Mangrove loss leads to fish hyperutilization of seagrass beds in a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
Hurricanes severely damaged a mangrove forest in a UNESCO biosphere reserve in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The system has yet to recover and when alternative habitats have been destroyed, it is shown that juvenile fishes will hyperutilize seagrass beds at densities significantly greater than in areas that maintain functioning mangroves. Despite over a decade of recovery time, the affected mangrove system remains inhospitable to juvenile fishes.
Department of Biology and Molecular Biology, Marine Biology and Coastal Sciences Program, Montclair State University, 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, NJ, 07043, U.S.A.
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Bologna
D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D055867:Cyclonic Storms; D017753:Ecosystem; D005399:Fishes; D011157:Population Dynamics; D043982:Rhizophoraceae; D014767:United States Virgin Islands
Rhizophora mangle; Thalassia testudinum; disturbance