The Apex Predator Biomass of Palmyra Atoll
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The traditional view of a marine community is one of a pyramid with a large biomass of primary producers on the bottom and a small biomass of apex predators on the top. The Northwest Hawaiian Islands, which are historically unfished, recently were found to have an apex predator biomass of 54% and a total fish biomass 260% greater than the Main Hawaiian Islands. This community biomass structure resembles an inverted pyramid and contradicts the traditional view. This study analyzed the apex predator biomass of the back reef of Palmyra Atoll, another relatively unfished and pristine coral reef ecosystem. The apex predator biomass was found to be 66%, dominated by the snapper Lutjanus bohar and the sharks Carcharhinus melanopterus and Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos. Total biomass was 152% greater than that of the NWHI. Additional ROV depth transects along the fore reef of Palmyra as well as the neighboring Kingman Reef aided in the generation of family and species lists for both Palmyra and Kingman Reef. Results from this study supported the inverted pyramid structure of a coral reef community, suggesting that most marine fish communities have been greatly altered in structure due to selective and overwhelming fishing pressure. These results suggest a that a predator-dominated fish community is natural in coral reef ecosystems. These results can serve as a baseline and can be used to asses community health in fished areas, as well as ensure the protection of the few coral reef ecosystems like Palmyra which give an indication of the state of coral reef communities before human interference.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | June 9, 2003 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Stevenson, Charlotte |
|---|
Subjects
| Subject | Palmyra atoll |
|---|---|
| Subject | fish biomass |
| Subject | S-187 |
| Subject | Stanford@SEA |
| Subject | Hopkins Marine Station |
| Subject | Department of Biology |
| Subject | Department of Earth System Science |
| Subject | BIOHOPK 182H |
| Subject | BIOHOPK 323H |
| Subject | EARTHSYS 323 |
| Subject | ESS 323 |
| Genre | Student project report |
Bibliographic information
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- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Stevenson, Charlotte. 2003. The Apex Predator Biomass of Palmyra Atoll. Unpublished student research paper, S-187, Stanford@SEA, Stanford Digital Repository. https://purl.stanford.edu/xr386rg2530.
Collection
Stanford@SEA -- Student papers
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- Contact
- thalassa@stanford.edu
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