Taxonomic relatedness does not reflect coherent ecological response of fish to protection

Autor: Joachim Claudet, Stanislao Bevilacqua, Lauric Thiault, Antonio Terlizzi
Přispěvatelé: Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l'environnement (CRIOBE), École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'Excellence CORAIL (LabEX CORAIL), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université des Antilles et de la Guyane (UAG)-École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Université de la Polynésie Française (UPF)-Université de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (UNC)-Institut d'écologie et environnement-Université des Antilles (UA), Laboratory of Zoology and Marine Biology, Università del Salento [Lecce], Thiault, Lauric, Bevilacqua, Stanislao, Terlizzi, Antonio, Claudet, Joachim
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2015
Předmět:
Zdroj: Biological Conservation
Biological Conservation, Elsevier, 2015, 190, pp.98-106. ⟨10.1016/j.biocon.2015.06.002⟩
ISSN: 0006-3207
DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2015.06.002⟩
Popis: International audience; Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are increasingly used for biodiversity conservation and the management of sustainable fisheries. The use of taxonomic surrogates in routine monitoring of the reserve effects on fish assemblages may represent a promising method due to its substantial technical and economic benefits. However, higher taxonomic ranks should be used as surrogates with caution, especially for fish, where the approach is still virtually undocumented. This study aims to shed light on relationships between taxonomic relatedness and ecological similarity, which is crucial to assess the relevance of species surrogacy to reflect species-level information and detect changes in fish related to protection regimes. By analyzing data from a Mediterranean MPA, we show that rather being related to taxonomic relationships, the ability of higher taxa to reflect species-level patterns was explained in terms of aggregation level and distribution of species within taxa. Null models using random aggregations of species were created to identify the best surrogates able to depict changes in responses of assemblages to protection observed at the species-level. Comparison of null model predictions with the more classical higher-taxon approach revealed that the latter was not reliable because, unlike null model outcomes, surrogates determined empirically were not relevant for other subsequent independent monitoring. The effectiveness of species surrogates to depict changes in responses of assemblages to protection observed at the species-level depended (1) on the numerical resolution of the aggregation and (2) the magnitude of differences between protected and unprotected locations. Such findings suggest that surrogacy approaches may be applied for routine monitoring of Mediterranean reef fish communities, although mere empirical determinations of sufficient taxonomy seems to be not reliable, legitimizing the use of alternative methods based on null models. Guidelines for the careful use of species surrogacy in the ecological evaluation of MPAs on fish assemblages are provided.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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