Abstract
Shallow-water tropical coastal habitats, such as mangroves and seagrass beds, have long been associated with high primary and secondary productivity. The ubiquitous presence of juvenile fish and decapods in these systems has led to the hypothesis that they act as nurseries. Earlier studies mainly focused on the faunal community structure of these systems, leaving us with little detailed insight into their potential role as nurseries. Habitats are considered nurseries if their contribution, in terms of production, to the adult population is greater than the average production of all juvenile habitats, measured by the factors density, growth, survival, and/or movement. High food abundance and low predation risk form the most likely factors that contribute to the attractiveness of tropical nursery habitats. Here, the current state of knowledge on nursery function of shallow-water coastal habitats, particularly mangroves and seagrass beds, is reviewed for each of the above-mentioned factors. Most data show that mangroves and/or seagrass beds have high densities of various fish species and some of their food items, and a lower predation risk for fish and decapods due to factors such as low predator abundance, high water turbidity, and complex habitat structure. In contrast, growth rates of fish appear higher on coral reefs. There is increasing evidence that at least part of the fish or decapod population in these putative nurseries eventually moves away to offshore habitats. The current review shows that mangrove and/or seagrass habitats may act as nurseries through higher juvenile densities and survival rates than offshore habitats, but that trade-offs may exist to the detriment of growth rate. With the lack of detailed movement studies, the exact degree to which mangroves and seagrass beds sustain offshore fish and decapod populations remains largely unclear.
Keywords
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Acosta CA, Butler IV MJ (1997) Role of mangrove habitat as a nursery for juvenile spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, in Belize. Mar Freshw Res 48:721–728
Acosta CA, Butler IV MJ (1999) Adaptive strategies that reduce predation on Caribbean spiny lobster postlarvae during onshore transport. Limnol Oceanogr 44:494–501
Adams AJ, Dahlgren CP, Kellison GT et al (2006) Nursery function of tropical backreef systems. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 318:287–301
Alongi DM (2002) Present state and future of the world’s mangrove forests. Environ Conserv 29:331–349
Appeldoorn RS, Recksiek CW, Hill RL et al (1997) Marine protected areas and reef fish movements: the role of habitat in controlling ontogenetic migration. Proc 8th Int Coral Reef Symp 2:1917–1922
Aguilar-Perera A, Appeldoorn RS (2007) Variation in juvenile fish density along the mangrove-seagrass-coral reef continuum in SW Puerto Rico. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 348:139–148
Baker R, Sheaves M (2005) Redefining the piscivore assemblage of shallow estuarine nursery habitats. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 291:197–213
Baker R, Sheaves M (2006) Visual surveys reveal high densities of large piscivores in shallow estuarine nurseries. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 323:75–82
Barrett NS (1999) Food availability is not a limiting factor in the growth of three Australian temperate reef fishes. Environ Biol Fish 56:419–428
Bartholomew A (2002) Faunal colonization of artificial seagrass plots: the importance of surface area versus space size relative to body size. Estuaries 25:1045–1052
Beck MW, Heck KL, Able KW et al (2001) The identification, conservation and management of estuarine and marine nurseries for fish and invertebrates. BioScience 51:633–641
Bell JD, Westoby M (1986) Abundance of macrofauna in dense seagrass is due to habitat preference, not predation. Oecologia 68:205–209
Benfield MC, Minello TJ (1996) Relative effects of turbidity and light intensity on reactive distance and feeding of an estuarine fish. Environ Biol Fish 46:211–216
Blaber SJM (1980) Fish of the Trinity Inlet system of north Queensland with notes on the ecology of fish faunas of tropical Indo-Pacific estuaries. Aust J Mar Freshw Res 31:137–146
Blaber SJM (2000) Tropical estuarine fishes: ecology, exploitation and conservation. Blackwell, Oxford
Blaber SJM, Blaber TG (1980) Factors affecting the distribution of juvenile estuarine and inshore fish. J Fish Biol 17:143–162
Blaber SJM, Milton DA (1990) Species composition, community structure and zoogeography of fishes of mangrove estuaries in the Solomon Islands. Mar Biol 105:259–267
