Telemetry is an increasingly common tool for studying the ecology of wild fish, with great potential to provide valuable information for management and conservation. For researchers to conduct a ...robust telemetry study, many essential considerations exist related to selecting the appropriate tag type, fish capture and tagging methods, tracking protocol, data processing and analyses, and interpretation of findings. For telemetry-derived knowledge to be relevant to managers and policy makers, the research approach must consider management information needs for decision-making, while end users require an understanding of telemetry technology (capabilities and limitations), its application to fisheries research and monitoring (study design), and proper interpretation of results and conclusions (considering the potential for biases and proper recognition of associated uncertainties). To help bridge this gap, we provide a set of considerations and a checklist for researchers to guide them in conducting reliable and management-relevant telemetry studies, and for managers to evaluate the reliability and relevance of telemetry studies so as to better integrate findings into management plans. These considerations include implicit assumptions, technical limitations, ethical and biological realities, analytical merits, and the relevance of study findings to decision-making processes.
There is growing evidence that bioenergetics can explain relationships between environmental conditions and fish behaviour, distribution and fitness. Fish energetic needs increase predictably with ...water temperature, but metabolic performance (i.e., aerobic scope) exhibits varied relationships, and there is debate about its role in shaping fish ecology. Here we present an energetics–performance framework, which posits that ecological context determines whether energy expenditure or metabolic performance influence fish behaviour and fitness. From this framework, we present testable predictions about how temperature‐driven variability in energetic demands and metabolic performance interact with ecological conditions to influence fish behaviour, distribution and fitness. Specifically, factors such as prey availability and the spatial distributions of prey and predators may alter fish temperature selection relative to metabolic and energetic optima. Furthermore, metabolic flexibility is a key determinant of how fish will respond to changing conditions, such as those predicted with climate change. With few exceptions, these predictions have rarely been tested in the wild due partly to difficulties in remotely measuring aspects of fish energetics. However, with recent advances in technology and measurement techniques, we now have a better capacity to measure bioenergetics parameters in the wild. Testing these predictions will provide a more mechanistic understanding of how ecological factors affect fish fitness and population dynamics, advancing our knowledge of how species and ecosystems will respond to rapidly changing environments.
Guidance on improving the visual aspects of science communication range from “recipe”-style instructions to hyper-focused aspects of data visualization. Currently lacking in the peer-reviewed ...literature is a primer in graphic design tailored to a high-level overview of basic design principles and associated jargon related to layout, imagery, typeface, and colour. We illustrate why these aspects are important to effective communication. Further, we provide considerations on when to solicit professional assistance and what to expect when working with graphic designers. Having the fundamental principles of good design in your toolbox facilitates the production of effective visual communication related to your research and fruitful scientist–designer collaborations.
We tested the utility of acoustic tri-axial acceleration transmitters in combination with ethogram and respirometry studies to quantify the activity patterns and field metabolic rates of ...free-swimming bonefish (Albula vulpes) in the coastal waters of Eleuthera, The Bahamas. Bonefish were found to exhibit relatively low activity levels in the field with no evidence of diel patterns or inter-sexual variation. Low activity levels reported by the accelerometers reflected low swimming speeds and intermittent swimming behaviours (i.e., swim-then-drift) that maximized energy efficiency. Such behaviours were also observed when conducting ethograms on bonefish held in a large field mesocosm. Laboratory derived standard metabolic rates and maximum metabolic rates during recovery from exercise were combined with acceleration transmitter calibrations to determine that individual bonefish typically operate at between 40 and 60% of their estimated metabolic scope in the field. However, occasionally acceleration values in the field were indicative of high intensity bursting activity that exhausted the majority of their estimated metabolic scope (0.7% of all field observations exceed 90% of estimated metabolic scope). Data gathered in this study provide a critical starting point for the development of a bioenergetics model for bonefish which will ultimately lend clues into how fish make a living in tropical tidal flats environments. Given that this paper is one of the first to use transmitters rather than archival loggers to collect data on tri-axial acceleration on fish, we also discuss the opportunities and limitations of using this new technology for marine fisheries research.
► Activity patterns and field metabolic rates of bonefish were quantified. ► Acceleration transmitters, ethograms, and respirometry methodologies were used. ► Bonefish exhibit a number of strategies that maximize energy efficiency. ► Bonefish typically operate at between 40–60% of their estimated metabolic scope. ► Occasionally bonefish exhausted the majority of their metabolic scope.
