Harvesting Effects, Recovery Mechanisms, and Management Strategies for a Long-Lived and Structural Precious Coral
Ignasi Montero‐SerraCristina LinaresMarina Costa GarciaFrancesca PancaldiMaša Frleta‐ValićJean‐Baptiste LedouxFrédéric ZubererDjamal MeradPierre DrapJoaquim Garrabou
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Overexploitation is a major threat for the integrity of marine ecosystems. Understanding the ecological consequences of different extractive practices and the mechanisms underlying the recovery of populations is essential to ensure sustainable management plans. Precious corals are long-lived structural invertebrates, historically overfished, and their conservation is currently a worldwide concern. However, the processes underlying their recovery are poorly known. Here, we examined harvesting effects and recovery mechanisms of red coral Corallium rubrum by analyzing long-term photographic series taken on two populations that were harvested. We compared the relative importance of reproduction and re-growth as drivers of resilience. Harvesting heavily impacted coral populations causing large decreases in biomass and strong size-class distribution shifts towards populations dominated by small colonies. At the end of the study (after 4 and 7 years) only partial recovery was observed. The observed general pattern of low recruitment and high mortality of new recruits demonstrated limited effects of reproduction on population recovery. Adversely, low mortality of partially harvested adults and a large proportion of colonies showing new branches highlighted the importance of re-growth in the recovery process. The demographic projections obtained through stochastic models confirmed that the recovery rates of C. rubrum can be strongly modulated depending on harvesting procedures. Thus, leaving the basal section of the colonies when harvesting to avoid total mortality largely enhances the resilience of C. rubrum populations and quickens their recovery. On the other hand, the high survival of harvested colonies and the significant biomass reduction indicated that abundance may not be an adequate metric to assess the conservation status of clonal organisms because it can underestimate harvesting effects. This study highlights the unsustainability of current harvesting practices of C. rubrum and provides urgently needed data to improve management practices that are still largely based on untested assumptions.Keywords:
Anthozoa
Overexploitation
Seagrass ecosystems are important in supporting marine biodiversity. However, the worldwide decline in seagrass areas due to anthropogenic factors leads to a decrease in the marine biodiversity they can support. There is growing awareness of the need for concepts to conserve and/or rehabilitate seagrass ecosystems. One option is to create artificial seagrass to provide a physical structure for the marine organisms to colonize. The objective of this research was to analyze the effect of some artificial seagrasses and seagrass transplants on marine biodiversity, with a focus on the macrozoobenthic community. The experimental design compared two types of artificial seagrass (polypropylene ribbons and shrub-shaped plastic leaves), and seagrass transplants from nearby seagrass meadows. The experimental plots were 4 x 4 m2 with 3 replicates. Macrozoobenthic communities were sampled fortnightly for 3.5 months. At the end of the experiment, makrozoobenthos were also sampled from a natural seagrass bed nearby. Of 116 macrozoobenthic species in the artificial seagrass plots, 91 were gastropods. The density of the macrobenthic fauna increased from the beginning to the end of the study in all treatments, but the increase was only significant for the artificial seagrass treatment (i.e. shrub-like plastic leaves). There was a distinct separation between the macrozoobenthic community structure found in the restoration plots (artificial seagrass and transplanted seagrass) compared to natural seagrass beds.
Marine ecosystem
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在中国的 Seagrass 研究仍然在它的幼年期。尽管最近有进步，仍然有很多研究，需要获得 seagrass 的更好的理解。在这篇文章，我们从二个方面在中国在 seagrass 研究考察并且讨论进展：(1 ) seagrass 种类和他们的分发；(2 ) 在中国的 seagrass 研究包括他们的分类上的研究，生态学，光合作用，在水产业的应用，咸忍耐的机制和其它研究话题。属于 8 个类的 18 seagrass 种类的一个总数在中国(包括的香港和台湾) 在九个省和区域被散布，以及 Xisha 和 Nansha 群岛。他们能被划分成二个组：一个诺思中国组和一个华南组。基于 seagrass 分发，中国大陆海岸能被划分成三节：诺思中国 Seagrass 海岸，中间的中国 Seagrass 海岸，和华南 Seagrass 海岸。生态的研究在山东，广东， Guangxi，和海南的关键区域在 seagrass 社区，在 seagrass 生态系统骑车的营养素，基因差异，污染生态学和研究上包括研究。在关键区域的 Seagrass 种类和他们的地点，社区结构，生态的评估，附生植物，生态的功能和威胁也被总结。另外的研究集中了于 seagrass，中国的威胁的 seagrass 种类，和 Halophila ovalis 的花粉形态学的遥感。关键词 seagrass - seagrass 草地 - 海洋的生态系统 n ] Guangxi 科学基础(号码 0832030 ) 支持的中国， Guangxi 大学(2008 ) 的科学研究资金， UNDP/GEF/SCCBD 工程(SCCBD/CPR/02/31 ) 和 Guangxi 给实验室资金(号码 07109007 ) 调音
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Abstract There has been a global decline in the area of seagrass ecosystems caused by the increasing number of human activities in coastal areas. It is suspected that the decline in the area of seagrass beds in Indonesia is 2%-5% per year. It takes an effort that can be used to restore the condition of seagrass beds. So far, efforts have been made to do seagrass transplants. There is a weakness in the transplant method, namely the reduction of seagrass stands in the origin (donor) area. Another effort that can be used is planting seagrass using seagrass seeds derived from seedlings. Seagrass seeds come from the seagrass, Enhalus acoroides, which is found throughout the year in the waters of Bintan Island. Furthermore, the seeds obtained will be sown for three months in the laboratory. Generally, the survival rate of seagrass seeds during the seedling process has a value of more than 90%, which is very good. Furthermore, the seeds produced from the nursery process are planted in the field. In this experimental study, 25 seedlings were planted. Seedlings were planted directly into the substrate at a depth of 10 cm (sprig method). During the four-month observation period, the survival rate declined to 20%. Several factors that affect the survival rate include the condition of the aquatic environment and human activities around it.
Blue carbon
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Seagrass have an important role in coastal habitats. However, its existence is now under threat. Can the production of artificial seagrass mimic the function of natural seagrass? This paper discusses the potential of artificial seagrass to mimic natural seagrass.
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Five seagrass species have been identified in Guangxi shoal water,Beibu Gulf.They are.Zostera japonica,Syringodium isoetifolium,Halodule uninervis,Halophila ovalis and Halophila beccarii.As a total,there are about 640hm2 seagrass beds in Guangxi coastal areas,of which 540hm2 distributes in Hepu,about 100hm2 in Pearl Bay of Fangchenggang and a few in Beihai.The areas of seagrass beds obviously changed in season and annual,and degraded in general.The seagrass bed in Hepu is one of the most important habitats to China seagrass conservation.The collected data and papers showed that only a few scientific studies had been conducted on Guangxi seagrass.All seagrass habitats except Hepu were only reported in the past six years.The ecological services of seagrass,human and natural threats to Guangxi seagrass and a brief review on China and Guangxi seagrass researches are released.More studies and monitoring are required to the Guangxi seagrass for the special role of seagrass in maintaining offshore environment and marine biodiversity during the bloom of Guangxi coastal economy.
Thalassia testudinum
Marine habitats
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