Blaber SJM, Young JW, Dunning MC (1985) Community structure and zoogeographic affinities of the coastal fishes of the Dampier region of north-western Australia. Aust J Mar Freshw Res 36:247–266
Blaber SJM, Brewer DT, Salini JP (1989) Composition and biomasses of fishes in different habitats of a tropical northern Australian estuary – their occurrence in the adjoining sea and estuarine dependence. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 29:509–531
Blaber SJM, Brewer DT, Salini JP et al (1992) Species composition and biomasses of fishes in tropical seagrasses at Groote-Eylandt, Northern Australia. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 35:605–620
Booth DJ, Hixon MA (1999) Food ration and condition affect early survival of the coral reef damselfish, Stegastes partitus. Oecologia 121:364–368
Bouwmeester BLK (2005) Ontogenetic migration and growth of French grunt (Teleostei: Haemulon flavolineatum) as determined by coded wire tags. M.Sc. thesis, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguëz
Brewer DT, Blaber SJM, Salini JP et al (1995) Feeding ecology of predatory fishes from Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia, with special reference to predation on penaeid prawns. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 40:577–600
Burke NC (1995) Nocturnal foraging habitats of French and bluestriped grunts Haemulon flavolineatum and H. sciurus, at Tobacco Caye, Belize. Environ Biol Fish 42:365–374
Carr MH, Hixon MA (1995) Predation effects on early postsettlement survivorship of coral-reef fishes. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 124:31–42
Chittaro PM, Fryer BJ, Sale PF (2004) Discrimination of French grunts (Haemulon flavolineatum, Desmarest, 1823) from mangrove and coral reef habitats using otolith microchemistry. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 308:169–183
Chittaro PM, Usseglio P, Sale PF (2005) Variation in fish density, assemblage composition and relative rates of predation among mangrove, seagrass and coral reef habitats. Environ Biol Fish 72:175–187
Christensen JD, Jeffrey CFG, Caldow C et al (2003) Cross-shelf habitat utilization patterns of reef fishes in southwestern Puerto Rico. Gulf Caribb Res 14:9–27
Cocheret de la Morinière E (2002) Post-settlement life cycle migrations of reef fish in the mangrove-seagrass-coral reef continuum. Ph.D. thesis, University of Nijmegen, Nijmegen
Cocheret de la Morinière E, Pollux BJA, Nagelkerken et al (2002) Post-settlement life cycle migration patterns and habitat preference of coral reef fish that use seagrass and mangrove habitats as nurseries. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 55:309–321
Cocheret de la Morinière E, Pollux BJA, Nagelkerken I et al (2003a) Diet shifts of Caribbean grunts (Haemulidae) and snappers (Lutjanidae) and the relation with nursery-to-coral reef migrations. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 57:1079–1089
Cocheret de la Morinière E, Pollux BJA, Nagelkerken I et al (2003b) Ontogenetic dietary changes of coral reef fishes in the mangrove-seagrass-reef continuum: stable isotopes and gut-content analysis. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 246:279–289
Cocheret de la Morinière E, Nagelkerken I, van der Meij H et al (2004) What attracts juvenile coral reef fish to mangroves: habitat complexity or shade? Mar Biol 144:139–145
Costello TJ, Allen DM (1966) Migrations and geographic distribution of pink shrimp, Penaeus duorarum, of the Tortugas and Sanibel grounds, Florida. Fish Bull 65:449–459
Curran MC, Able KW (1998) The value of tethering fishes (winter flounder and tautog) as a tool for assessing predation rates. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 163:45–51
Cyrus DP, Blaber SJM (1987) The influence of turbidity on juvenile marine fishes in estuaries. Part 2. Laboratory studies, comparisons with field data and conclusions. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 109:71–91
Dahlgren CP, Eggleston DB (2000) Ecological processes underlying ontogenetic habitat shifts in a coral reef fish. Ecology 81:2227–2240
Dahlgren CP, Kellison GT, Adams AJ et al (2006) Marine nurseries and effective juvenile habitats: concepts and applications. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 312:291–295
Danilowicz BS, Sale PF (1999) Relative intensity of predation of the French grunt, Haemulon flavolineatum, during diurnal, dusk, and nocturnal periods on a coral reef. Mar Biol 133:337–343
Day JW Jr, Hall CAS, Kemp WM et al (1989) Estuarine ecology. Wiley, New York
