Conclusion
249
6.6 Conclusion
The share of fish communities in the use of trophic resources of the coral
reef is very large, being commensurable with that by the zoobenthos. Their
high density with a biomass of up to 200 g m -2, as well as the great diversity
of their trophic guilds, enable us to recognize them as the most important
among the components of the coral-reef ecosystems. This share of reef fish
in metabolism and productivity of the ecosystem is much larger than that of
the ichthyofauna of temperate coastal ecosystems, not only because of their
high density but also their dominance in herbivorous and planktovorous fish.
Herbivory results in the shortening of the food chain and increases the
efficiency of utilization of plant primary production by reef heterotrophs,
while the second factor - the abundance of planktovores - promotes the
input of additional external energy and nutrients into the reef ecosystem
from the surrounding oceanic waters through the consuming of zooplankton
by fish. An extremely important function of the fish communities in reef
ecosystems could be seen in their participation in processes of nutrients
regeneration as well as in bioerosion and production of soft carbonaceous
bottom sediments (cf. Sects. 1.3,2.2.4).
The communities of reef fish attain the most extreme levels of density and
diversity ever known in biological communities, either terrestrial or marine.
They reach the highest degree in making use of the living spaces in natural
biotopes, and succeed in using most efficiently the trophical resources. The
scientific results and theories explaining these phenomena could be regarded
as significant in sights into general ecology and theory of evolution (Sale
1984). The result of studies on reef-fish communities and especially the
results of experiments with artificial reefs appear to be important for
developing a scientific background for aquaculture (Russell et al. 1974;
Nelson and Tsutui 1981). The problems of reef fisheries will be discussed
elsewhere (cf. Sect. 11.5).
249
6.6 Conclusion
The share of fish communities in the use of trophic resources of the coral
reef is very large, being commensurable with that by the zoobenthos. Their
high density with a biomass of up to 200 g m -2, as well as the great diversity
of their trophic guilds, enable us to recognize them as the most important
among the components of the coral-reef ecosystems. This share of reef fish
in metabolism and productivity of the ecosystem is much larger than that of
the ichthyofauna of temperate coastal ecosystems, not only because of their
high density but also their dominance in herbivorous and planktovorous fish.
Herbivory results in the shortening of the food chain and increases the
efficiency of utilization of plant primary production by reef heterotrophs,
while the second factor - the abundance of planktovores - promotes the
input of additional external energy and nutrients into the reef ecosystem
from the surrounding oceanic waters through the consuming of zooplankton
by fish. An extremely important function of the fish communities in reef
ecosystems could be seen in their participation in processes of nutrients
regeneration as well as in bioerosion and production of soft carbonaceous
bottom sediments (cf. Sects. 1.3,2.2.4).
The communities of reef fish attain the most extreme levels of density and
diversity ever known in biological communities, either terrestrial or marine.
They reach the highest degree in making use of the living spaces in natural
biotopes, and succeed in using most efficiently the trophical resources. The
scientific results and theories explaining these phenomena could be regarded
as significant in sights into general ecology and theory of evolution (Sale
1984). The result of studies on reef-fish communities and especially the
results of experiments with artificial reefs appear to be important for
developing a scientific background for aquaculture (Russell et al. 1974;
Nelson and Tsutui 1981). The problems of reef fisheries will be discussed
elsewhere (cf. Sect. 11.5).