Highlighting the role of coral reef herbivores in promoting conditions that favor corals, several researchers have proposed that protecting herbivorous fishes could help coral reefs to resist and recover from a variety of stressors.
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The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Ĭompeting interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.Ĭoncern about coral reefs’ vulnerability to a range of local and global threats has provoked considerable interest in management strategies that could help to check or reverse coral declines. Between 20, this project was funded by grants from the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program ( ) under grants #20482, #F200, #F374, and #30102. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.ĭata Availability: Data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive, accession #0146683.įunding: In 20, this project was funded by the Hawaii Coral Reef Initiative Research Program ( ) for the project: 'An Ecosystem Recovery Area in Maui coastal waters: Kahekili'.
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This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. Received: ApAccepted: JPublished: July 27, 2016 Ferse, Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology, GERMANY
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(2016) Responses of Herbivorous Fishes and Benthos to 6 Years of Protection at the Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area, Maui. However, a region-wide bleaching event in 2015 had already led to some coral mortality by the time surveys were conducted in late 2015, at which time cover had dropped back to levels recorded in the KHFMA in 2012.Ĭitation: Williams ID, White DJ, Sparks RT, Lino KC, Zamzow JP, Kelly ELA, et al. Coral cover subsequently stabilized and may have slightly increased from 2012 through early 2015. before meaningful herbivore recovery had occurred. Coral cover declined over the first few years of surveys–from 39.6% (SE 1.4%) in 2008, to 32.9% (SE 0.8%) in 2012, with almost all of that loss occurring by 2010 (1 year after closure), i.e. It is not yet clear how effective herbivore protection might eventually be for the KHFMA’s ultimate goal of coral recovery. Strong evidence that changes in the KHFMA were a consequence of herbivore management are that (i) there were no changes in biomass of unprotected fish families within the KHFMA and that (ii) there were no similar changes in parrotfish or CCA at comparison sites around Maui. Nevertheless, coincident with greater biomass of herbivores within the KHFMA, cover of crustose coralline algae (CCA) has increased from ~2% before closure to ~ 15% in 2015, and macroalgal cover has remained low throughout the monitoring period. Most of those gains were of small-to-medium sized species, whereas large-bodied species have not recovered, likely due to low levels of poaching on what are preferred fishery targets in Hawaii.
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Mean parrotfish and surgeonfish biomass both increased within the KHFMA (by 139% and 28% respectively). As part of a multi-agency monitoring effort, we conducted surveys at KHFMA and comparison sites around Maui starting 19 months before closure, and over the six years since implementation of herbivore protection. Within the KHFMA, herbivorous fishes and sea urchins are protected, but other fishing is allowed.
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In response to concerns about declining coral cover and recurring macroalgal blooms, in 2009 the State of Hawaii established the Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area (KHFMA).