Abstract
AbstractSeagrass habitats have long been known to serve as nursery habitats for juvenile fish by providing refuges from predation and areas of high forage abundance. However, comparatively less is known about other factors structuring fish communities that make extensive use of seagrass as nursery habitat. We examined both physical and biological factors that may structure the juvenile seagrass‐associated fish communities across a synoptic‐scale multiyear study in lower Chesapeake Bay. Across 3 years of sampling, we collected 21,153 fish from 31 species. Silver Perch Bairdiella chrysoura made up over 86% of all individuals collected. Nine additional species made up at least 1% of the fish community in the bay but were at very different abundances than historical estimates of the fish community from the early 1980s. Eight species, including Silver Perch, showed a relationship with measured gradients of temperature or salinity and Spot Leiostomus xanthurus showed a negative relationship with the presence of macroalgae. Climate change, particularly increased precipitation and runoff from frequent and intense events, has the potential to alter fish–habitat relationships in seagrass beds and other habitats and may have already altered the fish community composition. Comparisons of fish species to historical data from the 1970s, our data, and recent contemporary data in the late 2000s suggests this has occurred.Received September 4, 2012; accepted May 5, 2013
Highlights
Seagrass habitats have long been known to serve as nursery habitats for juvenile fish by providing refuges from predation and areas of high forage abundance
Manipulative experiments in mesocosms have confirmed that species such as Pinfish Lagodon rhomboides and Atlantic Croaker Micropogonias undulatus choose seagrass habitats based on abiotic factors coupled with biotic influences (Froeschke and Stunz 2012)
We examined the effects of physical, biological, geographical, and temporal factors on fish abundance within these seagrass beds and tested the null hypothesis of a random fish distribution throughout lower Chesapeake Bay
Summary
Seagrass habitats have long been known to serve as nursery habitats for juvenile fish by providing refuges from predation and areas of high forage abundance. Comparisons of fish species to historical data from the 1970s, our data, and recent contemporary data in the late 2000s suggests this has occurred Complex habitats, such as seagrasses, provide nurseries that enhance the survival of coastal marine fishes and invertebrates during their early life (Thayer et al 1984; Bell and Pollard 1989; Gillanders 2006). Manipulative experiments in mesocosms have confirmed that species such as Pinfish Lagodon rhomboides and Atlantic Croaker Micropogonias undulatus choose seagrass habitats based on abiotic factors (dissolved oxygen) coupled with biotic (food availability, predation risk) influences (Froeschke and Stunz 2012) These studies document the reduced juvenile fish survival and altered species composition in seagrass habitats that favor warmwater species assemblages due to impacts of anthropogenic stressors and climate warming
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