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PeerJ
2019 Jan 01;7:e6964. doi: 10.7717/peerj.6964.
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Coastal fish assemblages and predation pressure in northern-central Chilean Lessonia trabeculata kelp forests and barren grounds.
Riquelme-Pérez N
,
Musrri CA
,
Stotz WB
,
Cerda O
,
Pino-Olivares O
,
Thiel M
.
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Kelp forests are declining in many parts of the globe, which can lead to the spreading of barren grounds. Increased abundances of grazers, mainly due to reduction of their predators, are among the causes of this development. Here, we compared the species richness (SR), frequency of occurrence (FO), and maximum abundance (MaxN) of predatory fish and their predation pressure between kelp forest and barren ground habitats of northern-central Chile. Sampling was done using baited underwater cameras with vertical and horizontal orientation. Two prey organisms were used as tethered baits, the black sea urchin Tetrapygus niger and the porcelanid crab Petrolisthes laevigatus. SR did not show major differences between habitats, while FO and MaxN were higher on barren grounds in vertical videos, with no major differences between habitats in horizontal videos. Predation pressure did not differ between habitats, but after 24 h consumption of porcelanid crabs was significantly higher than that of sea urchins. Scartichthys viridis/gigas was the main predator, accounting for 82% of the observed predation events on Petrolisthes laevigatus. Most of these attacks occurred on barren grounds. Scartichthys viridis/gigas was the only fish observed attacking (but not consuming) tethered sea urchins. High abundances of opportunistic predators (Scartichthys viridis/gigas) are probably related to low abundances of large predatory fishes. These results suggest that intense fishing activity on large predators, and their resulting low abundances, could result in low predation pressure on sea urchins, thereby contributing to the increase of T. niger abundances in subtidal rocky habitats.
Figure 2. Structures used to record communities, to carry out predation assays and to document predation events.(A) Metal frame structure to generate vertical view, (B) metal arm structure to generate horizontal view, (C) vertical view perpendicular to the bottom, and (D) horizontal view parallel to the bottom. Square structures on the base of the structures were eternity fibre cement plates of 40 × 40 cm. Photo Credits: Nicolás Riquelme–Pérez.
Figure 3. Species of fish observed in videos by location and habitat (KF = Kelp forest, BG = Barren grounds), black fish shapes show presence.Fish species richness is the number of fish species observed at the respective location and habitat. *Species observed outside the 40 min standardised video duration for quantitative evaluation.
Figure 4. Fish species richness (SR, number of species video−1) by study site, observed in videos with (A) vertical, and (B) horizontal view.During the first 40 min of each video, one frame was scanned every 30 s, adding up to a total of 80 frames that were considered for analyses. The box plots present first and third quartile, while the bold lines in the boxes show the medians of SR. Vertical lines are the minimum and maximum values (1.5*IQR, interquartile range); dots show jittered raw data points and dots outside the range are outliers.
Figure 5. Frequency of occurrence (%) (FO) of the three most common predatory fish species by study site in videos with (A) vertical, and (B) horizontal view.FO was percentage of frames in which at least one individual of each species was observed (of a total of 80 frames that were scanned every 30 s during the first 40 min of the video). The box plots present first and third quartile, while the bold lines in the boxes show the medians of FO; vertical lines are the minimum and maximum values (1.5*IQR or the interquartile range); dots show jittered raw data points and dots outside the range are outliers; dots with a number above them (which correspond to a FO value), represent outliers outside the y-axis scale.
Figure 6. Maximum abundance (MaxN) of the three most common predatory fish species by study site in videos with (A) vertical, and (B) horizontal view.MaxN indicates the maximum abundance of any species observed in one of the 80 frames that were surveyed every 30 s during the first 40 min of the video recordings. The box plots present first and third quartile, while the bold lines in the boxes show the medians of MaxN; vertical lines are the minimum and maximum values (1.5*IQR or the interquartile range); dots show jittered raw data points and dots outside the range are outliers; dots with a number above them (which correspond to a MaxN value) represent outliers outside the y-axis scale.
Figure 7. Percentage of (A) T. niger (sea urchin), and (B) P. laevigatus (crab) consumed at each study site.The box plots present first and third quartile, while the bold lines in the boxes show the medians of consumption (%); vertical lines are the minimum and maximum values (1.5*IQR or the interquartile range); dots show jittered raw data points and dots outside the range are outliers.
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