Development of a reef fish biological condition gradient model with quantitative decision rules for the protection and restoration of coral reef ecosystems.

ABSTRACT: Coral reef ecosystems are declining due to multiple interacting stressors. A bioassessment framework focused on stressor-response associations was developed to help organize and communicate complex ecological information to support coral reef conservation. This study applied the Biological Condition Gradient (BCG), initially developed for freshwater ecosystems, to fish assemblages of U.S. Caribbean coral reef ecosystems. The reef fish BCG describes how biological conditions changed incrementally along a gradient of increasing anthropogenic stress. Coupled with physical and chemical water quality data, the BGC forms a scientifically defensible basis to prioritize, protect and restore water bodies containing coral reefs. Through an iterative process, scientists from across the U.S. Caribbean

SUBMITTER: Bradley P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8717739 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature