Biodiversity and spatial patterns of benthic habitat and associated demersal fish communities at two tropical submerged reef ecosystems
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Published source details
Abdul Wahab M.A., Radford B., Cappo M., Colquhoun J., Stowar M., Depczynski M., Miller K. & Heyward A. (2018) Biodiversity and spatial patterns of benthic habitat and associated demersal fish communities at two tropical submerged reef ecosystems. Coral Reefs, 37, 327-343.
Published source details Abdul Wahab M.A., Radford B., Cappo M., Colquhoun J., Stowar M., Depczynski M., Miller K. & Heyward A. (2018) Biodiversity and spatial patterns of benthic habitat and associated demersal fish communities at two tropical submerged reef ecosystems. Coral Reefs, 37, 327-343.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Identify/designate high biodiversity areas Action Link |
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Identify/designate high biodiversity areas
A site comparison study in 2013 at two coral reef sites off the Pilbara coast, northwest Australia (bdul Wahab et al. 2018) found that a site that had been designated as an area of high biodiversity had a distinct community assemblage (including corals), but lower cover of benthic taxa (including hard and soft corals) compared to another site with no designation. Percentage cover of coral families and morphologies were both more strongly influenced by site than a range of environmental variables (data reported as statistical model result, see paper for details). The site with a biodiversity designation had lower cover of all benthic taxa (including hard and soft corals) at four depth categories (21, 9, 2 and <1%) compared to the site with no designation (44, 36, 21 and 6%). The highest hard coral cover at the designated site was recorded at <40 m depth (3%), but the undesignated site had cover of 23% at this depth. The highest soft coral cover at the designated site was found at <40 m (4%) but found at 40–≥80 m at the undesignated site (1–2%). Two isolated reef sites were selected, one that was designated as a Key Ecological Feature (14,700 ha) and one with no designation (1,700 ha). Surveys of community composition and cover (including corals) were conducted in 2013 via towed video surveys (2 km tows), with 53 tows in the designated site and 23 in the undesignated site. A range of methods were used to assess other environmental variables (see paper for details).
(Summarised by: William Morgan)
