| 1. |
- Wilson, S. K., et al.
(författare)
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Crucial knowledge gaps in current understanding of climate change impacts on coral reef fishes
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Experimental Biology. - : The Company of Biologists. - 0022-0949 .- 1477-9145. ; 213:6, s. 894-900
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Expert opinion was canvassed to identify crucial knowledge gaps in current understanding of climate change impacts on coral reef fishes. Scientists that had published three or more papers on the effects of climate and environmental factors on reef fishes were invited to submit five questions that, if addressed, would improve our understanding of climate change effects on coral reef fishes. Thirty-three scientists provided 155 questions, and 32 scientists scored these questions in terms of: (i) identifying a knowledge gap, (ii) achievability, (iii) applicability to a broad spectrum of species and reef habitats, and (iv) priority. Forty-two per cent of the questions related to habitat associations and community dynamics of fish, reflecting the established effects and immediate concern relating to climate-induced coral loss and habitat degradation. However, there were also questions on fish demographics, physiology, behaviour and management, all of which could be potentially affected by climate change. Irrespective of their individual expertise and background, scientists scored questions from different topics similarly, suggesting limited bias and recognition of a need for greater interdisciplinary and collaborative research. Presented here are the 53 highest-scoring unique questions. These questions should act as a guide for future research, providing a basis for better assessment and management of climate change impacts on coral reefs and associated fish communities.
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| 2. |
- Barnes, Michele L., et al.
(författare)
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'Bunkering down' : How one community is tightening social-ecological network structures in the face of global change
- 2022
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Ingår i: People and Nature. - : Wiley. - 2575-8314. ; 4:4, s. 1032-1048
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Complex networks of relationships among and between people and nature (social-ecological networks) play an important role in sustainability; yet, we have limited empirical understanding of their temporal dynamics.We empirically examine the evolution of a social-ecological network in a common-pool resource system faced with escalating social and environmental change over the past two decades.We first draw on quantitative and qualitative data collected between 2002 and 2018 in a Papua New Guinean reef fishing community to provide contextual evidence regarding the extent of social and environmental change being experienced. We then develop a temporal multilevel exponential random graph model using complete social-ecological network data, collected in 2016 and 2018, to test key hypotheses regarding how fishing households have adapted their social ties in this context of change given their relationships with reef resources (i.e. social-ecological ties). Specifically, we hypothesized that households will increasingly form tight-knit, bonding social and social-ecological network structures (H1 and H3, respectively) with similar others (H2), and that they will seek out resourceful actors with specialized knowledge that can promote learning and spur innovation (H4).Our results depict a community that is largely ‘bunkering down’ and looking inward in response to mounting risk to resource-dependent livelihoods and a breakdown in the collaborative processes that traditionally sustained them. Community members are increasingly choosing to interact with others more like themselves (H2), with friends of friends (H1), and with those connected to interdependent ecological resources (H3)—in other words, they are showing a strong, increasing preference for forming bonding social-ecological network structures and interacting with like-minded, similar others. We did not find strong support for H4.Bonding network structures may decrease the risk associated with unmonitored behaviour and help to build trust, thereby increasing the probability of sustaining cooperation over time. Yet, increasing homophily and bonding ties can stifle innovation, reducing the ability to adapt to changing conditions. It can also lead to clustering, creating fault lines in the network, which can negatively impact the community's ability to mobilize and agree on/enforce social norms, which are key for managing common resources.
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| 3. |
- Sale, Peter F., et al.
(författare)
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Transforming management of tropical coastal seas to cope with challenges of the 21st century
- 2014
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Ingår i: Marine Pollution Bulletin. - : Elsevier BV. - 0025-326X .- 1879-3363. ; 85:1, s. 8-23
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Over 1.3 billion people live on tropical coasts, primarily in developing countries. Many depend on adjacent coastal seas for food, and livelihoods. We show how trends in demography and in several local and global anthropogenic stressors are progressively degrading capacity of coastal waters to sustain these people. Far more effective approaches to environmental management are needed if the loss in provision of ecosystem goods and services is to be stemmed. We propose expanded use of marine spatial planning as a framework for more effective, pragmatic management based on ocean zones to accommodate conflicting uses. This would force the holistic, regional-scale reconciliation of food security, livelihoods, and conservation that is needed. Transforming how countries manage coastal resources will require major change in policy and politics, implemented with sufficient flexibility to accommodate societal variations. Achieving this change is a major challenge - one that affects the lives of one fifth of humanity.
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| 4. |
- Feary, David A., et al.
(författare)
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Trophic ecology of New Zealand triplefin fishes (Family Tripterygiidae)
- 2009
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Ingår i: Marine Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0025-3162 .- 1432-1793. ; 156:8, s. 1703-1714
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In many vertebrate radiations, food partitioning among closely related taxa is a key factor in both the maintenance of species diversity and the process of diversification. We compared diet composition and jaw morphology of 18 New Zealand triplefin species (F. Tripterygiidae) to examine whether species have diversified along a trophic axis. These fishes predominantly utilised small, mobile benthic invertebrates, and interspecific differences in diet composition appeared to be mainly attributable to habitat- or size-dependent feeding behaviour. Although there were differences in the relative size of the bones comprising the oral jaw apparatus between species, the majority showed an apparatus consistent with a relatively high velocity, low force jaw movement indicative of a diet of evasive prey. Phylogenetic comparative analyses showed that the evolution of jaw lever ratios and diet breadth was best explained by a non-directional model in which character changes have occurred randomly and independent of phylogeny. The mode of diet breadth evolution was gradual and the tempo has not accelerated or slowed down over time. The mode of evolution for the jaw lever ratios has been gradual for the opening but punctuated for the closing levers, suggesting that evolutionary changes have occurred rapidly for the latter trait. The tempo of trait evolution for the jaw opening levers has not accelerated or slowed down over time, while the tempo for the jaw closing levers has accelerated towards the tips of the tree, which is suggestive of species level adaptation. The lack of phylogenetic signal in diet breadth and jaw lever ratios appears most likely to be a correlated response to the marked habitat diversification in this group, and is thus the passive outcome of prey availability in species-specific habitat types. Overall, the trophic ecology of New Zealand's triplefin fauna parallels the generalist strategy typical of the family worldwide, suggesting that trophic resource partitioning has not been an important factor in the evolution of these fishes.
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