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Post-settlement emigration affects mortality estimates for two Bahamian wrasses

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Abstract

Understanding the dynamics of open marine populations is inherently complex, and this complexity has led to decades of debate regarding the relative importance of pre- versus post-settlement processes in structuring these populations. Movement between patches may be an important modifier of patterns established at settlement, yet local immigration and emigration have received less attention than other demographic rates. I examined loss rates from tagged populations of juvenile wrasses (yellowhead wrasse Halichoeres garnoti and bluehead wrasse Thalassoma bifasciatum) at two sites in the Bahamas. Assuming that all losses were due solely to mortality would have significantly underestimated survivorship of yellowhead wrasse by 29% and bluehead wrasse by 14%. On average, per capita mortality and emigration rates were higher for yellowhead than bluehead wrasse, but neither demographic rate differed between sites for either species. With respect to within-species density, bluehead wrasse mortality was density-dependent at the patch reef site, but mortality rates of yellowhead wrasse were consistently density-independent. Evaluating the effects of between-species density, yellowhead wrasse mortality increased with a decrease in bluehead wrasse density, but this effect was limited to the patch reef site. Emigration rates were not a function of either within-species or between-species density, but instead varied inversely with isolation distance. Numerous previous studies of coral-reef fish, conducted on patch reefs separated by only a few meters of sand and often using untagged fish, may have confounded losses due to emigration with those due to mortality. A better understanding of the factors affecting emigration in marine fishes is important to their effective management using spatial tools such as marine protected areas.

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Acknowledgements

For outstanding assistance underwater, I thank A. Altieri, C. Bartels, D. Booth, M. Dean, B. McLeod, D. Pakes, and especially B. Byrne. The staff of the Caribbean Marine Research Center provided excellent logistical assistance. Comments from G. Jones, B. McLeod, P. Sale, C. Stallings, M. Webster, and an anonymous reviewer significantly improved the manuscript. This is a chapter from my dissertation, which benefited from reviews by my doctoral committee: M. Hixon (chair), M. Blouin, D. Markle, B. Menge, and S. Sogard. Financial support was provided to the author by Zoology Research Funds from Oregon State University, and NSF grant (OCE-96-17483) and NOAA-NURP grant (CMRC-97-3109) to M. Hixon. Additional support for manuscript preparation was provided to the author by COMPASS (Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea).

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  1. Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331-2914, USA

    Karen L. Overholtzer-McLeod

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  1. Karen L. Overholtzer-McLeod
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Correspondence to Karen L. Overholtzer-McLeod.

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Communicated by Ecological Editor P.F. Sale

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Overholtzer-McLeod, K.L. Post-settlement emigration affects mortality estimates for two Bahamian wrasses. Coral Reefs 24, 283–291 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-005-0477-3

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