High apex predator biomass on remote Pacific islands |
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Authors: | Charlotte Stevenson Laure S Katz Fiorenza Micheli Barbara Block Kimberly W Heiman Chris Perle Kevin Weng Robert Dunbar Jan Witting |
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Institution: | (1) Stanford University, Hopkins Marine Station, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA;(2) Stanford University, School of Earth Sciences, Stanford, CA 94301, USA;(3) Sea Education Association, Woods Hole, MA 0254, USA |
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Abstract: | On coral reefs in Palmyra—a central Pacific atoll with limited fishing pressure—total fish biomass was 428 and 299% greater
than on reefs in nearby Christmas and Fanning Islands. Large apex predators, groupers, sharks, snappers, and jacks larger
than 50 cm in length, accounted for 56% of total fish biomass in Palmyra on average, but only 7 and 3% on Christmas and Fanning.
These biomass proportions are remarkably similar to those previously reported for the remote and uninhabited Northwest Hawaiian
Islands (NWHI) and densely populated Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI), although Palmyra’s reefs are dominated in biomass by sharks
(44% of the total), whereas the NWHI by jacks (39%). Herbivorous fish biomass was also greater on Palmyra than on Christmas
and Fanning (343 and 207%, respectively). These results and previous findings indicate that remote, uninhabited islands support
high levels of consumers, and highlight the importance of healthy coral reef ecosystems as reference points for assessment
of human impacts and establishment of restoration goals. |
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Keywords: | Coral reefs Food webs Fishing impacts Top predators Palmyra Line Islands |
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