The harvest of marine resources has long‐standing cultural and economic importance to The Bahamas and other small island developing states. Tourists and residents place a demand on local marine ...resources, particularly Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus (Latreille), queen conch, Lobatus gigas (Linnaeus) and Nassau grouper, Epinephelus striatus (Bloch), and many fishery products are also sold on the global market. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing coupled with inadequate regulations and enforcement are the main factors contributing to the decline of Bahamian fisheries along with other anthropogenic impacts. This article reviews the status of fisheries management in The Bahamas using economically and ecologically important species as case studies to highlight conservation successes, knowledge gaps and deficiencies in existing management approaches. The review concludes with an examination of how emerging fisheries and improved conservation management strategies have the potential to improve economic and food security throughout the archipelago.
To identify the timing and location of spawning activity for bonefish (
Albula
spp.) in the Bahamian archipelago, we used an acoustic telemetry array spanning 44 km
2
of shallow tidal creeks, flats, ...and adjacent deeper coastal waters near Cape Eleuthera. In two successive years, we surgically implanted transmitters in male and female bonefish (
n
= 60) and examined their movement patterns within the array. Eight bonefish surgically implanted with transmitters as part of an earlier study were also tracked. In 2009, the telemetry information was complemented with snorkeling observations, underwater video, and manual tracking of the same acoustically tagged fish, as well as fish (
n
= 3) gastrically implanted with continuous transmitters. During a period of 4–7 days spanning the full and new moons, primarily between October and May, bonefish moved from their typical shallow flats and aggregated at sites in close proximity to the deep water drop-off of the Exuma Sound. Localized movements of the large schools of bonefish (often >1,000 fish) at these presumptive pre-spawning aggregation sites included brief trips (<8 h) just after sunset until just prior to sunrise to the abyssal wall at the edge of the Exuma Sound (i.e., >1,000 m depth). Tagged bonefish detected at these aggregation sites were subsequently detected back in the tidal creeks and coastal flats shortly after new and full moons and remained at these more typical shallow sites (i.e., <2 m depth). Although we did not directly observe spawning events, we did observe ventral nudging and porpoising behaviors, which are potentially associated with courtship. Timing of the observed movements and possible courtship behaviors was coincident with periods when gametes were well developed. Collectively, our study provides the first objective evidence suggesting that the aggregation and seasonal migration of bonefish to deep shelf environments during certain moon phases is for spawning.
People need freshwater biodiversity Lynch, Abigail J.; Cooke, Steven J.; Arthington, Angela H. ...
WIREs. Water,
May/June 2023, Volume:
10, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Freshwater biodiversity, from fish to frogs and microbes to macrophytes, provides a vast array of services to people. Mounting concerns focus on the accelerating pace of biodiversity loss and ...declining ecological function within freshwater ecosystems that continue to threaten these natural benefits. Here, we catalog nine fundamental ecosystem services that the biotic components of indigenous freshwater biodiversity provide to people, organized into three categories: material (food; health and genetic resources; material goods), non‐material (culture; education and science; recreation), and regulating (catchment integrity; climate regulation; water purification and nutrient cycling). If freshwater biodiversity is protected, conserved, and restored in an integrated manner, as well as more broadly appreciated by humanity, it will continue to contribute to human well‐being and our sustainable future via this wide range of services and associated nature‐based solutions to our sustainable future.
This article is categorized under:
Human Water > Value of Water
Water and Life > Nature of Freshwater Ecosystems
Science of Water > Water and Environmental Change
Freshwater biodiversity (i.e., plants, animals, fungi, microbes, and other living things) provides a suite of critical ecosystem services to people. Collapses in freshwater biodiversity impact people, across all regions of the globe, rural–urban gradients, and the full socioeconomic spectrum, but perhaps most particularly indigenous and marginalized groups.
Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (δ
13
C and δ
15
N) were used to examine trophic niche dynamics of three co-occurring predators in The Bahamas. Variable estimates of core trophic niche width and ...total trophic niche overlap were observed between nurse sharks (
Ginglymostoma cirratum
), southern stingrays (
Hypanus americanus
), and Atlantic chupare stingrays (
Styracura schmardae
). Nurse sharks exhibited little trophic overlap with either species of stingray and exhibited higher δ
15
N values, suggesting limited potential resource competition. Southern and Atlantic chupare stingrays exhibited higher total trophic niche overlap, highlighting higher levels of resource competition. Nurse sharks exhibited the broadest δ
13
C range, implying utilization of multiple resource pools to facilitate energetic requirements, compared with southern stingrays and Atlantic chupare stingrays. Southern stingrays exhibited the smallest core trophic niche width, highlighting reliance upon a narrower range of resource pools, likely supported by a single habitat type. We postulate that the persistence of the three sub-sampled predator populations is supported by potential resource partitioning and utilization of multiple trophic resource pools. Further information regarding trophic niche dynamics and patterns of resource use is required for data-poor species to identify how populations and communities may respond to the adverse effects of exploitation, such as fisheries impacts, habitat alteration, and pollution.
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