Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Nature Communications
Volume
15
Issue
1
PubMed ID
39030209
Publisher
Nature
School
Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research / School of Science
Funders
Australian Research Council
Doctoral Training Programme grant from NERC ENVISION (NE/L002604/1))
Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship
Royal Society fellowship (URF\R\201029, URF\R1\231087)
Abstract
Fish fecundity scales hyperallometrically with body mass, meaning larger females produce disproportionately more eggs than smaller ones. We explore this relationship beyond the species-level to estimate the “reproductive potential” of 1633 coral reef sites distributed globally. We find that, at the site-level, reproductive potential scales hyperallometrically with assemblage biomass, but with a smaller median exponent than at the species-level. Across all families, modelled reproductive potential is greater in fully protected sites versus fished sites. This difference is most pronounced for the important fisheries family, Serranidae. When comparing a scenario where 30% of sites are randomly fully protected to a current protection scenario, we estimate an increase in the reproductive potential of all families, and particularly for Serranidae. Such results point to the possible ecological benefits of the 30 × 30 global conservation target and showcase management options to promote the sustainability of population replenishment.
DOI
10.1038/s41467-024-50367-0
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Hadj-Hammou, J., Cinner, J. E., Barneche, D. R., Caldwell, I. R., Mouillot, D., Robinson, J. P., ... & Graham, N. A. (2024). Global patterns and drivers of fish reproductive potential on coral reefs. Nature Communications, 15(1), Article 6105. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-50367-0