About This Project

The relations between herbivores, coral reefs and vegetated beds will be evaluated through the dynamics of herbivory halos, areas with sparse or absent vegetation nearby reef patches, and the impact of spatial connectivity on the foraging patterns of reef fish in the Abrolhos archipelago. Integrated analysis of herbivore-producer interactions provide indicators of how ecosystems function and how it may be impacted by anthropogenic effects—crucial information for conservation plans.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Herbivory in marine systems can directly affect plant biomass and provide benefits by consuming epiphytic algae on seagrass leaves and controlling algae in coral reefs, thus favouring coral species in the competition for space. Herbivorous species can modify the environment, as observed in the formation of grazing halos - sandy areas with intensive foraging in the meadows surrounding reef patches - driven by increased predation risk at greater distances from the reefs, which herbivores use as refuges. Moreover, marine spatial configuration and complexity can influence the composition and abundance of herbivorous reef fish. Thus, higher connectivity among habitats in the marine landscape enhances energy flow between coastal ecosystems, resource availability and ecological functions.

What is the significance of this project?

Identify and map halos can provide insights into the functioning and changes in the reef and surrounding communities, also serving as an additional tool for reef areas monitoring. In this way, we hope that continuous detection of grazing halos can be incorporated into future analyses and monitoring of reef composition and abundance of herbivores and predators in the Abrolhos Park. Herbivorous reef fishes can exhibit different movement patterns and resource requirements depending on environmental connectivity between habitats. The presence of varied foraging patterns and resource uses of species throughout the marine landscape displays the requirement to incorporate connectivity potential between habitats as essential information for management and conservation planning in the marine parks.

What are the goals of the project?

To detect and estimate the spatiotemporal changes in herbivory halos in the Abrolhos Marine Park, we will analyse the purchased satellite images in a 20-year time series. The results will be compared with previous visual fish census data from the Marine Ecology and Conservation Laboratory (Lecomar-UFSB), to evaluate the relation between halo variation and the structure of the fish guild. The effect of spatial configuration and connectivity on the foraging patterns of herbivorous fish species in Abrolhos will be examined by using SCUBA diving equipped with the GPS acquired to follow individuals detected in the area for three minutes. The remote cameras (GoPro) will be used to record the feeding behaviours of the fishes. We expect to start the analysis by February/2025.