Dorenbosch M, van Riel MC, Nagelkerken I et al (2004) The relationship of reef fish densities to the proximity of mangrove and seagrass nurseries. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 60:37–48
Dorenbosch M, Grol MGG, Christianen MJA et al (2005a) Indo-Pacific seagrass beds and mangroves contribute to fish density and diversity on adjacent coral reefs. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 302:63–76
Dorenbosch M, Grol MGG, Nagelkerken I et al (2005b) Distribution of coral reef fishes along a coral reef – seagrass gradient: edge effects and habitat segregation. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 299:277–288
Dorenbosch M, Grol MGG, Nagelkerken I et al (2006) Seagrass beds and mangroves as potential nurseries for the threatened Indo-Pacific humphead wrasse, Cheilinus undulatus and Caribbean rainbow parrotfish, Scarus guacamaia. Biol Conserv 129:277–282
Dorenbosch M, Verberk WCEP, Nagelkerken I et al (2007) Influence of habitat configuration on connectivity between fish assemblages of Caribbean seagrass beds, mangroves and coral reefs. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 334:103–116
Dorenbosch M, Grol MGG, de Groene A et al (2009) Piscivore assemblages and predation pressure affect relative safety of some back-reef habitats for juvenile fish in a Caribbean bay. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 379:181–196
Duarte CM (2002) The future of seagrass meadows. Environ Conserv 29:192–206
Edgar GJ, Shaw C (1995) The production and trophic ecology of shallow-water fish assemblages in southern Australia. 1. Species richness, size-structure and production of fishes in Western Port, Victoria. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 194:53–81
Eggleston DB, Lipcius RN (1992) Shelter selection by spiny lobster under variable predation risk, social conditions, and shelter size. Ecology 73:992–1011
Eggleston DB, Grover JJ, Lipcius RN (1998) Ontogenetic diet shifts in Nassau grouper: trophic linkages and predatory impact. Bull Mar Sci 63:111–126
Eggleston DB, Dahlgren CP, Johnson EG (2004) Fish density, diversity, and size-structure within multiple back reef habitats of Key West national wildlife refuge. Bull Mar Sci 75:175–204
Faunce CH, Serafy JE (2006) Mangroves as fish habitat: 50 years of field studies. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 318:1–18
Faunce CH, Serafy JE (2007) Nearshore habitat use by gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus) and bluestriped grunt (Haemulon sciurus): environmental gradients and ontogenetic shifts. Bull Mar Sci 80:473–495
Fry B, Mumford PL, Robblee MB (1999) Stable isotope studies of pink shrimp (Farfantepenaeus duorarum Burkenroad) migrations on the southwestern Florida shelf. Bull Mar Sci 65:419–430
Gillanders BM, Able KW, Brown JA et al (2003) Evidence of connectivity between juvenile and adult habitats for mobile marine fauna: an important component of nurseries. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 247:281–295
Graham NAJ (2007) Ecological versatility and the decline of coral feeding fishes following climate driven coral mortality. Mar Biol 153:119–127
Gratwicke B, Petrovic C, Speight MR (2006) Fish distribution and ontogenetic habitat preferences in non-estuarine lagoons and adjacent reefs. Environ Biol Fish 76:191–210
Grol MGG, Dorenbosch M, Kokkelmans EMG et al (2008) Mangroves and seagrass beds do not enhance growth of early juveniles of a coral reef fish. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 366:137–146
Haywood MDE, Manson FJ, Loneragan NR et al (2003) Investigation of artifacts from chronographic tethering experiments – interactions between tethers and predators. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 290:271–292
Heck KL, Nadau DA, Thomas R (1997) The nursery role of seagrass beds. Gulf Mexico Sci 15: 50–54
Heck KL, Orth RJ (1980) Structural components of eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadows in the lower Chesapeake Bay – decapod crustacea. Estuaries 3:289–295
Heck KL, Hays G, Orth RJ (2003) Critical evaluation of the nursery role hypothesis for seagrass meadows. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 253:123–136
Herrnkind WF, Butler IV MJ (1986) Factors regulating postlarval settlement and juvenile microhabitat use by spiny lobsters Panulirus argus. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 34:23–30
Hixon MA, Beets JP (1993) Predation, prey refuges, and the structure of coral-reef fish assemblages. Ecol Monogr 63:77–101
