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Delineating optimal settlement areas of juvenile reef fish in Ngederrak Reef, Koror state, Republic of Palau

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Abstract

Establishing the effectiveness of habitat features to act as surrogate measures of diversity and abundance of juvenile reef fish provides information that is critical to coral reef management. When accurately set on a broader spatial context, microhabitat information becomes more meaningful and its management application becomes more explicit. The goal of the study is to identify coral reef areas potentially important to juvenile fishes in Ngederrak Reef, Republic of Palau, across different spatial scales. To achieve this, the study requires the accomplishment of the following tasks: (1) structurally differentiate the general microhabitat types using acoustics; (2) quantify microhabitat association with juvenile reef fish community structure; and (3) conduct spatial analysis of the reef-wide data and locate areas optimal for juvenile reef fish settlement. The results strongly suggest the importance of branching structures in determining species count and abundance of juvenile reef fish at the outer reef slope of Ngederrak Reef. In the acoustic map, the accurate delineation of these features allowed us to identify reef areas with the highest potential to harbor a rich aggregation of juvenile reef fish. Using a developed spatial analysis tool that ranks pixel groups based on user-defined parameters, the reef area near the Western channel of Ngederrak is predicted to have the most robust aggregation of juvenile reef fish. The results have important implications not only in management, but also in modeling the impacts of habitat loss on reef fish community. At least for Ngederrak Reef, the results advanced the utility of acoustic systems in predicting spatial distribution of juvenile fish.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Dr. Shiela Marcos, Eileen Peñaflor, and David Idip for their invaluable assistance in the conduct of the field work. Funding was provided by the World Bank-Global Environment Facility-Coral Reef Targeted Research-Remote Sensing Working Group, and the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Animal Biology Division, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines—Los Baños, College, Laguna, 4031, Philippines

    Victor S. Ticzon

  2. Ocean Color and Coastal Oceanography Laboratory, Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines—Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

    Victor S. Ticzon & Laura T. David

  3. National Coral Reef Institute, Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center, 8000 North Ocean Drive, Dania Beach, FL, 33004, USA

    Greg Foster

  4. Marine Spatial Ecology Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia Brisbane, Qld, 4072, Australia

    Peter J. Mumby

  5. School of Environmental Science and Management, University of the Philippines—Los Baños, College, Laguna, 4031, Philippines

    Badi R. Samaniego

  6. Institute of Computer Science, University of the Philippines—Los Baños, College, Laguna, 4031, Philippines

    Val Randolf Madrid

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  1. Victor S. Ticzon
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  2. Greg Foster
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  4. Peter J. Mumby
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  6. Val Randolf Madrid
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Correspondence to Victor S. Ticzon.

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Ticzon, V.S., Foster, G., David, L.T. et al. Delineating optimal settlement areas of juvenile reef fish in Ngederrak Reef, Koror state, Republic of Palau. Environ Monit Assess 187, 4089 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-4089-7

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