AI Article Synopsis
- This study identifies essential fish habitats, specifically nursery and spawning grounds, for various fish species in Saudi territorial waters from 2013 to 2016 using surveys and geostatistical methods.
- Results show that nursery areas are mainly found nearshore, while spawning sites are typically offshore, with significant differences in habitat use among species.
- The findings provide valuable insights for future spatial planning and ecosystem management efforts to ensure the sustainability of aquatic life.
Article Abstract
Information about habitats occupied by aquatic organisms while completing critical stages of their lives, called essential fish habitats, is crucial for their sustainability. In this work, we determine essential fish habitats (nursery and spawning grounds) of several fish species inhabiting Saudi territorial waters in the western Arabian Gulf using data from multiple surveys (2013-2016), geostatistics, and indicator species analysis. We built geostatistical maps of spatial distributions of juvenile and mature fish and examined the strength of association of each species to its observed nursery and spawning areas. Fish nursery areas were generally located in nearshore locations while spawning areas were located in offshore waters. The patterns of nursery and spawning grounds were highly varied among species, supporting a hypothesis of habitat-species heterogeneity: different species use different locations as nursery and spawning grounds. This information can be used as a roadmap for future evidence-based spatial planning and ecosystem-based management.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113013 | DOI Listing |
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