Fishing Effects on Coral Reef Benthic Communities
For this project I worked with Julia K. Baum and Sheila M. Walsh at the National Center for Ecological Analysis & Synthesis to quantify the composition of the coral reef benthic (sea floor) community Kiritimati Atoll (Central Pacific) in order to look for changes over time and assess the influence of fishing pressure and environmental variables like oceanographic productivity on the structure of the benthic assemblages at sites around the atoll.
The broader goals of this research was to establish and maintain long-term socioeconomic and ecological monitoring at Kiritimati, in order to explore the effects of the local fishing practices on the assemblages of reef organisms, and explore the mechanisms causing the differences seen in the reef's community structure across the sites. An important aspect of this monitoring is to test the effects of different marine management strategies, in order to help the local government implement the most effective regulations to benefit both human economic and subsistence needs, as well as marine ecosystem stability and function.
The broader goals of this research was to establish and maintain long-term socioeconomic and ecological monitoring at Kiritimati, in order to explore the effects of the local fishing practices on the assemblages of reef organisms, and explore the mechanisms causing the differences seen in the reef's community structure across the sites. An important aspect of this monitoring is to test the effects of different marine management strategies, in order to help the local government implement the most effective regulations to benefit both human economic and subsistence needs, as well as marine ecosystem stability and function.
Effects of Artisanal Fisheries on Coral Reef Fish Community Structure & Function
As part of a team of Stanford faculty and students, I conducted field work at a coral reef with a comparatively small human influence (Palmyra Atoll), and nearby Tabuaeran Atoll, which has a resident population of approximately 2,500 people, who exist partially through subsistence off marine food resources.
The first element of our research was to survey and compare the ecological communities of both atolls. To supplement this approach, we also used biogeochemical tools like stable isotope ratios to track the flow of nutrients and energy through each atoll’s land and surrounding reef’s food webs. These methods help us answer multiple questions, including, 1.) how humans change how coral reef food webs are structured (i.e., how organisms are connected to each other, and their diversity and abundance), 2.) how connected the terrestrial and coral reef systems are to each other, and 3.) which organisms play an important role shaping the ecosystems.
The second element of our research was to determine what people in these communities take from the marine environment (species targeted, size, and amount taken), and what their investment of time and capital were for various fishing practices, balanced with the returns of value from their fishing yield. Coupled with the ecological data, this information is helping us determine the mechanisms shaping the structure of the reef community, the important species to protect in order to maintain the overall system’s ecological function, and the considerations of human needs for food, livelihoods, and cultural traditions that will need to be accounted for when developing management scenarios for coral reef ecosystems.
For more information, see our Interdisciplinary Coral Reef Ecosystem Research website
© Amy A. Briggs, 2014