Regresar

Resumen del producto

Sánchez Caballero, C.A., J.M., Borges Souza, A., Chávez Hidalgo & A., Abelson (2023). Assessing benthic reef assemblages: A comparison between no-take artificial reefs and partially protected natural reefs. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 287: 108347. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2023.108347.

Assessing benthic reef assemblages: A comparison between no-take artificial reefs and partially protected natural reefs

Carlos Adrián Sánchez Caballero 1, José Manuel Borges Souza 2, Alejandra Chávez Hidalgo 3 y A. Abelson 1

1 Tel Aviv University, Schools of Zoology, Ramat Aviv, Israel
2 Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, Departamento de Pesquerías y Biología Marina
3 Centro de Asesoría para la Sustentabilidad Ambiental (CASA A.C), La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
The marine protected area (MPA) of the Espiritu Santo Archipelago (ESA; Gulf of California), is exposed to a highlevel of anthropogenic disturbances, consequently, the local authorities have deployed artificial reefs (shipwrecks) in the ESA area to increase fishing refuges, breeding sites, and tourist attractions. To explore the potential contribution of these artificial reefs as a conservation tool, we compared their benthic communitystructures (i.e. diversity and live cover categories) to those of the natural reefs. Our results indicate a higherabundance of mollusks on the artificial reefs compared to the natural reefs; a higher echinoderm abundance onthe natural reefs; and a very similar species richness of hexacorals between the natural and artificial reefs, with10 and 9 species recorded respectively. The natural reefs hosted a four-fold higher live cover of hexacorals thanthe artificial reefs, while the artificial reefs had a higher number of octocoral species, 8 versus 5 on the naturalreefs. In addition, the artificial reefs had a 4.6 fold higher octocoral cover than the natural reefs. Overall findingsindicate that the benthic community assemblages significantly differ between the natural and artificial reefs,which may be related to their location, structural composition, material, and morphology. These results suggestthat shipwrecks have the potential to enhance local reef diversity by increasing the cover and abundance ofcertain benthic-associated species. Although the shipwrecks do not function as surrogate habitats for the adjacentnatural rocky reefs, as no-take areas they provide suitable refuges for several target species (e.g. black coral andmollusks). 

Palabras clave: Artificial reefs; Reef invertebrates; Habitat composition; Marine protected area

Para obtener una copia del documento contacta la personal de la biblioteca a través del correo bibliocicimar{a}ipn.mx

Regresar