A trophic model of fringing coral reefs in Nanwan Bay, southern Taiwan suggests overfishing.
Several coral reefs of Nanwan Bay, Taiwan have recently undergone shifts to macroalgal or sea anemone dominance. Thus, a mass-balance trophic model was constructed to analyze the structure and functioning of the food web. The fringing reef model was comprised of 18 compartments, with the highest trophic level of 3.45 for piscivorous fish. Comparative analyses with other reef models demonstrated that Nanwan Bay was similar to reefs with high fishery catches. While coral biomass was not lower, fish biomass was lower than those of reefs with high catches. Consequently, the sums of consumption and respiratory flows and total system throughput were also decreased. The Nanwan Bay model potentially suggests an overfished status in which the mean trophic level of the catch, matter cycling, and trophic transfer efficiency are extremely reduced.
Liu
Pi-Jen
PJ
Department of Life Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan.
Shao
Kwang-Tsao
KT
Jan
Rong-Quen
RQ
Fan
Tung-Yung
TY
Wong
Saou-Lien
SL
Hwang
Jiang-Shiou
JS
Chen
Jen-Ping
JP
Chen
Chung-Chi
CC
Lin
Hsing-Juh
HJ
D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000502:physiology*; D018533:Biomass; D005398:Fisheries; D005399:Fishes; D020387:Food Chain; D007448:Invertebrates; D008954:Models, Biological; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D013624:Taiwan