Fish assemblages and benthic habitats of Buck Island Reef National Monument (St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands) and the surrounding seascape
Subtitle: A characterization of spatial and temporal patterns
Publisher: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Published: May 2008
Place of publication: Silver Spring, MD, USA
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 82
Table of contents: title: Contents; title: i Executive Summary; title: ii Table of Contents; title: iii List of Tables and Figures; title: 1 Introduction of Study Area................................1; title: 1.1 Background......................................1; title: 1.2 Environmental monitoring and ecosystem changes around Buck Island..........................3; title: 1.3 Benthic habitat mapping in the region...................................4; title: 2 Methods ..............................................5; title: 2.1 Field survey methods.......................................5; title: 2.1.1 Benthic habitat surveys...................................................5; title: 2.1.2 Fish surveys................................................6; title: 2.1.3 Macroinvertebrates count.........................................7; title: 2.1.3 Observer training...............................................7; title: 2.1.4 Data management.....................................................7; title: 2.2 Analyses .................................................7; title: 2.2.1 Characterizing patterns in benthic habitat cover.............................7; title: 2.2.2 Characterizing patterns in fish species communities...........................9; title: 2.2.3 Comparison of fish densities and species presence between 1979 and 2001-2006........10; title: 2.2.4 Characterizing patterns in macroinvertebrate abundance..........................10; title: 3 Results ...................................11; title: 3.1 Benthic habitat cover.........................................11; title: 3.1.1 Characterization of colonized hardbottom areas....................................11; title: 3.1.2 Benthic cover inside and outside BIRNM..................................13; title: 3.1.3 Spatial patterns in benthic cover...................................14; title: 3.1.4 Seasonal and inter-annual patterns in benthic cover........................19; title: 3.1.5 Mapping threatened Acropora spp. inside and outside BIRNM...................21; title: 3.2 Fish communities, groups and species...............................23; title: 3.2.1 Fish community metrics..................................23; title: 3.2.2 Fish community composition......................................23; title: 3.2.3 Fish groups......................................23; title: 3.2.4 Individual species..............................................28; title: 3.2.5 Spatial distribution patterns and species-habitat associations.........................31; title: 3.2.6 Fish size frequency distributions..............................................41; title: 3.2.7 Comparison of fish densities and species presence between 1979 and 2001-2006........45; title: 3.2.8 Synoptic overview of inter-annual trends in mean fish metrics (2003-2006)....................45; title: 3.2.9 Seasonal and inter-annual patterns in fish community metrics...........................49; title: 3.2.10 Seasonal and inter-annual patterns in fish groups and species..........................51; title: 3.3 Macroinvertebrate spatial distribution patterns and species-habitat associations.............57; title: 3.3.1 queen conch (Stombus gigas)..................................57; title: 3.3.2 Long-spined urchin (Diadema antillarum)..................................59; title: 3.3.3 Historical comparison of Diadema abundance.........................60; title: 3.3.4 Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus)..............................60; title: 4 Discussion .....................61