Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Predicting spatially explicit coral reef fish abundance, richness and Shannon–Weaver index from habitat characteristics

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Biodiversity and Conservation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The assessment of biodiversity in coral reefs requires the application of geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing and analytical tools in order to make cost-effective spatially explicit predictions of biodiversity over large geographic areas. Here we present a spatially explicit prediction for coral reef fish diversity index, as well as habitat classification according to reef fish diversity index values in Chinchorro Bank Biosphere Reserve, one of the most important plain/atoll type reef systems in the Caribbean. We have used extensive ecological data on depth, fish and habitat characteristics to perform such prediction. Fish species assemblages and different biotic variables of benthic organisms were characterized using visual censuses and video-transects, respectively at 119 sampling stations. The information was integrated in a GIS, along with satellite imagery (LANSDAT 7 ETM+) and a digital bathymetric model. From the recorded data and a hierarchical classification procedure, we obtained nine different classes of habitats. We used a generalized regression analysis and spatial prediction methodology to create predictive maps (GIS layers) of the different reef benthic components, and a second modeling run produced predictive maps of coral reef fish diversity index. Predictive accuracy of the diversity index map presented a good correlation coefficient (r = 0.87), with maximum diversity index values en reefscapes composed of aggregation of coral colonies with seagrass beds. The implementation of our application was successful for the prediction of fish diversity hot spots and surrogate habitats.

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

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

BSEP:

Biodiversity spatially explicit predictions

BFGs:

Broad-functional groups

CART:

Classification and regression trees

CHBBR:

Chinchorro Bank Biosphere Reserve

DBM:

Digital bathymetric model

GAM:

Generalized additive models

GIS:

Geographic information systems

GLM:

Generalized linear models

GRASP:

Generalized additive models and spatial prediction

MSGs:

Morpho-structural groups

RVs:

Response variables

PVs:

Predictive variables

References

  • Almany GR (2004) Does increased habitat complexity reduce predation and competition in coral reef fish assemblages? Oikos 106:275–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arias-González JE, Done TJ, Page CA, Cheal A, Kininmonth S, Garza-Pérez JR (2006) Towards a reefscape ecology: relating biomass and trophic structure of fish assemblages to habitat at Davies Reef, Australia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 320:29–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arias-González JE, Legendre P, Rodriguez-Zaragoza FA (2008) Scaling up beta diversity on Caribbean coral reefs. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 366:28–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arias-González JE, Rodriguez-Zaragoza FA, Nuñez-Lara E, Legendre P (2011) Reefscape proxies for the conservation of Caribbean coral reef biodiversity. Ciencias Marinas 37:87–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Bellwood DR, Hughes TP (2001) Regional-scale assembly rules and biodiversity of coral reefs. Science 292:1532–1534

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bouchon-Navaro Y, Bouchon C, Louis M, Legendre P (2005) Biogeographic patterns of coastal fish assemblages in the West Indies. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 315:31–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter KE, Abrar M, Aeby G, Aronson BR, Banks S, Bruckner A, Chiriboga A, Cortés J, ChJ Delbeek, DeVantier L, Edgar JG, Edwards JA, Fenner D, Guzmán MH, Hoeksema WB, Hodgson G, Johan O, Licuanan YW, Livingstone RS, Lovell RE, Moore AJ, Obura OD, Ochavillo D, Polidoro, William F, Precht, Miledel C, Quibilan, Reboton C, Richards ZT, Rogers ABAD, Sanciangco J, Sheppard A, Sheppard Ch, Smith J, Stuart S, Turak E, Veron ENJ, Wallace C, Weil E, Wood E (2008) One-third of reef-building corals face elevated extinction risk from climate change and local impacts. Science 321:560–563

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cleveland WS, Delvin SJ (1988) Locally weighted regression: an approach to regression analysis by local fitting. J Am Stat Ass 83:596–610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrier S, Drielsma M, Manion G, Watson G (2002) Extended statistical approaches to modelling spatial pattern in biodiversity in northeast New South Wales II. Community-level modelling. Biodivers Conserv 11:2309–2338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedlander AM, Parish JD (1998) Habitat characteristics affecting fish assemblages on a Hawaiian coral reef. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 224:1–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García-Gil G, Padilla-Saldivar J, Carricart-Ganivet JP, Arias-González JE (2003) Bathymetric chart (1:70, 000) of Chinchorro Bank, Mexican Caribbean. Bull Mar Sci 73:249

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardner T, Côté IM, Gill JA, Grant A, Watkinson AR (2003) Long-term region-wide declines in Caribbean corals. Science 301:958–960

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garza-Pérez JR, Lehmann A, Arias-González JE (2004) Spatial prediction of coral reef habitats: integrating ecology with spatial modeling and remote sensing. Mar Ecol Prog Series 269:241–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gratwicke B, Speight MR (2005) Effects of habitat complexity on Caribbean marine fish assemblages. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 292:301–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grober-Dunsmore R, Frazer TK, Lindberg WJ, Beets JP (2007) Reef fish and habitat relationships in a Caribbean seascape: the importance of reef context. Coral Reefs 26:201–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grober-Dunsmore R, Frazer TK, Beets JP, Lindberg WJ, Zwick P, Funicelli A (2008) Influence of landscape structure on reef fish assemblages. Landscape Ecol 23:37–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harborne AR, Mumby PJ, Zychaluk K, Hedley JD, Blackwell PG (2006) Modeling the beta diversity of coral reefs. Ecology 87:28712881

