Seasonal Dynamics of Fish Assemblages on Breakwaters and Natural Rocky Reefs in a Temperate Estuary: Consistent Assemblage Differences Driven by Sub-Adults

Fowler, AM; Booth, DJ

Seasonal Dynamics of Fish Assemblages on Breakwaters and Natural Rocky Reefs in a Temperate Estuary: Consistent Assemblage Differences Driven by Sub-Adults

Fowler, AM

Booth, DJ

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: PLoS ONE, 2013, 8 (9)
Issue Date:: 2013-09-26

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Fowler, AM https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3075-7066	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Booth, DJ https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8256-1412	en_US
dc.date.available	2013-08-18	en_US
dc.date.issued	2013-09-26	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	PLoS ONE, 2013, 8 (9)	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/116756
dc.description.abstract	Development of infrastructure around cities is rapidly increasing the amount of artificial substrate (termed artificial reef, 'AR') in coastal marine habitats. However, effects of ARs on marine communities remain unknown, because it is unclear whether ARs can maintain similar communities to natural reefs. We investigated whether well-established (> 30 years old) breakwaters could consistently approximate fish assemblages on interspersed rocky reefs in a temperate estuary over 6 consecutive seasons using regular visual surveys between June 2009 (winter) and November 2010 (spring). We examined whether assemblage differences between reef types were driven by differences in juvenile recruitment, or were related to differences in older life-stages. Assemblages on both reef types were dominated by juveniles (61% of individuals) and sub-adults (34% of individuals). Seasonal fluctuations in assemblage parameters (species richness, diversity, sub-adult abundance) were similar between reef types, and levels of species diversity and assemblage composition were generally comparable. However, abundance and species richness were consistently higher (1.9-7.6 and 1.3-2.6 times, respectively) on breakwaters. These assemblage differences could not be explained by differences in juvenile recruitment, with seasonal patterns of recruitment and juvenile species found to be similar between reef types. In contrast, abundances of sub-adults were consistently higher (1.1-12 times) at breakwaters, and assemblage differences appeared to be driven by this life-stage. Our results indicate that breakwaters in temperate estuaries are capable of supporting abundant and diverse fish assemblages with similar recruitment process to natural reefs. However, breakwaters may not approximate all aspects of natural assemblage structure, with differences maintained by a single-life stage in some cases. © 2013 Fowler, Booth et al.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	PLoS ONE	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1371/journal.pone.0075790	en_US
dc.subject.classification	General Science & Technology	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Animals	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Fishes	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Ecosystem	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Biodiversity	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Seasons	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Coral Reefs	en_US
dc.title	Seasonal Dynamics of Fish Assemblages on Breakwaters and Natural Rocky Reefs in a Temperate Estuary: Consistent Assemblage Differences Driven by Sub-Adults	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	9	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	8	en_US
utslib.for	MD Multidisciplinary	en_US
utslib.for	060205 Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology)	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	9	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	8	en_US

Abstract:

Development of infrastructure around cities is rapidly increasing the amount of artificial substrate (termed artificial reef, 'AR') in coastal marine habitats. However, effects of ARs on marine communities remain unknown, because it is unclear whether ARs can maintain similar communities to natural reefs. We investigated whether well-established (> 30 years old) breakwaters could consistently approximate fish assemblages on interspersed rocky reefs in a temperate estuary over 6 consecutive seasons using regular visual surveys between June 2009 (winter) and November 2010 (spring). We examined whether assemblage differences between reef types were driven by differences in juvenile recruitment, or were related to differences in older life-stages. Assemblages on both reef types were dominated by juveniles (61% of individuals) and sub-adults (34% of individuals). Seasonal fluctuations in assemblage parameters (species richness, diversity, sub-adult abundance) were similar between reef types, and levels of species diversity and assemblage composition were generally comparable. However, abundance and species richness were consistently higher (1.9-7.6 and 1.3-2.6 times, respectively) on breakwaters. These assemblage differences could not be explained by differences in juvenile recruitment, with seasonal patterns of recruitment and juvenile species found to be similar between reef types. In contrast, abundances of sub-adults were consistently higher (1.1-12 times) at breakwaters, and assemblage differences appeared to be driven by this life-stage. Our results indicate that breakwaters in temperate estuaries are capable of supporting abundant and diverse fish assemblages with similar recruitment process to natural reefs. However, breakwaters may not approximate all aspects of natural assemblage structure, with differences maintained by a single-life stage in some cases. © 2013 Fowler, Booth et al.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/116756