Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles
Importance of Mangrove Shorelines for Rainbow Parrotfish Scarus guacamaia: Habitat Suitability Modeling in a Subtropical Bay
ORCID
0000-0002-4440-8767
ResearcherID
I-5396-2012
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Aquatic Biology
ISSN
1864-7782
Publication Date
4-24-2012
Keywords
Conservation, Logistic regression, Habitat suitability, Coral reefs, Ontogenetic shifts
Abstract
Rainbow parrotfish Scarus guacamaia is a coral-reef herbivore that requires both mangrove and coral-reef habitat to complete its life cycle. This species is listed as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The present study used a long-term visual survey of mangrove fishes to develop a predictive habitat model for juvenile S. guacamaia. The factors tested were temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, average depth, distance from offshore channel openings, temperature variation (ΔT), and salinity variation (ΔS). The average depth, distance from offshore channel openings, ΔT, and ΔS emerged as significant within the model evaluations. The results suggested that high variation in salinity reduces mangrove habitat suitability for this species. Salinity variation along many of south Florida’s coastal bays is largely driven by water management-related freshwater canal discharges. Everglades restoration efforts seek to reduce ΔS along south Florida’s mainland shoreline; thus, if successful, restoration may also confer benefits to Scarus guacamaia through the subsequent expansion of suitable mangrove habitat.
DOI
10.3354/ab00412
Volume
15
Issue
1
First Page
87
Last Page
98
Additional Comments
Financial support for the mangrove-fish surveys was provided by RECOVER (US Army Corps of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District) and the Southeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA.
NSUWorks Citation
Ethan G. P. Machemer, John F. Walter, Joseph E. Serafy, and David W. Kerstetter. 2012. Importance of Mangrove Shorelines for Rainbow Parrotfish Scarus guacamaia: Habitat Suitability Modeling in a Subtropical Bay .Aquatic Biology , (1) : 87 -98. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/549.
Comments
©Inter-Research 2012