Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Fine-scale temporal variation in recruitment of a temperate demersal fish: the importance of settlement versus post-settlement loss

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In order to understand variability in recruitment to populations of benthic and demersal marine species, it is critical to distinguish between the contributions due to variations in larval settlement versus those caused by post-settlement mortality. In this study, fine-scale (1–2 days) temporal changes in recruit abundance were followed through an entire settlement season in a temperate demersal fish in order to determine 1) how dynamic the process of recruitment is on a daily scale, 2) whether settlement and post-settlement mortality are influenced by habitat structure and conspecific density, and 3) how the relationship between settlement and recruitment changes over time. “Settlement” is considered to be the arrival of new individuals from the pelagic habitat, and “recruitment” is defined as the number of individuals surviving arbitrary periods of time after settlement. Replicate standardized habitat units were placed in 2 spatial configurations (clumped and randomly dispersed) and monitored visually for cunner (Tautogolabrus adspersus) settlement and recruitment every 1–2 days throughout the settlement season. The process of recruitment in T. adspersus was highly variable at a fine temporal scale. Changes in the numbers of recruits present on habitat units were due to both settlement of new individuals and mortality of animals previously recruited. The relative importance of these two processes appeared to change from day to day. The magnitude of the change in recruit number did not differ between the clumped and random habitats. However, post-settlement loss was significantly greater on randomly dispersed than clumped habitats. During several sampling dates, the extent of the change in recruit abundance was correlated with the density of resident conspecifics; however, on other dates no such relationship appeared to exist. Despite the presence of significant relationships between the change in recruit number and density, there was no evidence of either density-dependent mortality or settlement. Initially, there was a strong relationship between settlement and recruitment; however, this relationship weakened over time. Within 2 months after the cessation of settlement, post-settlement loss was greater than 99%, and no correlation remained between recruitment and the initial pattern of settlement. The results of this study demonstrate that the spatial arrangement of the habitat affects the rate and intensity of post-settlement loss. Counter to much current thinking, this study suggests that in order to understand the population ecology of reef fishes, knowledge of what habitats new recruits use and how mortality varies with structural aspects of the habitats is essential.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Addicott J, Aho JM, Antolin M, Padilla DK, Richardson JS, Soluk DA (1987) Ecological neighborhoods: scaling environmental patterns. Oikos 49:340–346

    Google Scholar 

  • Auerbach M, Simberloff D (1989) Oviposition site preference and larval mortality in a leaf-mining moth. Ecol Entomol 14:131–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Bigelow HB, Schroeder SC (1953) Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Fishery Bulletin of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Vol. 53. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington. 577 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Booth DJ (1991) The effects of sampling frequency on estimates of recruitment of the domino damselfish Dascyllus albisella Gill. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 145:149–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradbury C (1993) Ultrasonic tracking of activity and movement patterns of female cunner, Tautogolabrus adspersus, in Broad Cove, Conception Bay, Newfoundland. M.Sc. Thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland

  • Breitburg DL (1989) Demersal schooling prior to settlement by larvae of the naked goby. Env Biol Fish 26:97–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Breitburg DL (1991) Settlement patterns and presettlement behavior of the naked goby, Gobiosoma bosci, a temperate oyster reef fish. Mar Biol 194:221–231

    Google Scholar 

  • Caffey HM (1985) Spatial and temporal variation in settlement and recruitment of intertidal barnacles. Ecol Monog 55:313–332

    Google Scholar 

  • Caley MJ (1993) Predation, recruitment and the dynamics of communities of coral-reef fishes. Mar Biol 117:33–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Carr MH (1989) Effects of macroalgal assemblages on the recruitment of temperate zone reef fishes. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 126:59–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Carr MH (1991) Habitat selection and recruitment of an assemblage of temperate zone reef fishes. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 146:113–137

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman ARO, Johnson CR (1990) Disturbance and organization of macroalgal assemblages in the Northwest Atlantic. Hydrobiologia 192:77–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell JH (1985) The consequences of variation in initial vs. post-settlement mortality in rocky intertidal communities. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 93:11–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell SD, Jones GP (1991) The influence of habitat complexity on postrecruitment processes in a temperate reef fish population. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 151:271–294

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis AR (1988) Effects of variation in initial settlement on distribution and abundance of Podoclavella moluccensis Sluiter. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 117:157–167

    Google Scholar 

  • Dayton PK (1985) Ecology of kelp communities. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 16:215–245

    Google Scholar 

  • Deysher L, Dean TA (1986) In situ recruitment of the giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera: effects of physical factors. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 103:41–63

    Google Scholar 

  • Doherty PJ (1981) Coral reef fishes: recruitment limited assemblages? Proceedings of the 4th Int Coral Reef Symp (Manilla) 2:465–470

