Plattsburgh, NY
This in this week’s blog post I’m going to talk to you about a study done in Fiji islands regarding the herbivorous few fish species which act as cleaners for the benefit of the ecosystem. According to the researchers two species of unicornfish, one species of parrot fish and another species of rabitfish were responsible for the cleaning of coral reefs from seaweeds and algae which are toxic for the coral reef growth. They have installed cameras in the seabed and have observed the fish activity on Coral Reefs. Their cameras footage have shown that how these fish contribute to the survival of Coral growth. Except for the above four species, there are number of other species which help to to the survival of coral reef in small scale. They maintain the survival of coral reef by eating the the small algal like plants which grow on the coral reef. While they studying the importance of these fishes to the survival of the coral reefs, they have carried out another study to see how Protected patches (small areas where fishing is forbidden) improve the growth of coral reefs. Their study has shown the coral growth and the fish biomass has increased in Protected patches in substantial amount compared to the areas where fishing is allowed. This research was carried out by a group of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Their published work can be accessed from here http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/12-0389.1
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| Parrot Fish by: Cody Clements |
References:
- Consumer diversity interacts with prey defenses to drive
ecosystem function, Douglas B. Rasher, Andrew S. Hoey, and Mark E. Hay (doi:
10.1890/12-0389.1)
I am a Biology graduate from SUNY Plattsburgh, NY. I was employed at Lake Champlain Research Institute, Plattsburgh, NY during 2011-2013. There, I studied, longterm trends of zooplankton in Lake Champlain. One day, I hope to utilize my skills and experience towards a conservation of aquatic biology and make a worthy contribution to the science.
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