Hixon MA, Carr MH (1997) Synergistic predation, density dependence, and population regulation in marine fish. Science 277:946–949
Hixon MA, Jones GP (2005) Competition, predation, and density-dependent mortality in demersal marine fishes. Ecology 86:2847–2859
Horinouchi M (2007) Review of the effects of within-patch scale structural complexity on seagrass fishes. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 350:111–129
Hughes TP, Baird AH, Bellwood DR et al (2003) Climate change, human impacts, and the resilience of coral reefs. Science 301:929–933
Huijbers CM, Grol MGG, Nagelkerken I (2008) Shallow patch reefs as alternative habitats for early juveniles of some mangrove/seagrass-associated fish species in Bermuda. Rev Biol Trop 56 (Suppl. 1):161–169
Iversen ES, Idyll CP (1960) Aspects of the biology of the Tortugas pink shrimp, Penaeus duorarum. Trans Am Fish Soc 89:1–8
Jackson EL, Rowden AA, Attrill MJ et al (2001) The importance of seagrass beds as a habitat for fishery species. Oceanogr Mar Biol Annu Rev 39:269–303
Jacoby CA, Greenwood JG (1989) Emergent zooplankton in Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia: seasonal, lunar, and diel patterns in emergence and distribution with respect to substrata. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 51:131–154
Jennings S, Reñones O, Morales-Nin B et al (1997) Spatial variation in the 15N and 13C stable isotope composition of plants, invertebrates and fishes on Mediterranean reefs: implications for the study of trophic pathways. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 146:109–116
Johnston R, Sheaves M, Molony B (2007) Are distributions of fishes in tropical estuaries influenced by turbidity over small spatial scales? J Fish Biol 71:657–671
Kanashiro K (1998) Settlement and migration of early stage spangled emperor, Lethrinus nebulosus (Pisces: Lethrinidae), in the coastal waters off Okinawa island, Japan. Nippon Suisan Gakk 64:618–625
Kitheka JU, Ohowa BO, Mwashote BM et al (1996) Water circulation dynamics, water column nutrients and plankton productivity in a well-flushed tropical bay in Kenya. J Sea Res 35:257–268
Kruitwagen G, Nagelkerken I, Lugendo BR et al (2007) Influence of morphology and amphibious life-style on the feeding ecology of the mudskipper Periophthalmus argentilineatus. J Fish Biol 71:39–52
Kulbicki M, Bozec YM, Labrosse P et al (2005) Diet composition of carnivorous fishes from coral reef lagoons of New Caledonia. Aquat living Res 18:231–250
Laegdsgaard P, Johnson C (2001) Why do juvenile fish utilise mangrove habitats? J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 257:229–253
Laprise R, Blaber SJM (1992) Predation by Moses perch, Lutjanus russelli, and blue-spotted trevally, Caranx bucculentus, on juvenile brown tiger prawn, Penaeus esculentus – effects of habitat structure and time of day. J Fish Biol 40:627–635
Levin P, Petrik R, Malone J (1997) Interactive effects of habitat selection, food supply and predation on recruitment of an estuarine fish. Oecologia 112:55–63
Lindquist DG, Gilligan MR (1986) Distribution and relative abundance of butterflyfishes and angelfishes across a lagoon and barrier reef, Andros Island, Bahamas. Northeast Gulf Sci 8:23–30
Lucas C (1974) Preliminary estimates of stocks of king prawn, Penaeus plebejus, in south-east Queensland. Aust J Mar Freshwat Res 25:35–47
Luo J, Serafy JE, Sponaugle S et al (2009) Movement of gray snapper Lutjanus griseus among subtropical seagrass, mangrove, and coral reef habitats. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 380: 255–269
MacDonald JA, Glover T, Weis JS (2008) The impact of mangrove prop-root epibionts on juvenile reef fishes: a field experiment using artificial roots and epifauna. Estuar Coast 31:981–993
Macia A, Abrabtes KGS, Paula J (2003) Thorn fish Terapon jarbua (Forskål) predation on juvenile white shrimp Penaeus indicus H. Milne Edwards and brown shrimp Metapenaeus monoceros (Fabricius): the effect of turbidity, prey density, substrate type and pneumatophore density. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 291:29–56
Main KL (1987) Predator avoidance in seagrass meadows: prey behavior, microhabitat selection, and cryptic coloration. Ecology 68:170–180
Manson FJ, Loneragan NR, Skilleter GA et al (2005) An evaluation of the evidence for linkages between mangroves and fisheries: a synthesis of the literature and identification of research directions. Oceanogr Mar Biol Annu Rev 43:483–513
McFarland WN (1991) The visual world of coral reef fishes. In: Sale PF (ed) The ecology of fishes on coral reefs, pp. 16–38. Academic Press, San Diego
