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The effects of human activity on the temporal variability of coral reef fish assemblages in the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary
Author(s) -
Greene Lawrence E.,
Shenker Jonathan M.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
aquatic conservation: marine and freshwater ecosystems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.95
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1099-0755
pISSN - 1052-7613
DOI - 10.1002/aqc.3270030304
Subject(s) - coral reef , reef , coral reef fish , fishery , fish <actinopterygii> , artificial reef , scuba diving , coral , oceanography , geography , coastal fish , disturbance (geology) , environmental science , ecology , geology , biology , paleontology
1. A visual assessment method, called Discrete Group Censusing, was used to assess and monitor five coral reef fish assemblages in the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary, Florida, USA. 2. Samples were obtained quarterly from Winter 1988 to Autumn 1990 to investigate a possible relation between the variability of reef fish assemblages and human disturbance. 3. Two types of disturbance were studied: a ship grounding that occurred 4 years previous to the study, and intensive, recreational snorkel and SCUBA diving. These disturbances appeared to have no short‐term effect on the temporal variability of the reef fish assemblages during the study period. 4. Furthermore, the assemblages at all five study sites appeared to be extremely stable over the 2 year period of the study. These results support the theory that coral reef fish assemblages are highly ordered and stable over relatively large spatial scales. 5. The Discrete Group Censusing visual assessment method was found to be a valuable and easily applied tool for the nondestructive in situ monitoring of reef fish assemblages on coral reefs.