Abstract
Oceans absorb a huge part of the atmospheric heat, leading to the rise in water temperature. Reefs are among the most affected ecosystems, where the complex behavioral repertoire of fishes is usually an indicator of environmental impacts. Here, we examined whether temperature (28 and 34°C) and habitat complexity (high and low) interact to affect the agonistic behavior (mirror test) of the dusky damselfish (Stegastes fuscus), a key species in Brazilian reefs because of its gardening capacity and territorial behavior. Higher temperatures altered basal behavior in both high and low-complexity conditions. Fish kept at 28°C under the high-complexity condition were more aggressive than those at a higher temperature (34°C) and in a low-complexity condition, which also exhibited lower dispersion. Our data show that changes in behavior of coral reef fish is associated to fluctuations in environmental conditions. Thus, it is important to implement management or conservation strategies that could mitigate global change effects.
Highlights
Global warming has been singled out as one of the most devastating effects of human activities [1]., especially for oceans, which absorb around 90% of the atmospheric heat
As increase in temperature raises the metabolic rate of fish and promotes direct influences in behavior, we suggest that natural aggressive behavior of S. fuscus would be affected
Swimming velocity varied between habitat complexity depending on the temperature regime, both before and after mirror exposure (Table 1 and S1 Data)
Summary
Global warming has been singled out as one of the most devastating effects of human activities [1]., especially for oceans, which absorb around 90% of the atmospheric heat. Physiological functioning depends on the thermal condition [2,3]. The rise in water temperature directly affects fishes’ metabolism, increasing respiration rate, nutritional requirements, and other physiological and behavioral responses such as reproduction and immunological defense [4,5,6,7,8]. For the reef fishes the impact is exacerbated because algae and coral that make up reef’s structural foundation are even more sensitive to temperature rise. The three-dimensional structure and food source offered by the coral communities favor the establishment of hundreds of species, and the immediate impact of warming will be loss of diversity and changes in fish community composition [9,10].
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