Exploring the consequences of complex habitat loss for the New Zealand blue cod, Parapercis colias

IF 2.7 3区 环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY
Ecosphere Pub Date : 2025-03-27 DOI:10.1002/ecs2.70233
Baylee L. Wade, Anna Carolina Resende, Danielle Willis-Kaio, Alice Rogers
{"title":"Exploring the consequences of complex habitat loss for the New Zealand blue cod, Parapercis colias","authors":"Baylee L. Wade,&nbsp;Anna Carolina Resende,&nbsp;Danielle Willis-Kaio,&nbsp;Alice Rogers","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70233","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Complex coastal habitats including seaweed and kelp forests are declining throughout the world due to the impacts of ocean warming, coastal development, overfishing, and pollution. Complex habitats provide shelter, food, nesting, and nursery sites, allowing for high biodiversity and productivity that supports valuable economic, cultural, and recreational services. From the perspective of prey, habitat-forming macroalgae offer physical and visual refuges that reduce their risk of predation. However, for predators, this refuge availability presents a trade-off. Whilst prey might be more abundant in the presence of complex habitats, they are also likely to be more difficult to catch and consume, creating uncertainty around the consequences of habitat loss for predatory species. Here we explore the trade-off between prey availability and predation success for a model coastal predator, the New Zealand blue cod, <i>Parapercis colias</i>, which is a valuable commercial and recreational fisheries target. Field surveys quantified differences in prey abundance inside and outside complex habitats, whilst mesocosm experiments determined the influence of refuges on prey consumption. A simple food web model was developed to explore how prey availability and predation success trade-off in the presence of habitat complexity to determine predator population dynamics and vulnerability to fishing. Results indicate that increased prey abundance compensates for decreased predation success within complex habitats and allows for high densities of predators. However, the effects of habitat loss are dependent on the mechanisms by which complexity increases prey abundance. If complex habitats act only as predation refuges, then a loss of complexity is advantageous for predators, increasing their abundance and reducing their vulnerability to overfishing. However, if complex habitats also enhance the carrying capacity of prey through mechanisms unrelated to predation, then habitat loss reduces predator abundance and increases vulnerability to overfishing. Our study highlights the need to understand specific mechanisms that promote population abundance in complex habitats and shows how this knowledge will help us to better predict the impacts of habitat loss for coastal fisheries.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70233","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ecosphere","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.70233","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Complex coastal habitats including seaweed and kelp forests are declining throughout the world due to the impacts of ocean warming, coastal development, overfishing, and pollution. Complex habitats provide shelter, food, nesting, and nursery sites, allowing for high biodiversity and productivity that supports valuable economic, cultural, and recreational services. From the perspective of prey, habitat-forming macroalgae offer physical and visual refuges that reduce their risk of predation. However, for predators, this refuge availability presents a trade-off. Whilst prey might be more abundant in the presence of complex habitats, they are also likely to be more difficult to catch and consume, creating uncertainty around the consequences of habitat loss for predatory species. Here we explore the trade-off between prey availability and predation success for a model coastal predator, the New Zealand blue cod, Parapercis colias, which is a valuable commercial and recreational fisheries target. Field surveys quantified differences in prey abundance inside and outside complex habitats, whilst mesocosm experiments determined the influence of refuges on prey consumption. A simple food web model was developed to explore how prey availability and predation success trade-off in the presence of habitat complexity to determine predator population dynamics and vulnerability to fishing. Results indicate that increased prey abundance compensates for decreased predation success within complex habitats and allows for high densities of predators. However, the effects of habitat loss are dependent on the mechanisms by which complexity increases prey abundance. If complex habitats act only as predation refuges, then a loss of complexity is advantageous for predators, increasing their abundance and reducing their vulnerability to overfishing. However, if complex habitats also enhance the carrying capacity of prey through mechanisms unrelated to predation, then habitat loss reduces predator abundance and increases vulnerability to overfishing. Our study highlights the need to understand specific mechanisms that promote population abundance in complex habitats and shows how this knowledge will help us to better predict the impacts of habitat loss for coastal fisheries.

Abstract Image

求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
Ecosphere
Ecosphere ECOLOGY-
CiteScore
4.70
自引率
3.70%
发文量
378
审稿时长
15 weeks
期刊介绍: The scope of Ecosphere is as broad as the science of ecology itself. The journal welcomes submissions from all sub-disciplines of ecological science, as well as interdisciplinary studies relating to ecology. The journal''s goal is to provide a rapid-publication, online-only, open-access alternative to ESA''s other journals, while maintaining the rigorous standards of peer review for which ESA publications are renowned.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信