Re-examining the relationship between invasive lionfish and native grouper in the Caribbean
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
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Abstract
Biotic resistance is the idea that native species negatively affect the invasion success of introduced species, but whether this can occur at large spatial scales is poorly understood. Here we re-evaluated the hypothesis that native large-bodied grouper and other predators are controlling the abundance of exotic lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) on Caribbean coral reefs. We assessed the relationship between the biomass of lionfish and native predators at 71 reefs in three biogeographic regions while taking into consideration several cofactors that may affect fish abundance, including among others, proxies for fishing pressure and habitat structural complexity. Our results indicate that the abundance of lionfish, large-bodied grouper and other predators were not negatively related. Lionfish abundance was instead controlled by several physical site characteristics, and possibly by culling. Taken together, our results suggest that managers cannot rely on current native grouper populations to control the lionfish invasion.
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2014. Re-examining the relationship between invasive lionfish and native grouper in the Caribbean. PeerJ PrePrints 2:e262v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.262v1note This preprint is not peer-reviewed. You may wish to reference the subsequent peer-reviewed version of this article.
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Supplemental Information
Detailed information of reef sites.
Location names, coordinates, and site characteristics of surveyed sites. S&G, spur-and-groove.
Summary of the glmmADMB results.
Lionfish abundance (ind. 100 m-2) on grouper biomass (g 100 m-2), predators, and other co-factors.
Location of survey sites.
For site abbreviations, surveys dates and coordinates refer to Table S1
Moran’s I similarity spline correlograms for lionfish and grouper raw data across all sites (top two panels) and for the glmmADMB model residuals (bottom panel).
Note the strong spatial autocorrelation of the raw data (i.e., swirling lines around zero) and how the hierarchical structure of the random effects (sites nested in regions) of the full glmmADMB model eliminated this correlation in the model residuals. A Mantel test of the model Pearson residuals (r = 0.073) corroborates the lack of spatial correlation of the residuals. Lines are the mean ± 95% confidence interval.
Lionfish versus grouper composite
Lionfish versus grouper composite
Additional Information
Competing Interests
The authors declare no competing interests. John Bruno is an Academic Editor for PeerJ.
Author Contributions
Abel Valdivia conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, analyzed the data, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, wrote the paper, prepared figures and/or tables, reviewed drafts of the paper.
John F Bruno conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Courtney Cox performed the experiments, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Serena Hackerott performed the experiments, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Stephanie Green performed the experiments, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Field Study Permissions
The following information was supplied relating to ethical approvals (i.e., approving body and any reference numbers):
Bahamas: Department of Marine Resources, Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources. Permit MAF/FIS/17.
Cuba: Centro de Control y Inspección Ambiental, Cuba via Fabian Pina.
Mexico: Dirección General de Ordenamiento Pesquero y Acuicola de la Comisión Nacional de Acuicultura y Pesca (CONAPESCA) de la Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganaderia, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación (SAGARPA). Permiso DAPA/2/06504/110612/1608.
Belize: Belize Fisheries Department. Permit # 000028-11.
Grant Disclosures
The following grant information was disclosed by the authors:
National Science Foundation (OCE-0940019 to JB), National Geographic Society Committee for Research and Exploration (grant 8514-08 to JB)
Data Deposition
The following information was supplied regarding the deposition of related data:
http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.899210
Funding
This work was funded in part by the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society Committee for Research and Exploration, the Royster Society Carol and Edward Smithwick Dissertation Fellowship (to AV), the Rufford Small Grants Foundation (to CEC), the David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship (to SJG), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.