    Google Scholar 

  • Doherty PJ (1983) Tropical territorial damselfishes: is density limited by aggression or recruitment? Ecology 64:176–190

    Google Scholar 

  • Doherty PJ (1991) Spatial and Temporal Patterns in Recruitment. In: Sale PF (ed) The ecology of fish on coral reefs. Academic Press, New York, p. 261–293

    Google Scholar 

  • Doherty PJ, Sale PF (1986) Predation on coral reef fishes: an exclusion experiment. Coral Reefs 4:225–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Doherty PJ, Williams D McB (1988) The replenishment of coral reef fish populations. Oceangr Mar Biol Ann Rev 26:487–551

    Google Scholar 

  • Faeth SH (1990) Aggregation of leafminer, Cameraria sp. Nov. (Davis); consequences and causes. J Anim Ecol 59:569–586

    Google Scholar 

  • Forrester GE (1990) Factors influencing the juvenile demography of a coral reef fish. Ecology 71:1666–1981

    Google Scholar 

  • Gleason TR, Recksiek CW (1990) Preliminary field verification of daily growth increments in the lapillar otoliths of juvenile cunner. Am Fish Soc Symp 7:562–565

    Google Scholar 

  • Godfray HJ (1986) Clutch size in a leaf-mining fly (Pegomyza nigrotarsis: Anthomyriidae). Ecol Entomol 11:75–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Green JM, Farwell M (1971) Winter habits of the cunner, Tautogolabrus adspersus (Walbaum 1872) in Newfoundland. Can J Zool 49:1497–1499

    Google Scholar 

  • Grosberg RK (1982) Intertidal zonation of barnacles: the influence of planktonic zonation of larvae on vertical distribution of adults. Ecology 63:894–899

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanski I (1985) Single-species spatial dynamics may contribute to long-term rarity and commonness. Ecology 66:335–343

    Google Scholar 

  • Hixon MA (1991) Predation as a process structuring coral-reef fish communities. In: Sale PF (ed) The ecology of fishes on coral reefs. Academic Press, San Diego, California, pp 475–508

    Google Scholar 

  • Hixon MA, Beets JP (1993) Predation, prey refuges and the structure of coral-reef fish assemblages. Ecol Monogr 63:77–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Holbrook SJ, Schmitt RJ (1988) The combined effects of predation risk and food reward on patch selection. Ecology 69:125–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Holbrook SJ, Schmitt RJ, Ambrose RF (1990) Biogenic habitat structure and characteristics of temperate reef fish assemblages. Aust J Ecol 15:489–503

    Google Scholar 

  • Itamies J, Ojanen M (1977) Autumn predation of Parsus major and P. montanus upon two leaf-mining species of Lithocolletis (Lepidoptera, Lithocolletidae). Ann Zool Fenn 14:235–241

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones GP (1984a) Population ecology of the temperate reef fish Pseudolabrus celidotus Bloch and Schneider (Pisces: labridae). I. Factors influencing recruitment. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 75:257–276

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones GP (1984b) Population ecology of the temperate reef fish Pseudolabrus celidotus Bloch and Schneider (Pisces: labridae). II. Factors influencing adult density. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 75:277–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones GP (1984c) The influence of habitat and behavioural interactions on the local distribution of the wrasse, Pseudolabrus celidotus. Env Biol Fish 10:43–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones GP (1987) Competitive interactions among adults and juveniles in a coral reef fish. Ecology 68:1534–1547

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones GP (1991) Postrecruitment processes in the ecology of coral reef fish populations: a multifactorial perspective. In: Sale PF (ed) The Ecology of Fish on Coral Reefs. Academic Press, San Diego, California, pp 294–330

    Google Scholar 

  • Keough MJ, Downes BJ (1982) Recruitment of marine invertebrates: the role of active larval choices and early mortality. Oecologia 54:348–352

    Google Scholar 

  • Lambert WJ, Levin PS, Berman J (1992) Changes in the structure of a New England (USA) kelp bed: the effects of an introduced species? Mar Ecol Prog Ser 88:303–307

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin PS (1991) Effects of microhabitat on recruitment variation in a Gulf of Maine reef fish. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 75:183–189

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin PS (1993) Habitat structure, conspecific presence and spatial variation in the recruitment of a temperate reef fish. Oecologia 94:176–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin PS, Mathieson AC (1991) Variation in a host-epiphyte relationship along a wave exposure gradient. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 77:271–278

    Google Scholar 

  • Lomnicki A (1978) Individual differences between animals and the natural regulation of their numbers. J Anim Ecol 47:461–476

