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Walker BK, Fisco Becker D, Williams GJ, Kilfoyle AK, Smith SG, Kozachuk A. Regional reef fish assemblage maps provide baseline biogeography for tropicalization monitoring. Sci Rep 2024; 14:7893. [PMID: 38570549 PMCID: PMC10991435 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-58185-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024] Open
Abstract
The Anthropocene rise in global temperatures is facilitating the expansion of tropical species into historically non-native subtropical locales, including coral reef fish. This redistribution of species, known as tropicalization, has serious consequences for economic development, livelihoods, food security, human health, and culture. Measuring the tropicalization of subtropical reef fish assemblages is difficult due to expansive species ranges, temporal distribution shifts with the movement of isotherms, and many dynamic density-dependent factors affecting occurrence and density. Therefore, in locales where tropical and subtropical species co-occur, detecting tropicalization changes relies on regional analyses of the relative densities and occurrence of species. This study provides a baseline for monitoring reef fish tropicalization by utilizing extensive monitoring data from a pivotal location in southeast Florida along a known transition between tropical and subtropical ecotones to define regional reef fish assemblages and use benthic habitat maps to spatially represent their zoogeography. Assemblages varied significantly by ecoregion, habitat depth, habitat type, and topographic relief. Generally, the southern assemblages had higher occurrences and densities of tropical species, whereas the northern assemblages had a higher occurrence and density of subtropical species. A total of 108 species were exclusive to regions south of the Bahamas Fracture Zone (BFZ) (South Palm Beach, Deerfield, Broward-Miami) and 35 were exclusive to the north (North Palm Beach, Martin), supporting the BFZ as a pivotal location that affects the coastal biogeographic extent of tropical marine species in eastern North America. Future tropicalization of reef fish assemblages are expected to be evident in temporal deviance of percent occurrence and/or relative species densities between baseline assemblages, where the poleward expansion of tropical species is expected to show the homogenization of assemblage regions as adjacent regions become more similar or the regional boundaries expand poleward. Ecoregions, habitat depth, habitat type, and relief should be incorporated into the stratification and analyses of reef fish surveys to statistically determine assemblage differences across the seascape, including those from tropicalization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian K Walker
- GIS and Spatial Ecology Lab, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, Nova Southeastern University, 8000 North Ocean Drive, Dania Beach, FL, 33004, USA.
| | - Dana Fisco Becker
- GIS and Spatial Ecology Lab, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, Nova Southeastern University, 8000 North Ocean Drive, Dania Beach, FL, 33004, USA
| | - Gareth J Williams
- School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Menai Bridge, Anglesey, LL59 5AB, UK
| | - Audie K Kilfoyle
- Resilient Environment Department, Broward County Florida, 115 S Andrews Ave, Room 329-H, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 33301, USA
| | - Steven G Smith
- Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, 33149, USA
| | - Allie Kozachuk
- GIS and Spatial Ecology Lab, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, Nova Southeastern University, 8000 North Ocean Drive, Dania Beach, FL, 33004, USA
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Kilfoyle AK, Jermain RF, Dhanak MR, Huston JP, Spieler RE. Effects of EMF emissions from undersea electric cables on coral reef fish. Bioelectromagnetics 2017; 39:35-52. [PMID: 29119574 DOI: 10.1002/bem.22092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2016] [Accepted: 09/07/2017] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine if electromagnetic field (EMF) emissions from undersea power cables impacted local marine life, with an emphasis on coral reef fish. The work was done at the South Florida Ocean Measurement Facility of Naval Surface Warfare Center in Broward County, Florida, which has a range of active undersea detection and data transmission cables. EMF emissions from a selected cable were created during non-destructive visual fish surveys on SCUBA. During surveys, the transmission of either alternating current (AC), direct current (DC), or none (OFF) was randomly initiated by the facility at a specified time. Visual surveys were conducted using standardized transect and point-count methods to acquire reef fish abundances and species richness prior to and immediately after a change in transmission frequency. The divers were also tasked to note the reaction of the reef fish to the immediate change in EMF during a power transition. In general, analysis of the data did not find statistical differences among power states and any variables. However, this may be a Type II error as there are strong indications of a potential difference of a higher abundance of reef fish at the sites when the power was off, and further study is warranted. Bioelectromagnetics. 39:35-52, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Audie K Kilfoyle
- Nova Southeastern University, Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Dania Beach, Florida
| | - Robert F Jermain
- Nova Southeastern University, Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Dania Beach, Florida
| | - Manhar R Dhanak
- Institute for Oceans and Systems Engineering-SeaTech, Florida Atlantic University, Dania Beach, Florida
| | - Joseph P Huston
- Institute of Physiological Psychology I, Heinrich-Heine University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Richard E Spieler
- Nova Southeastern University, Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Dania Beach, Florida
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