Meager JJ, Williamson I, Loneragan NR et al (2005) Habitat selection of juvenile banana prawns, Penaeus merguiensis de Man: testing the roles of habitat structure, predators, light phase and prawn size. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 324:89–98
Minello TJ, Able KW, Weinstein MP et al (2003) Salt marshes as nurseries for nekton: testing hypotheses on density, growth and survival through meta-analysis. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 246:39–59
Mumby PJ, Edwards AJ, Arias-González JE et al (2004) Mangroves enhance the biomass of coral reef fish communities in the Caribbean. Nature 427:533–536
Nagelkerken I (2000) Importance of shallow-water bay biotopes as nurseries for Caribbean reef fishes. Ph.D. thesis, University of Nijmegen, Nijmegen
Nagelkerken I (2007) Are non-estuarine mangroves connected to coral reefs through fish migration? Bull Mar Sci 80:595–607
Nagelkerken I, van der Velde G (2002) Do non-estuarine mangroves harbour higher densities of juvenile fish than adjacent shallow-water and coral reef habitats in Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles)? Mar Ecol Prog Ser 245:191–204
Nagelkerken I, van der Velde G (2003) Connectivity between coastal habitats of two oceanic Caribbean islands as inferred from ontogenetic shifts by coral reef fishes. Gulf Caribb Res 14:43–59
Nagelkerken I, van der Velde G (2004) Are Caribbean mangroves important feeding grounds for juvenile reef fish from adjacent seagrass beds? Mar Ecol Prog Ser 274:143–151
Nagelkerken I, Faunce CH (2008) What makes mangroves attractive to fish? Use of artificial units to test the influence of water depth, cross-shelf location, and presence of root structure. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 79:559–565
Nagelkerken I, Dorenbosch M, Verberk WCEP et al (2000a) Day-night shifts of fishes between shallow-water biotopes of a Caribbean bay, with emphasis on the nocturnal feeding of Haemulidae and Lutjanidae. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 194:55–64
Nagelkerken I, Dorenbosch M, Verberk WCEP et al (2000b) Importance of shallow-water biotopes of a Caribbean bay for juvenile coral reef fishes: patterns in biotope association, community structure and spatial distribution. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 202:175–192
Nagelkerken I, van der Velde G, Gorissen MW et al (2000c) Importance of mangroves, seagrass beds and the shallow coral reef as a nursery for important coral reef fishes, using a visual census technique. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 51:31–44
Nagelkerken I, Roberts CM, van der Velde G et al (2002) How important are mangroves and seagrass beds for coral-reef fish? The nursery hypothesis tested on an island scale. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 244:299–305
Nagelkerken I, Bothwell J, Nemeth RS et al (2008) Interlinkage between Caribbean coral reefs and seagrass beds through feeding migrations by grunts (Haemulidae) depends on habitat accessibility. Mar Ecol Prog Ser
Nakamura Y, Sano M (2004a) Is there really lower predation risk for juvenile fishes in a seagrass bed compared with an adjacent coral area? Bull Mar Sci 74:477–482
Nakamura Y, Sano M (2004b) Overlaps in habitat use of fishes between a seagrass bed and adjacent coral and sand areas at Amitori Bay, Iriomote Island, Japan: importance of the seagrass bed as juvenile habitat. Fish Sci 70:788–803
Nakamura Y, Sano M (2005) Comparison of invertebrate abundance in a seagrass bed and adjacent coral and sand areas at Amitori Bay, Iriomote Island, Japan. Fish Sci 71:543–550
Nakamura Y, Tsuchiya M (2008) Spatial and temporal patterns of seagrass habitat use by fishes at the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 76:345–356
Nakamura Y, Kawasaki H, Sano M (2007) Experimental analysis of recruitment patterns of coral reef fishes in seagrass beds: effects of substrate type, shape, and rigidity. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 71:559–568
Nakamura Y, Horinouchi M, Shibuno T et al (2008) Evidence of ontogenetic migration from mangroves to coral reefs by black-tail snapper Lutjanus fulvus: stable isotope approach. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 355:257–266
Ogden JC, Ehrlich PR (1977) The behavior of heterotypic resting schools of juvenile grunts (Pomadasyidae). Mar Biol 42:273–280
Ogden JC, Zieman JC (1977) Ecological aspects of coral reef–seagrass bed contacts in the Caribbean. Proc 3rd Int Coral Reef Symp 1:377–382