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hazin H, Erzinib K (2008) Assessing swordfish distribution in the South Atlantic from spatial predictions. Fish Res 90:45–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoegh-Guldberg O, Mumby PJ, Hooten AJ, Steneck RS, Greenfield P, Gomez E, Harvell CD, Sale PF, Edwards AJ, Caldeira K, Knowlton N, Eakin CM, Iglesias-Prieto R, Muthiga N, Bradbury RH, Dubi A, Hatziolos ME (2007) Coral reefs under rapid climate change and ocean acidification. Science 318:1737–1742

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes TP (1994) Catastrophes, phase shifts, and large-scale degradation of a Caribbean coral reef. Science 265:1547–1551

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes A, Baird H, Bellwood DR, Card M, Connolly SR, Folke C, Grosberg R, Hoegh-Guldberg O, Jackson JBC, Kleypas J, Lough JM, Marshall P, Nyström M, Palumbi SR, Pandolfi JM, Rosen B, Roughgarden J (2003) Climate change, human impacts, and the resilience of coral reefs. Science 301:929–933

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jones GP, Syms C (1998) Disturbance, habitat structure and the ecology of fishes on coral reefs. Aust J Ecol 23:287–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones GP, McCormick MI, Srinivasan M, Eagle JV (2004) Coral decline threatens biodiversity in marine reserves. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 101:8251–8253

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jost L (2007) Partitioning diversity into independent alpha and beta components. Ecology 88:2427–2439

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Knudby A, LeDrew E, Newman C (2007) Progress in the use of remote sensing for coral reef biodiversity studies. Prog Phys Geogr 31:421–434

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knudby A, LeDrew E, Brenning A (2010) Predictive mapping of reef fish species richness, diversity and biomass in Zanzibar using IKONOS imagery and machine-learning techniques. Remote Sensing Environ 114:1230–1241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lapointe BE (1997) Nutrient thresholds for bottom-up control of macroalgal blooms on coral reefs in Jamaica and southeast Florida. Limnol Oceanogr 42:1119–1131

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lehmann A, Overton JMC, Leathwick JR (2002a) GRASP: generalized regression analysis and spatial predictions. Ecol Model 157:189–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lehmann A, Overton JMcC, Austin MP (2002b) Regression models for spatial prediction: their role for biodiversity and conservation. Biodivers Conser 11:2085–2092

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lizenga D (1978) Passive remote sensing techniques for mapping water depth and bottom features. Appl Opt 17:379–383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luckhurst BE, Luckhurst K (1978) Analysis of the influence of substrate variables on coral reef fish communities. Mar Biol 49:317–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maggini R, Lehmann A, Zimmermann NE, Guisan A (2006) Improving generalized regression analysis for the spatial prediction of forest communities. J Biogeogr 33:1729–1749

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mellin C, Andréfouët S, Ponton D (2007) Spatial predictability of juvenile fish species richness and abundance in a coral reef environment. Coral Reefs 26:895–990

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mellin C, Bradshaw CJA, Meekan MG, Caley MJ (2010) Environmental and spatial predictors of species richness and abundance in coral reef fishes. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 19:212–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mellin C, Delean S, Caley J, Edgar G, Meekan M, Pitcher R, Przeslawski R, Williams A, Bradshaw C (2011) Effectiveness of biological surrogates for predicting patterns of marine biodiversity: a global meta-analysis. PLoS ONE 6(6): e20141. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020141

  • Mora C (2008) A clear human footprint in the coral reefs of the Caribbean. Proc R Soc B 271:149–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Moser D, Dullinger S, Englisch T, Niklfeld H, Plutzar C, Sauberer N, Zechmeister HG, Grabherr G (2005) Environmental determinants of vascular plant species richness in the Austrian Alps. J Biogeogr 32:1117–1127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mumby PJ, Chisholm JRM, Clark CD, Hedley JD, Jaubert J (2001) A bird’s-eye view of the health of coral reefs. Nature 413:36

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mumby PJ, Hastings A, Edwards HJ (2007) Thresholds and the resilience of Caribbean coral reefs. Nature 450:98–101

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Naeem S, Bunker DE, Hector A, Loreau M, Perrings Ch (2009). Introduction: the ecological and social implications of changing biodiversity. An overview of a decade of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning research. In: Naeem S, Bunker DE, Hector A, Loreau M, Perrings Ch (eds) Biodiversity, ecosistema functioning, and human wellbeing: an ecological and economic perspective. Oxford University Press, Oxford pp 3–13

