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Island biogeography of Caribbean coral reef fish
Authors:Stuart A Sandin  Mark J A Vermeij  Allen H Hurlbert
Institution:1. Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093‐0202, USA,;2. CARMABI Foundation, P.O. Box 2090, Piscaderabaai z/n, Willemstad, Cura?ao, Netherlands Antilles,;3. National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 735 State St., Suite 300, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA;4. Present address: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599–3280, USA
Abstract:Aim The goal of our study was to test fundamental predictions of biogeographical theories in tropical reef fish assemblages, in particular relationships between fish species richness and island area, isolation and oceanographic variables (temperature and productivity) in the insular Caribbean. These analyses complement an analogous and more voluminous body of work from the tropical Indo‐Pacific. The Caribbean is more limited in area with smaller inter‐island distances than the Indo‐Pacific, providing a unique context to consider fundamental processes likely to affect richness patterns of reef fish. Location Caribbean Sea. Methods We compiled a set of data describing reef‐associated fish assemblages from 24 island nations across the Caribbean Sea, representing a wide range of isolation and varying in land area from 53 to 110,860 km2. Regression‐based analyses compared the univariate and combined effects of island‐specific physical predictors on fish species richness. Results We found that diversity of reef‐associated fishes increases strongly with increasing island area and with decreasing isolation. Richness also increases with increasing nearshore productivity. Analyses of various subsets of the entire data set reveal the robustness of the richness data and biogeographical patterns. Main conclusions Within the relatively small and densely packed Caribbean basin, fish species richness fits the classical species–area relationship. Richness also was related negatively to isolation, suggesting direct effects of dispersal limitation in community assembly. Because oceanic productivity was correlated with isolation, however, the related effects of system‐wide productivity on richness cannot be disentangled. These results highlight fundamental mechanisms that underlie spatial patterns of biodiversity among Caribbean coral reefs, and which are probably also are functioning in the more widespread and heterogeneous reefs of the Indo‐Pacific.
Keywords:Caribbean  coral reef  fish  island biogeography  isolation by distance  productivity  species–  area relationship
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