The influence of tourism-based provisioning on fish behavior and benthic composition
| Autor: | Anyo Chao, Wei-Chen Tung, Shao-Lun Liu, Ming-Jay Ho, Colin K. C. Wen, Ching-Wei Wang, Kao-Sung Chen |
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| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Geography Planning and Development Foraging Biology 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Abundance (ecology) Environmental Chemistry Animals Herbivory Herbivore geography geography.geographical_feature_category Ecology Coral Reefs 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology fungi Community structure Fishes Provisioning General Medicine Coral reef Anthozoa Fishery Seafood Ecotourism Benthic zone geographic locations Research Article |
| Zdroj: | Ambio |
| ISSN: | 1654-7209 |
| Popis: | Distribution of non-natural food (provisioning) to attract fish, though popular in coral reef tourism, has often been discouraged due to its assumed adverse effects on fish health and behavior. However, the effects of provisioning on community structure, anti-predator, and foraging behavior of teleost fishes, as well as their potential to indirectly affect benthic organisms, are not yet clear. Here, we compared fish composition, wariness, foraging behavior of herbivorous fishes, and the benthic cover between provisioned and control sites. We found significant differences in fish abundance, species number, and composition at some locations, but not all. Although most provisioned herbivorous fish did not reduce their biting rates of benthic algae, provisioned sites still had higher coverage of green macroalgae. Our results dispute widely held presumptions on the effects of tourism-based provisioning on the ecology and behavior of teleost fishes, as well as the benthic cover. These findings suggest that while regulation of provisioning is necessary to manage and mitigate any deleterious outcomes, when moderated and monitored, it could still provide an educationally beneficial tool for coral reef ecotourism. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-018-1112-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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