Orth RJ, Heck KL, van Montfrans J (1984) Faunal communities in seagrass beds: a review of the influence of plant structure and prey characteristics on predator prey relationships. Estuaries 7:339–350
Parrish JD (1989) Fish communities of interacting shallow-water habitats in tropical oceanic regions. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 58:143–160
Pollux BJA, Verberk WCEP, Dorenbosch M et al (2007) Habitat selection during settlement of three Caribbean coral reef fishes: indications for directed settlement to seagrass beds and mangroves. Limnol Oceanogr 52:903–907
Primavera JH (1997) Fish predation on mangrove-associated penaeids – the role of structures and substrate. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 215:205–216
Reichert MJM, Dean JM, Feller RJ et al (2000) Somatic growth and otolith growth in juveniles of a small subtropical flatfish, the fringed flounder, Etropus crossotus. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 254:169–188
Ríos-Jara E (2005) Effects of lunar cycle and substratum preference on zooplankton emergence in a tropical, shallow-water embayment, in southwestern Puerto Rico. Caribb J Sci 41:108–123
Risk A (1997) Effects of habitat on the settlement and post-settlement success of the ocean surgeonfish Acanthurus bahianus. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 161:51–59
Robertson AI, Duke NC (1987) Mangroves as nursery sites – comparisons of the abundance and species composition of fish and crustaceans in mangroves and other nearshore habitats in tropical Australia. Mar Biol 96:193–205
Robertson AI, Blaber SJM (1992) Plankton, epibenthos and fish communities. In: Robertson AI, Alongi DM (eds) Tropical mangrove ecosystems. Coastal Estuar Stud 41:173–224
Rooker JR (1995) Feeding ecology of the schoolmaster snapper Lutjanus apodus (Walbaum), from southwestern Puerto Rico. Bull Mar Sci 56:881–894
Rooker JR, Dennis GD (1991) Diel, lunar and seasonal changes in a mangrove fish assemblage off southwestern Puerto Rico. Bull Mar Sci 49:684–698
Russell DJ, McDougall AJ (2005) Movement and juvenile recruitment of mangrove jack, Lutjanus argentimaculatus (Forsskål), in northern Australia. Mar Freshw Res 56:465–475
Rypel AL, Layman CA (2008) Degree of aquatic ecosystem fragmentation predicts population characteristics of gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus) in Caribbean tidal creeks. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 65:335–339
Rypel AL, Layman CA, Arrington DA (2007) Water depth modifies relative predation risk for a motile fish taxon in Bahamian tidal creeks. Estuar Coast 30:518–525
Sale PF (1974) Overlap in resource use, and interspecific competition. Oecologia 17:245–256
Salini JP, Blaber SJM, Brewer DT (1990) Diets of piscivorous fishes in a tropical Australian estuary, with special reference to predation on penaeid prawns. Mar Biol 105:363–374
Scharf FS, Manderson JP, Fabrizio MC (2006) The effects of seafloor habitat complexity on survival of juvenile fishes: species-specific interactions with structural refuge. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 335:167–176
Schoener TW (1971) Theory of feeding strategies. Annu Rev Ecol Sys 2:369–404
Serafy JE, Faunce CH, Lorenz JJ (2003) Mangrove shoreline fishes of Biscayne Bay, Florida. Bull Mar Sci 72:161–180
Sheaves M (2001) Are there really few piscivorous fishes in shallow estuarine habitats? Mar Ecol Prog Ser 222:279–290
Sheridan P, Hays C (2003) Are mangroves nursery habitat for transient fishes and decapods? Wetlands 23:449–458
Shibuno T, Nakamura Y, Horinouchi M et al (2008) Habitat use patterns of fishes across the mangrove-seagrass-coral reef seascape at Ishigaki Island, southern Japan. Ichthyol Res 55:218–237
Shulman MJ (1985) Recruitment of coral-reef fishes: effects of distribution of predators and shelter. Ecology 66:1056–1066
Somers IF, Kirkwood GP (1984) Movements of tagged tiger prawns, Penaeus spp., in the western Gulf of Carpentaria. Mar Freshw Res 35:713–723
Spitzer PM, Mattila J, Heck KL (2000) The effects of vegetation density on the relative growth rates of juvenile pinfish, Lagodon rhomboides (Linneaus), in Big Lagoon, Florida. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 244:67–86
Stephens DW, Krebs JR (1986) Foraging theory. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Sumpton WD, Sawynok B, Carstens N (2003) Localised movement of snapper (Pagrus auratus, Sparidae) in a large subtropical marine embayment. Mar Freshw Res 54:923–930
Sweatman H, Robertson DR (1994) Grazing halos and predation on juvenile Caribbean surgeonfishes. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 111:1–6