    Google Scholar 

  • McGuiness KA, Davis AR (1989) Analysis and interpretation of the recruit-settler relationship. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 134:197–202

    Google Scholar 

  • Mittelbach GG (1981) Foraging efficiency and body size: a study of optimal diet and habitat use by bluegills. Ecology 62:1370–1386

    Google Scholar 

  • Møller AP (1991) Clutch size, nest predation, and distribution of avian unequal competitors in a patchy environment. Ecology 72:1336–1349

    Google Scholar 

  • Olla BL, Bejda AJ, Martin AD (1975) Activity, movements and feeding behavior of the cunner Tautogolabrus adspersus and comparison of food habits with young tautog, Tautoga onitis off Long Island, New York. Fish Bull 73:895–900

    Google Scholar 

  • Olson RR (1985) The consequences of short-distance larval dispersal in a sessile marine invertebrate. Ecology 66:30–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson CH (1982) The importance of predation and intra- and interspecific competition in the population biology of two infaunal suspension-feeding bivalves, Protothaca staminea and Chione undatella. Ecol Monogr 52:437–475

    Google Scholar 

  • Pottle RA, Green JM (1979) Territorial behavior of the north temperate labrid, Tautogolabrus adspersus. Can J Zool 57:2337–2347

    Google Scholar 

  • Raimondi PT (1990) Patterns, mechanisms, consequences of variability in settlement and recruitment of an intertidal barnacle. Ecol Monogr 60:283–309

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed DC, Laur DR, Ebeling AW (1988) Variation in algal dispersal and recruitment: the importance of episodic events. Ecol Monogr 58:321–325

    Google Scholar 

  • Sale PF, Doherty PJ, Eckert GJ, Douglas WA, Ferrell DJ (1984) Large scale spatial and temporal variation in recruitment to fish populations on coral reefs. Oecologia 64:191–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Sale PF, Douglas WA (1984) Temporal variability in the community structure of fish on coral patch reefs and the relationship of community structure to reef structure. Ecology 65:409–422

    Google Scholar 

  • Sale PF, Ferrell DJ (1988) Early survivorship of juvenile coral reef fishes. Coral Reefs 7:117–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt RJ, Holbrook SJ (1985) Patch selection by juvenile black surfperch (Embiotocidae) under variable risk: interactive influence of food quality and structural complexity. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 85:269–285

    Google Scholar 

  • Shulman MJ (1984) Resource limitation and recruitment patterns in a coral reef fish assemblage. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 74:85–109

    Google Scholar 

  • Shulman MJ, Ogden JC (1987) What controls tropical reef fish populations: Recruitment or benthic mortality? An example in the Caribbean reef fish Haemulon flavolineatum. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 39:233–242

    Google Scholar 

  • Sogard SM (1989) Colonization of artifical seagrass by fishes and decapod crustaceans: importance of proximity to natural eelgrass. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 133:15–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor LR, Taylor RAJ (1977) Aggregation, migration and population mechanics. Nature 265:415–421

    Google Scholar 

  • Thresher RE (1983) Habitat effects on reproductive success in the coral reef fish, Acanthochromis polyacanthus (Pomacentridae). Ecology 64:1184–1199

    Google Scholar 

  • Victor BC (1983) Recruitment and population dynamics of a coral reef fish. Science 219:419–420

    Google Scholar 

  • Victor BC (1986) Larval settlement and juvenile mortality in a recruitment-limited coral reef fish population. Ecol Monogr 56:145–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Warner RR, Hughes TP (1988) The population dynamics of reef fishes. Proc 6th Int. Coral Reef Symp., Townsville, Austraila 1:146–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Werner EE, Gilliam JF, Hall DJ, Mittelbach GG (1983) An experimental test of the effects of predation risk on habitat use in fish. Ecology 64:1540–1548

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson L (1990) SYSTAT: The system for statistics. Evanston, Il. SYSTAT, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams D McB, Sale PF (1981) Spatial and temporal patterns of recruitment of juvenile coral reef fishes to coral habitats within One Tree Lagoon, Great Barrier Reef. Mar Biol 65:245–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Winer BJ, Brown DR, Michels KM (1991) Statistical Principles in Experimental Design. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1057 pp

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. P. S. Levin

    Present address: Institute of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 3431 Arendell St., 28557, Morehead City, NC, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology and Center for Marine Biology, University of New Hampshire, 03824, Durham, NH, USA

    P. S. Levin

Authors
  1. P. S. Levin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Levin, P.S. Fine-scale temporal variation in recruitment of a temperate demersal fish: the importance of settlement versus post-settlement loss. Oecologia 97, 124–133 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317916

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317916

Key words

Search

Navigation