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Connectivity of fish assemblages along the mangrove-seagrass-coral reef continuum in Wenchang, China

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Abstract

Understanding the connectivity of fish among different typical habitats is important for conducting ecosystem-based management, particularly when designing marine protected areas (MPA) or setting MPA networks. To clarify of connectivity among mangrove, seagrass beds, and coral reef habitats in Wenchang, Hainan Province, China, the fish community structure was studied in wet and dry seasons of 2018. Gill nets were placed across the three habitat types, and the number of species, individuals, and body size of individual fish were recorded. In total, 3 815 individuals belonging to 154 species of 57 families were collected. The highest number of individuals and species was documented in mangroves (117 species, 2 623 individuals), followed by coral reefs (61 species, 438 individuals) and seagrass beds (46 species, 754 individuals). The similarity tests revealed highly significant differences among the three habitats. Approximately 23.4% species used two habitats and 11.0% species used three habitats. A significant difference (p<0.05) in habitat use among eight species (Mugil cephalus, Gerres oblongus, Siganus fuscescens, Terapon jarbua, Sillago maculata, Upeneus tragula, Lutjanus russellii, and Monacanthus chinensis) was detected, with a clear ontogenetic shift in habitat use from mangrove or seagrass beds to coral reefs. The similarity indices suggested that fish assemblages can be divided into three large groups namely coral, seagrass, and mangrove habitat types. This study demonstrated that connectivity exists between mangrove-seagrass-coral reef continuum in Wenchang area; therefore, we recommend that fish connectivity should be considered when designing MPAs or MPA network where possible.

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Acknowledgements

We express our sincere gratitude to the local fishermen in Wenchang, Hainan Province, China for their assistance in collecting the samples. We also extend our gratitude to the two anonymous reviewers for all their constructive comments which helped improve the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Jianguo Du, Meiling Xie, Zehao Chen, Jianji Liao & Bin Chen

  2. Marine Biology Institute, Shantou University, Shantou, 515063, China

    Meiling Xie & Wenhua Liu

  3. School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Yuyu Wang

  4. College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Zehao Chen

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  1. Jianguo Du
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  2. Meiling Xie
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Correspondence to Jianguo Du or Bin Chen.

Additional information

Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No. 41676096; the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province of China under contract No. 2017J01075; the Technology Foundation for Selected Overseas Chinese Scholar Project “Impacts of Climate Change on Biology and Economy in the East China Sea”; the National Key Research and Development Program of China under contract No. 2018YFC1406503; the China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund Project “Monitoring and Conservation of The Coastal Ecosystem in The South China Sea”.

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Du, J., Xie, M., Wang, Y. et al. Connectivity of fish assemblages along the mangrove-seagrass-coral reef continuum in Wenchang, China. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 39, 43–52 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-019-1490-7

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