Ecological impacts and management implications of reef walking on a tropical reef flat community
| Autor: | David M. Connolly, Jane E. Williamson, Jennalee A. Clark, Jessica A. Thompson, Evan E. Byrnes, Louise Tosetto, Sabine Eva Schiller, Julieta C. Martinelli, Vincent Raoult |
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| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Conservation of Natural Resources Fringing reef Butterflyfish Walking Aquatic Science Oceanography Coral reef organizations 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Animals Aquaculture of coral Reef geography.geographical_feature_category biology Resilience of coral reefs Ecology Coral Reefs 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology Australia Coral reef biology.organism_classification Seaweed Pollution Fishery Geography Recreation Coral reef protection Environmental Monitoring |
| Zdroj: | Marine pollution bulletin. 114(2) |
| ISSN: | 1879-3363 |
| Popis: | Continued growth of tourism has led to concerns about direct and indirect impacts on the ecology of coral reefs and ultimate sustainability of these environments under such pressure. This research assessed impacts of reef walking by tourists on a relatively pristine reef flat community associated with an 'ecoresort' on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Heavily walked areas had lower abundances of live hard coral but greater amounts of dead coral and sediment. Abundances of macroalgae were not affected between sites. Coral-associated butterflyfish were less abundant and less diverse in more trampled sites. A manipulative experiment showed handling holothurians on reef walks had lasting negative impacts. This is the first study to show potential impacts of such handling on holothurians. Ecological impacts of reef walking are weighed against sociocultural benefits of a first hand experience in nature. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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