Thollot P (1992) Importance of mangroves for Pacific reef fish species, myth or reality? Proc 6th Int Coral Reef Symp 2:934–941
Tupper M (2007) Identification of nursery habitats for commercially valuable humphead wrasse Cheilinus undulatus and large groupers (Pisces: Serranidae) in Palau. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 332:189–199
Utne ACW, Aksnes DL, Giske J (1993) Food, predation risk and shelter: an experimental study on the distribution of adult two-spotted goby Gobiusculus flavescens (Fabricius). J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 166:203–216
Vagelli AA (2004) Ontogenetic shift in habitat preference by Pterapogon kauderni, a shallow water coral reef apogonid, with direct development. Copeia 2004: 364–369
Valentine JF, Heck KL, Blackmon D et al (2007) Food web interactions along seagrass-coral reef boundaries: effects of piscivore reductions on cross-habitat energy exchange. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 333:37–50
Valentine JF, Heck KL, Blackmon D et al (2008) Exploited species impacts on trophic linkages along reef-seagrass interfaces in the Florida keys. Ecol Appl 18:1501–1515
Vance DJ, Haywood MDE, Heales DS et al (1996) How far do prawns and fish move into mangroves? Distribution of juvenile banana prawns Penaeus merguiensis and fish in a tropical mangrove forest in northern Australia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 131:115–124
Vanderklift MA, How J, Wernberg T et al (2007) Proximity to reef influences density of small predatory fishes, while type of seagrass influences intensity of their predation on crabs. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 340:235–243
Verweij MC, Nagelkerken I (2007) Short and long-term movement and site fidelity of juvenile Haemulidae in back-reef habitats of a Caribbean embayment. Hydrobiologia 592:257–270
Verweij MC, Nagelkerken I, de Graaff D et al (2006a) Structure, food and shade attract juvenile coral reef fish to mangrove and seagrass habitats: a field experiment. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 306:257–268
Verweij MC, Nagelkerken I, Wartenbergh SLJ et al (2006b) Caribbean mangroves and seagrass beds as daytime feeding habitats for juvenile French grunts, Haemulon flavolineatum. Mar Biol 149:1291–1299
Verweij MC, Nagelkerken I, Hol KEM et al (2007) Space use of Lutjanus apodus including movement between a putative nursery and a coral reef. Bull Mar Sci 81:127–138
Verweij MC, Nagelkerken I, Hans I et al (2008) Seagrass nurseries contribute to coral reef fish populations. Limnol Oceanogr 53:1540–1547
Watson M, Munro JL, Gell FR (2002) Settlement, movement and early juvenile mortality of the yellowtail snapper Ocyurus chrysurus. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 237:247–256
Werner EE, Gilliam JF, Hall DJ et al (1983) An experimental test of the effects of predation risk on habitat use in fish. Ecology 64:1540–1548
Wilson S, Bellwood DR (1997) Cryptic dietary components of territorial damselfishes (Pomacentridae, Labroidei). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 153:299–310
Wilson SK, Street S, Sato T (2005) Discarded queen conch (Strombus gigas) shells as shelter sites for fish. Mar Biol 147:179–188
Wootton RJ (1998) Ecology of teleost fishes. 2nd edition. Fish and Fisheries Series 24. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht
Zimmer-Faust RK, Fielder DR, Heck KL Jr et al (1994) Effects of tethering on predatory escape by juvenile blue crabs. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 111:299–303
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Dr. J Serafy and the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science of the University of Miami for hosting me during my stay in Miami while writing this chapter. This chapter was written while supported by a Vidi fellowship from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) to I Nagelkerken. I thank Drs. C Layman, S Blaber, C Faunce, and M Haywood for providing critical comments on the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Nagelkerken, I. (2009). Evaluation of Nursery function of Mangroves and Seagrass beds for Tropical Decapods and Reef fishes: Patterns and Underlying Mechanisms. In: Nagelkerken, I. (eds) Ecological Connectivity among Tropical Coastal Ecosystems. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2406-0_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2406-0_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-2405-3
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-2406-0
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)