  • Núñez-Lara E, Arias-González JE (1998) The relationship between reef fish community structure and environmental variables in the southern Mexican Caribbean. J Fish Biol 53:209–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Núñez-Lara E, Arias-González JE, Legendre P (2005) Spatial patterns of Yucatan reef fish communities: testing models using a multi-scale survey design. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 324:157–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Overton JMcC, Stephens RTT, Leathwick JR, Lehmann A (2002) Information pyramids for informed biodiversity conservation. Biodivers Conserv 11:2093–2116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paddack MJ, Reynolds JD, Aguilar C, Appeldoorn RS, Beets J, Burkett WE, Chittaro PM, Clarke Kr, Esteves R, Fonseca AC, Forrester EG, Friedlander MA, García-Sais J, González-Sansón G, Jordan KBL, McClellan BD, Miller WM, Molloy PP, Mumby JP, Nagelkerken I, Nemeth M, Navas-Camacho R, Pitt J, Polunin VCN, Reyes-Nivia CM, Robertson RD, Rodríguez-Ramírez A, Salas E, Smith RS, Spieler ER, Steele AM, Williams DI, Wormald LC, Watkinson RA, Côté MI (2009) Recent region-wide declines in Caribbean reef fish abundance. Curr Biol 19:590–595

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pandolfi JM, Bradbury RH, Sala E, Hughes TP, Bjorndal KA, Cooke RG, McArdle D, McClenachan L, Newman MJH, Paredes G, Warner RR, Jackson JBC (2003) Global trajectories of the long-term decline of coral reef ecosystems. Science 301:955–958

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Perrings C, Naeem S, Ahrestani F, Bunker DE, Burkill P, Canziani G, Elmqvist T, Ferrati R, Fuhrman J, Jaksic F, Kawabata Z, Kinzig A, Mace GM, Milano F, Mooney H, Prieur-Richard A-H, Tschirhart J, Weisser W (2010) Ecosystem services for 2020. Science 330:323–324

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pittman SJ, Brown KA (2011) Multi-scale approach for predicting fish species distributions across coral reef seascapes. PLoS ONE 6(5): e20583. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020583

  • Pittman SJ, Christensen JD, Caldow C, Menza C, Monaco ME (2007) Predictive mapping of fish species richness across shallow-water seascapes in the Caribbean. Ecol Model 204:9–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pittman SJ, Costa MB, Battista TA (2009) Using lidar bathymetry and boosted regression trees to predict the diversity and abundance of fish and corals. J Coast Res S1:27–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Purkis SJ, Graham NAJ, Riegl BM (2007) Predictability of reef fish diversity and abundance using remote sensing data in Diego Garcia (Chagos Archipelago). Coral Reefs 27:16–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Risk MJ (1972) Fish diversity on a coral reef in the Virgin Islands. Atoll Res Bull 153:1–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossier O, Kulbicki M (2000) A comparison of fish assemblages from two types of algal beds and coral reefs in the south-west lagoon of New Caledonia. Cybium 24:3–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Wedding L, Friedlander AM, McGranaghan M, Yost R, Monaco M (2008) Using bathymetric LIDAR to define nearshore benthic habitat complexity: implications for management of reef fish assemblages in Hawaii. Remote Sensing Environ 112:4159–4165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson SK, Graham NAJ, Polunin NVC (2007) Appraisal of visual assessments of habitat complexity and benthic composition on coral reefs. Mar Biol 151:1069–1076

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Worm B, Barbier EB., Beaumont N, Duffy JE, Folke C, Halpern BS, Jackson JBC, Lotze HK, Micheli F, Palumbi SR, Sala E, Selkoe KA, Stachowicz JJ, Watson R. (2006) Services impacts of biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem. Science 314. doi:10.1126/science.1132294

  • Yee TW, Mitchell ND (1991) Generalized additive models in plant ecology. J Veg Sci 2:587–602

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was possible thanks to the funding by CONACYT, SEMARNAT-CONACYT, Tecnológico de Chetumal and CINVESTAV. We would also like to thank the reviewers for their useful comments which helped improve the paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Ecología de Ecosistemas de Arrecifes Coralinos, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados del I.P.N-Unidad Mérida, Antigua Carretera a Progreso km 6, 97310, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico

    Jesús Ernesto Arias-González, Gilberto Acosta-González & Néstor Membrillo

  2. Unidad Multidisciplinaria de Docencia e Investigación Sisal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto de Abrigo S/N, 97355, Sisal, Yucatán, Mexico

    Joaquín Rodrigo Garza-Pérez

  3. Laboratorio de Ecología, Instituto Tecnológico de Chetumal, Av. Insurgentes Num. 330, Col. David Gustavo Gutiérrez, 77013, Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico

    José Manuel Castro-Pérez

Authors
  1. Jesús Ernesto Arias-González
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gilberto Acosta-González
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Néstor Membrillo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Joaquín Rodrigo Garza-Pérez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. José Manuel Castro-Pérez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jesús Ernesto Arias-González.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Arias-González, J.E., Acosta-González, G., Membrillo, N. et al. Predicting spatially explicit coral reef fish abundance, richness and Shannon–Weaver index from habitat characteristics. Biodivers Conserv 21, 115–130 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-011-0169-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-011-0169-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation