Publisher : Bulletin of Marine Science
Place of publication :
Publication year : 2005
Thematic : Artificial Reefs
Language : English
Note
"Artificial reef studies often focus on environmental, ecological, and physical factors
that influence reef productivity, but few have focused on how reef location influences
artificial-reef fish assemblages. The intent of this study was to evaluate how
reef placement affects the structure of artificial-reef fish assemblages. Diver visual
surveys and catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) fishing surveys were used to obtain estimates
of reef fish demographics (i.e., reef fish abundance, biomass, and size structure)
at 14 prefabricated experimental artificial reefs of two reef designs off coastal
Alabama. Two- to three-fold differences in reef fish demographic measures were
observed within replicate experimental reef designs. To determine which factors,
specifically related to location (i.e., proximity of other reefs, size and density of surrounding
reefs, etc.), contribute to the observed variability in reef fish demographic
measures, a side-scan sonar was used to quantify the abundance, distribution, and
bottom area or footprints (m2) of natural reefs and previously deployed artificial
reefs within 1 km2 of each experimental reef. Stepwise regression was used to assess
the amount of variability in reef fish demographics accounted for by side-scan sonar
variables, reef design, season, and year. 36%–53% of the variability in reef fish demographics
was explained. Reef fish biomass was negatively correlated with artificial
reef abundance and there was a negative correlation between red snapper mean
total length and the total bottom area of artificial reefs surrounding experimental
reefs. Proximity to other artificial reefs, reef design, and season also explained some
of the observed variability in reef fish abundance, biomass, and size structure."
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Keywords :
Encoded by : Mae Belen Llanza
