10.5061/DRYAD.C134G
Crane, Nicole L.
Cabrillo College
Nelson, Peter
One People One Reef, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America
Abelson, Avigdor
Tel Aviv University
Precoda, Kristin
University of Sydney
Rulmal Jr., John
One People One Reef, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America
Bernardi, Giacomo
University of California System
Paddack, Michelle
Santa Barbara City College
Data from: Atoll-scale patterns in coral reef community structure: Human
signatures on Ulithi Atoll, Micronesia
Dryad
dataset
2017
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
NSF - OCE 1546374
2017-05-19T18:49:26Z
2017-05-19T18:49:26Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177083
963134 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
The dynamic relationship between reefs and the people who utilize them at
a subsistence level is poorly understood. This paper characterizes
atoll-scale patterns in shallow coral reef habitat and fish community
structure, and correlates these with environmental characteristics and
anthropogenic factors, critical to conservation efforts for the reefs and
the people who depend on them. Hierarchical clustering analyses by site
for benthic composition and fish community resulted in the same 3 major
clusters: cluster 1–oceanic (close proximity to deep water) and
uninhabited (low human impact); cluster 2–oceanic and inhabited (high
human impact); and cluster 3–lagoonal (facing the inside of the lagoon)
and inhabited (highest human impact). Distance from village, reef exposure
to deep water and human population size had the greatest effect in
predicting the fish and benthic community structure. Our study
demonstrates a strong association between benthic and fish community
structure and human use across the Ulithi Atoll (Yap State, Federated
States of Micronesia) and confirms a pattern observed by local people that
an ‘opportunistic’ scleractinian coral (Montipora sp.) is associated with
more highly impacted reefs. Our findings suggest that small human
populations (subsistence fishing) can nevertheless have considerable
ecological impacts on reefs due, in part, to changes in fishing practices
rather than overfishing per se, as well as larger global trends. Findings
from this work can assist in building local capacity to manage reef
resources across an atoll-wide scale, and illustrates the importance of
anthropogenic impact even in small communities.
benthic composition summary dataBenthic surveys of reefs in the Atoll of
Ulithi, Yap State, Micronesiafish_transects_2012_13_14Fish transects in
the Atoll of Ulithi, Yap State, Federated states of Micronesia
Federated States of Micronesia