Assessing population sustainability with life-history data:a case study of Indo-Pacific reef fishes

• Main Authors: Wen-Chieh Sung, 宋文傑
• Other Authors: 王慧瑜
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/sth8uf

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 海洋研究所 === 106 === Reef fishes provide important services to human and reef ecosystem. Despite many reef fishes have declined due to exploitation, there is a lack of understanding of their sustainability. Life histories (e.g., growth and reproductive traits) determine population growth rates, providing insight into population responses to fishing. Specifically, we hypothesize that fishes with slow life histories (e.g., slow growth and late maturation) are less sustainable than those with fast life histories. Further, size-selective fishing could cause a stronger impact on protogynous (i.e., female-first sex-changing) than gonochoristic ones, as removal of large males can decrease fertilization rates and subsequent recruitment. To evaluate these hypotheses, we compiled life-history data and developed a population model to estimate population sustainability (measured by the level of fishing mortality reducing lifetime spawning biomass to 40% of that of an unfished state; hereafter referred as F40) for 78 Indo-Pacific reef fishes. Using linear mixed-effect models, we explored the effects of life history and mating types on F40, simultaneously accounting for potentially confounding latitudinal effects and family-related random variance. We found significant effects of life histories (i.e., a negative correlation between F40 and a fast-to-slow continuum) and mating types (i.e., lower F40 for protogynous than gonochoristic populations) but not latitudes on F40. Also, we found significant family-related random effects on F40. Our results suggest that life-history and mating type data can provide insight into population sustainability for data-poor reef fishes, supporting conservation and management planning.