential settlers of reef fishes and invertebrates seek suitable habitats on reefs. Recent evidence indicates that some fish settle on natal reefs. By inference, therefore, larval forms may maintain position close to reefs or can recognize and respond to individual reefs from great distances (kilometers to tens of kilometers). In this talk I describe four approaches that my collaborators and I have been using to assist in understanding the presettlement phase of reef fishes. We have studied oceanography, physiology, behavior and trace element signatures in fish. Tracking of tracer from One Tree Island indicated that passive transport to other reefs (4-10 kilometers away) can happen rapidly, but passive retention of particles was also found. Reefs export water masses that may have their own reef signature and some of these water masses can be seen kilometers form reefs. Some potential settlers (Apogonidae) are physiological capable of detecting the smell for different water masses and we have shown they can orientate to preferred water masses. The water surrounding some reefs has different elemental composition to interreefal waters, we have found that this is recorded in the otoliths of fish and combined with daily increment analysis can provide greater resolution of the time fish have spent in different water masses. I argue that although connectivity among reefs can occur via passive transport, retention, reefal cues and the abilities of the fishes can promote settlement to natal reefs.



Speaker Email Address Institution Bermingham, Eldredge [email protected] Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama Brooks, Andrew J. [email protected] University of California, Santa Barbara, USA Chauvet, Claude [email protected] Université de Nouvelle Calédonie, Nouméa, Nouvelle Calédonie Danilowicz, Bret [email protected] University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland Davies, Neil [email protected] University of California, Berkeley, USA Doherty, Peter [email protected] Australian Institute of Marine Sciences, Townsville, Australia Dufour, Vincent [email protected] Aquafish Technology, Montpellier, France Edlund, Eric G. [email protected] University of Montana, USA Galzin, René [email protected] Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Perpignan, France Garcia-Charton, José [email protected] Université de Murcia, Murcia, Espagne Harmelin, Mireille [email protected] Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Marseille, France Holbrook, Sally [email protected] University of California, Santa Barbara, USA Jones, Geoffrey [email protected] James Cook University, Townsville, Australia Kingsford, Michael J. [email protected] James Cook University, Townsville, Australia Kulbicki, Michel [email protected] Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Nouméa, Nouvelle Calédonie Labrosse, Pierre [email protected] Communauté du Pacifique Sud, Nouméa, Nouvelle Calédonie Lenihan, Hunter S. [email protected] University of California, Santa Barbara, USA McMillan, W. Owen [email protected] University of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico Meekan, Mark [email protected] Australian Institut of Marine Sciences, Townsville, Australia Osenberg Craig [email protected] University of Florida, USA Planes Serge [email protected] Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Perpignan, France Schmitt, Russell J. [email protected] University of California, Santa-Barbara, USA Shima, Jeff [email protected] Victoria University, New Zealand St Mary, Colette [email protected] University of Florida, USA Stein, Arsène [email protected] Service de la Pêche, Papeete, Tahiti Victor, Ben [email protected] Ocean Science Foundation, USA Walker, Barbara [email protected] University of California, Santa Barbara, USA




























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