Spatial variation in coral reef fish and benthic communities in the central Saudi Arabian Red Sea.

Maha T Khalil,Michael L Berumen,Jessica Bouwmeester

doi:10.7717/peerj.3410

Maha T Khalil, Michael L Berumen + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3410

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Abstract

Local-scale ecological information is critical as a sound basis for spatial management and conservation and as support for ongoing research in relatively unstudied areas. We conducted visual surveys of fish and benthic communities on nine reefs (3–24 km from shore) in the Thuwal area of the central Saudi Arabian Red Sea. Fish biomass increased with increasing distance from shore, but was generally low compared to reefs experiencing minimal human influence around the world. All reefs had a herbivore-dominated trophic structure and few top predators, such as sharks, jacks, or large groupers. Coral cover was considerably lower on inshore reefs, likely due to a 2010 bleaching event. Community analyses showed inshore reefs to be characterized by turf algae, slower-growing corals, lower herbivore diversity, and highly abundant turf-farming damselfishes. Offshore reefs had more planktivorous fishes, a more diverse herbivore assemblage, and faster-growing corals. All reefs appear to be impacted by overfishing, and inshore reefs seem more vulnerable to thermal bleaching. The study provides a description of the spatial variation in biomass and community structure in the central Saudi Arabian Red Sea and provides a basis for spatial prioritization and subsequent marine protected area design in Thuwal.

Highlights

Despite the uniqueness of its environment and the fact that it possesses one of the longest coral reef systems in the world, coral reef ecology remains relatively understudied in the Red Sea in comparison to other biogeographical regions (Berumen et al, 2013)
Biomass trophic composition on all reefs was dominated by herbivores at both depths with few to no top predators, with the exception of one offshore reef (NR), which was the only reef in which top predator biomass was dominant at 10 m (Fig. 3)
We presented a description of the spatial variation of fish biomass and fish and benthic communities on Thuwal reefs in the central Saudi Arabian Red Sea

Summary

Introduction

Despite the uniqueness of its environment and the fact that it possesses one of the longest coral reef systems in the world, coral reef ecology remains relatively understudied in the Red Sea in comparison to other biogeographical regions (Berumen et al, 2013). Saudi Arabia has the largest stretch of Red Sea coastline (approximately 1,700 km) and is home to a variety of coral reef habitat types (e.g., Sheppard, Price & Roberts, 1992), yet there are relatively few accessible publications available from this region that report basic and detailed ecological patterns. With the exception of a few recent studies (e.g., Furby, Bouwmeester & Berumen, 2013), little work has been done to characterize reef communities on small, local scales, which are appropriate for informing local resource-managers and decision makers (Margules & Pressey, 2000), and there are even fewer studies using detailed taxonomic resolution (e.g., fish or benthic species)

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