Abstract
Recruitment of new individuals is essential for community sustainability and resilience. Spatial variation in coral recruitment was quantified for nine sites in Amitori Bay of Iriomote Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, and compared with adult abundance. In addition, potential source sites for recruits, larval trajectories from source to sink sites, and travel distances of larvae were estimated by numerical modeling using real biological and physical data at the main spawning periods. As a result, acroporid recruitment was dominant in Amitori Bay and was positively correlated with adult abundance. Numerical modeling demonstrated a potential that recruits in Amitori Bay could be originated from nearby areas, and that most of recruits traveled less than 400 m with the maximum travel distance of less than 5.5 km. Therefore, estimated dispersal distance of larvae could be relatively short as the mouth of Amitori Bay is about 2 km across and the length of the bay is 4 km. These suggested that the acroporid community in Amitori Bay could be maintained by recruits from within the bay and from immediately surrounding areas.
This chapter is based on work reported by Nakamura et al. (2017).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Biodiversity Center of Japan (2016) Report on monitoring 1000 coral reef survey in fiscal year 2016. The Ministry of the Environment, Japan
Connell JH, Hughes TP, Wallace CC (1997) A 30-year study of coral abundance, recruitment, and disturbance at several scales in space and time. Ecol Monogr 67:461–488
Cowen RK, Sponaugle S (2009) Larval dispersal and marine population connectivity. Ann Rev Mar Sci 1:443–466
De’ath G, Fabricius KE, Sweatman H, Puotinen M (2012) The 27-year decline of coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef and its causes. Proc Natl Acad Sci 109(44):17995–17999
Gardner TA, Côté IM, Gill JA, Grant A, Watkinson AR (2003) Long-term region-wide declines in caribbean corals. Science 301:958–960
GBRMPA (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority) (2016) Interim report: coral bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef. GBRMPA, Townsville, pp 1–27
Graham NAJ, Jennings S, MacNeil MA, Mouillot D, Wilson SK (2015) Predicting climate-driven regime shifts versus rebound potential in coral reefs. Nature 518:94–97
Hughes TP, Baird AH, Dinsdale EA, Moltschanlwskyj NA, Pratchett MS, Tanner JE, Wills BL (1999) Patterns of recruitment and abundance of corals along the Great Barrier Reef. Nature 396:59–63
Hughes TP, Baird AH, Dinsdale EA, Moltschaniwskyj NA, Pratchett MS, Tanner JE, Willis BL (2000) Supply-side ecology works both ways: the link between benthic adults, fecundity, and larval recruits. Ecology 81:2241–2249
Jones GP, McCormick MI, Srinivasan M, Eagle V (2004) Coral decline threatens fish biodiversity in marine reserves. Proc Natl Acad Sci 101(21):8251–8253
Murakami T, Ukai A, Khono H, Mizutani A, Shimokawa S, Nakase K, Noguchi K, Yasuda T (2012) Relationships between distributions of corals and physical environments in Amitori Bay, Iriomote Island, Japan. J Japan Soc Civil Eng B3, 68:I_1133–I_1138
Murakami T, Khono H, Yamamoto Y, Mizutani A, Shimokawa S (2015) Numerical simulation for initial dynamic state of bundle based on field observations of Acroporidae spawning in Amitori Bay, Iriomote Island, Japan. J Japan Soc Civil Eng B2 71(2):I_1225–I_1230 (In Japanese with English abstract)
Nakamura M, Sakai K (2010) Spatiotemporal variability in recruitment around Iriomote Island, Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan: implications for dispersal of spawning corals. Mar Biol 157:801–810
Nakamura M, Kumagai NH, Sakai K, Okaji K, Mitarai S (2015) Spatial variability in recruitment of acroporid corals and predatory starfish along the Onna coast, Okinawa, Japan. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 540:1–12
Nakamura M, Murakami T, Khono H, Noda W, Matsushita Y, Mizutani A (2017) Coral recruitment on a local scale in Amitori Bay, Iriomote Island, estimated by settlement plates and numerical analysis. J Japan Soc Civil Eng B2 72(2):I_1279–I_1284 (In Japanese with English abstract)
Suzuki G, Arakaki S, Hayashibara T (2011) Rapid in situ settlement following spawning by Acropora corals at Ishigaki, southern Japan. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 421:131–138
Treml EA, Halpin PN, Urban DL, Pratson LF (2008) Modeling popualtion connectivity by ocean currents, a graph-theoreric apporach for marine conservation. Landscape Ecol 23:19–36
Acknowledgement
We are very grateful to Wataru Noda and Yusuke Matsushita for helping to conduct this research. This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers 16K07527. We also thank OIST’s technical editor, Dr. Steven D. Aird, for helping to polish this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Nakamura, M., Murakami, T., Kohno, H., Mizutani, A. (2020). Coral Recruitment on a Local Scale in Amitori Bay, Iriomote Island, Estimated by Filed Surveys and Numerical Analyses. In: Shimokawa, S., Murakami, T., Kohno, H. (eds) Geophysical Approach to Marine Coastal Ecology. Springer Oceanography. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1129-5_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1129-5_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-1128-8
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-1129-5
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)