TY - JOUR

T1 - Relationship between the tropical seagrass bed characteristics and the structure of the associated fish community

AU - Ambo-Rappe, R.

AU - Nessa, M.N.

AU - Latuconsina, H.

AU - Lajus, D.L.

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - Structural complexity of seagrass bed including species composition and shoot density is argued to be an important factor determining fish assemblages. However statistical verification of such a relationship is possible only in areas with high species richness of seagrass and fish assemblages which is observed in tropical waters. Material for this study was collected in three seagrass beds with different structure in Inner Ambon Bay, Eastern Indonesia. This study provided evidence that higher structural complexity of seagrass bed was related to the higher richness, abundance, and biomass of fish. However, lower structural complexity of seagrass patch should not be underestimated because it provided different habitat for various stages of life in fish. Smaller fish preferred to occupy dense seagrass of dominant pioneer small-sized species (Halodule uninervis) and moved to the lesser dense bed of climax large-sized seagrass (Thalassia hemprichii and Enhalus acoroides) with increasing their size. This finding i

AB - Structural complexity of seagrass bed including species composition and shoot density is argued to be an important factor determining fish assemblages. However statistical verification of such a relationship is possible only in areas with high species richness of seagrass and fish assemblages which is observed in tropical waters. Material for this study was collected in three seagrass beds with different structure in Inner Ambon Bay, Eastern Indonesia. This study provided evidence that higher structural complexity of seagrass bed was related to the higher richness, abundance, and biomass of fish. However, lower structural complexity of seagrass patch should not be underestimated because it provided different habitat for various stages of life in fish. Smaller fish preferred to occupy dense seagrass of dominant pioneer small-sized species (Halodule uninervis) and moved to the lesser dense bed of climax large-sized seagrass (Thalassia hemprichii and Enhalus acoroides) with increasing their size. This finding i

KW - Fish

KW - Tropical Seagrass

KW - Structural Complexity

KW - Enclosed Bay

KW - Fisheries Management

U2 - 10.4236/oje.2013.35038

DO - 10.4236/oje.2013.35038

M3 - Article

VL - 3

SP - 331

EP - 342

JO - Open Journal of Ecology

JF - Open Journal of Ecology

SN - 2162-1985

IS - 5

ER -