Pacific Coral-reef Fishes: The Implications of Behaviour and Ecology of Larvae for Biodiversity and Conservation, and a Reassessment of the Open Population Paradigm

By J. Leis. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 2002

122 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The two-phase life history of most marine fishes and invertebrates has enormous implications for dispersal, population connectivity, and resource management. Pelagic dispersal larvae of marine animals traditionally thought to ensure that populations are widespread, that chances of local extinction are low, and that marine protected areas (MPA) can easily function to replenish both their own populations and those of unprotected areas. Traditionally, dispersal is considered to depend primarily on two variables: pelagic larva duration and far-field currents. These conclusions arise from the ‘open population’ paradigm and are usually accompanied by a ‘simplifying assumption’: larvae are distributed passively by far-field currents. Unfortunately, they ignore the complex reality of circulation and hydrological connectivity of reefs, and do not consider newly-demonstrated behavioural capabilities of coral-reef fish larvae. Far-field circulation varies with depth and often excludes water bodies where propagules are released, and this has important implications for predicting trajectories of even passive larvae. However, larvae are not passive: late-stage larvae of coral-reef fishes can swim faster than currents for long periods, can probably detect reefs at some distance, and can actively find them. This behaviour is flexible, which greatly complicates modelling of larval fish trajectories. Populations at ecological (as opposed to evolutionary) scales are probably less open and more subdivided than previously assumed. All this means that dispersal predictions based solely on far-field water circulation are probably wrong. An emerging view of larval-fish dispersal is articulated that takes these new data and perspectives into account. This emerging view shows that re-evaluation of traditional views in several areas is required, including the contribution of larval-fish biology and dispersal to biodiversity patterns, the way reef fishes are managed, and the way in which MPA are thought to operate. At evolutionary and zoogeographic scales, reef-fish populations are best considered to be open.

Subfields: Ecology, Global and Planetary Change

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/9a0545848a5fd61f62d93687ab2d23f28c185455

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Citations in the corpus

Painting the floor with a hammer: Technical fixes in fisheries management (2006, background): “Poor design may lead to loss of within-species genetic diversity if stock components inside and outside the protected areas differ in genetic composition [26].”
Swimming ontogeny of larvae of four temperate marine fishes (2005, background): “…Larvae · Critical speed · Endurance · Fish · Sparidae · Sciaenidae · Percichthyidae Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher Mar Ecol Prog Ser 292: 287–300, 2005 importance of incorporating larval behaviour into models of dispersal (Armsworth 2000, Leis 2002).”
Ecology of Anguilliform Leptocephali: Remarkable Transparent Fish Larvae of the Ocean Surface Layer (2009, background): “There is increasing evidence that larval swimming behavior and self-recruitment are important for many coral reef fishes (see Leis 2002, 2006; Leis and McCormick 2002; Leis and Carson-Ewart 2003), so it is likely important for some marine eels as well.”
The relationship between population genetic structure and pelagic larval duration in coral reef fishes on the Great Barrier Reef (2006, background): “For example, larval swimming ability, a potentially important determinant of dispersal distance varies considerably among reef-fish families (Stobutzki 1998; Leis 2002; Fisher 2005).”
Phylogeography and the conservation of coral reef fishes (2007, background): “cally interconnected, but demographically discrete populations (Leis 2002; Swearer et al. 2002).”
Why be amphidromous: expatrial dispersal and the place of source and sink population dynamics? (2010, unknown): “…and migrating into rivers, and the juveniles of reef fishes leaving the same plankton and becoming benthic on sea coasts and reefs (Sale 1988, 1991; Leis 2002), though reef fishes do not face the osmoregulatory challenges encountered by amphidromous fishes, nor often quite the same, substantial,…”
Marine Ornamental Trade in Brazil (2005, background): “Leis 2002 ). Site fidelity is a serious problem when heavy harvesting is exerted on a small area for a long time, a problem aggravated by the selective removal of a few target species.”
Propagule dispersal and the scales of marine community process (2005, background): “The greatest deviations from the passive dispersal model probably involve large, post-flexion fish larvae, and larvae with extensive vertical migration behaviour (Leis, 2002).”
High genetic connectivity across the Indian and Pacific Oceans in the reef fish Myripristis berndti (Holocentridae) (2007, background): “Additionally, larval behavior is known to affect dispersal potential 252 Craig et al.: Phylogeography of Myripristis berndti (Leis 2002).”
Larval retention and connectivity among populations of corals and reef fishes: history, advances and challenges (2009, background): “Direct observations of larval behavior (e.g., Leis and Carson-Ewart 1998; Leis 2002, 2006; Fisher et al. 2000; Miller and Mundy 2003; Leis et al. 2007; Graham et al. 2008), increasingly sophisticated biophysical models (e.g., Black et al. 1991; Schultz and Cowen 1994; Cowen et al. 2000, 2006; James…”
Burdens of evidence and the benefits of marine reserves: putting Descartes before des horse? (2003, background): “…fishing effort around the reserve boundary (Parrish 1999), recruitment limitation (Doherty & Fowler 1994), self-recruitment rather than larval export (Leis 2002), irreversible changes in species assemblages, and any number of unknown causes due to the underlying complexity of the ecosystem.”
What can genetics tell us about population connectivity? (2010, methodology): “Some have suggested that OMPG is sufficient to bring about similar allele frequencies in all populations (e.g. Leis 2002; Palumbi 2003).”