Journal
CURRENT BIOLOGY
Volume 19, Issue 7, Pages 590-595Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.02.041
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Funding
- UK's Natural Environment Resource Council [NE/CO04442/1]
- National Park Service, USGS
- NOAA- Biogeography Branch
- National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada [OGP01 5284]
- Puerto Rico National Coral Reef Monitoring Program
- Department of Natural and Environmental Resources
- Lianna Jarecki for logistical support
- NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program
- BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council) [01/Al/S/08113]
- Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research
- MAVDT
- COLCIENCIAS
- UNEP-CAR/RCU
- CORALINA
- CEINER
- UAESPNN
- CARICOMP
- UK DFID
- The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
- Government of the Republic of Panama
- Kuna General Congress
- NERC [NE/E00606X/1, NE/C004442/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Natural Environment Research Council [NE/E00606X/1, NE/C004442/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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Profound ecological changes are occurring on coral reefs throughout the tropics [1-3], with marked coral cover losses and concomitant algal increases, particularly in the Caribbean region [4]. Historical declines in the abundance of large Caribbean reef fishes likely reflect centuries of overexploitation [5-7]. However, effects of drastic recent degradation of reef habitats on reef fish assemblages have yet to be established. By using meta.-analysis, we analyzed time series of reef fish density obtained from 48 studies that include 318 reefs across the Caribbean and span the time period 1955-2007. Our analyses show that overall reef fish density has been declining significantly for more than a decade, at rates that are consistent across all subregions of the Caribbean basin (2.7% to 6.0% loss per year) and in three of six trophic groups. Changes in fish density over the past half-century are modest relative to concurrent changes in benthic cover on Caribbean reefs. However, the recent significant decline in overall fish abunclance and its consistency across several trophic groups. and among both fished and nonfished species indicate that Caribbean fishes have begun to respond negatively to habitat degradation.
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