Tropical cyclone impacts on seagrass-associated fishes in a temperate-subtropical estuary.

Autor: Zhang YS; Institute of Marine Sciences and Department of Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Morehead City, North Carolina, United States of America., Swinea SH; Institute of Marine Sciences and Department of Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Morehead City, North Carolina, United States of America.; Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Northeastern University, Marine Science Center, Nahant, Massachusetts, United States of America., Roskar G; Institute of Marine Sciences and Department of Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Morehead City, North Carolina, United States of America.; North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve, Beaufort, North Carolina, United States of America., Trackenberg SN; Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, United States of America., Gittman RK; Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, United States of America.; Coastal Studies Institute, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, United States of America., Jarvis JC; Department of Biology and Marine Biology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, United States of America., Kenworthy WJ; Department of Biology and Marine Biology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, United States of America., Yeager LA; Institute of Marine Sciences and Department of Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Morehead City, North Carolina, United States of America., Fodrie FJ; Institute of Marine Sciences and Department of Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Morehead City, North Carolina, United States of America.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2022 Oct 13; Vol. 17 (10), pp. e0273556. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Oct 13 (Print Publication: 2022).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273556
Abstrakt: Major storms can alter coastal ecosystems in several direct and indirect ways including habitat destruction, stormwater-related water quality degradation, and organism mortality. From 2010-2020, ten tropical cyclones impacted coastal North Carolina, providing an opportunity to explore ecosystem responses across multiple storms. Using monthly trawl and contemporaneous seagrass surveys conducted in Back Sound, NC, we evaluated how cyclones may affect the nursery role of shallow-water biogenic habitats by examining seagrass-associated fish responses within a temperate-subtropical estuary. We employed a general before-after-control-impact approach using trawls conducted prior (before) and subsequent (after) to storm arrival and years either without (control) or with (impact) storms. We examined whether effects were apparent over short (within ~three weeks of impact) and seasonal (May-October) timescales, as well as if the magnitude of storm-related shifts varied as a function of storm intensity. Our findings suggest that the ability of these shallow-water habitats to support juvenile fishes was not dramatically altered by hurricanes. The resilience exhibited by fishes was likely underpinned by the relative persistence of the seagrass habitat, which appeared principally undamaged by storms based upon review of available-albeit limited seagrass surveys. Increasing cyclone intensity, however, was correlated with greater declines in catch and may potentially underlie the emigration and return rate of fish after cyclones. Whether estuarine fishes will continue to be resilient to acute storm impacts despite chronic environmental degradation and predicted increases major tropical cyclone frequency and intensity remains a pressing question.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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