Data from ''Human exploitation shapes productivity-biomass relationships on coral reefs"

This entry refers to Morais, Connolly and Bellwood 'Human exploitation shapes productivity-biomass relationships on coral reefs' in the journal Global Change Biology. It encompasses R scripts and multiple data tables used to reproduce the analyses of the paper.

The compressed file in this data entry encompasses three folders: '1st Inputs' is where the input data tables are located, '2nd Scripts' is where the scripts with functions, routines and procedures are located; and '3rd Outputs' is the folder to which figures and tables will be exported once the analyses are replicated.

Abstract [Related Publication]: Coral reef fisheries support the livelihoods of millions of people in tropical countries, despite large‐scale depletion of fish biomass. While human adaptability can help to explain the resistance of fisheries to biomass depletion, compensatory ecological mechanisms may also be involved. If this is the case, high productivity should coexist with low biomass under relatively high exploitation. Here we integrate large spatial scale empirical data analysis and a theory‐driven modelling approach to unveil the effects of human exploitation on reef fish productivity–biomass relationships. We show that differences in how productivity and biomass respond to overexploitation can decouple their relationship. As size‐selective exploitation depletes fish biomass, it triggers increased production per unit biomass, averting immediate productivity collapse in both the modelling and the empirical systems. This ‘buffering productivity’ exposes the danger of assuming resource production–biomass equivalence, but may help to explain why some biomass‐depleted fish assemblages still provide ecosystem goods under continued global fishing exploitation.

 

    Data Record Details
    Data record related to this publication Data from ''Human exploitation shapes productivity-biomass relationships on coral reefs"
    Data Publication title Data from ''Human exploitation shapes productivity-biomass relationships on coral reefs"
  • Description

    This entry refers to Morais, Connolly and Bellwood 'Human exploitation shapes productivity-biomass relationships on coral reefs' in the journal Global Change Biology. It encompasses R scripts and multiple data tables used to reproduce the analyses of the paper.

    The compressed file in this data entry encompasses three folders: '1st Inputs' is where the input data tables are located, '2nd Scripts' is where the scripts with functions, routines and procedures are located; and '3rd Outputs' is the folder to which figures and tables will be exported once the analyses are replicated.

    Abstract [Related Publication]: Coral reef fisheries support the livelihoods of millions of people in tropical countries, despite large‐scale depletion of fish biomass. While human adaptability can help to explain the resistance of fisheries to biomass depletion, compensatory ecological mechanisms may also be involved. If this is the case, high productivity should coexist with low biomass under relatively high exploitation. Here we integrate large spatial scale empirical data analysis and a theory‐driven modelling approach to unveil the effects of human exploitation on reef fish productivity–biomass relationships. We show that differences in how productivity and biomass respond to overexploitation can decouple their relationship. As size‐selective exploitation depletes fish biomass, it triggers increased production per unit biomass, averting immediate productivity collapse in both the modelling and the empirical systems. This ‘buffering productivity’ exposes the danger of assuming resource production–biomass equivalence, but may help to explain why some biomass‐depleted fish assemblages still provide ecosystem goods under continued global fishing exploitation.

     

  • Other Descriptors
  • Data type dataset
  • Keywords
    • ecosystem functioning
    • overexploitation
    • reef fish productivity
    • size-spectrum theory
    • coral reef fisheries
    • parrotfishes
    • Coral Triangle
    • Great Barrier Reef
    • ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
  • Funding source
  • Research grant(s)/Scheme name(s)
    • - Cyclone damage and massive bleaching effects over reef fish productivity, biomass and assemblage composition
    • - Lizard Island Doctoral Fellowship (Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation)
  • Research themes
    Tropical Ecosystems, Conservation and Climate Change
    People and Societies in the Tropics
    FoR Codes (*)
    SEO Codes
    Specify spatial or temporal setting of the data
    Temporal (time) coverage
  • Start Date
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    Spatial (location) coverage
  • Locations
    Data Locations

    Type Location Notes
    Attachment Morais_Connolly_Bellwood_Scripts_Datasets.zip This file encompasses three folders: '1st Inputs' is where the input data tables are located, '2nd Scripts' is where the scripts with functions, routines and procedures are located; and '3rd Outputs' is the folder to which figures and tables will be exported once the analyses are replicated.
    The Data Manager is: Renato Morais
    College or Centre
    Access conditions Open: free access under license
  • Alternative access conditions
  • Data record size 1 zip file: 724 KB
  • Related publications
      Name Morais, Renato A., Connolly, Sean R. and Bellwood, David R. (2019) Human exploitation shapes productivity–biomass relationships on coral reefs. Global Change Biology.
    • URL https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14941
    • Notes In Press
  • Related websites
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  • Other Licence
  • Statement of rights in data
  • Data owners
      Renato Morais ('lizarddata.csv' and 'raja data.csv')
      Renato Morais and James Cook University (Professor Bellwood provided the original data) ('parrotdata.csv')
    Citation Bellwood, David; Morais, Renato (2019): Data from ''Human exploitation shapes productivity-biomass relationships on coral reefs". James Cook University. https://doi.org/10.25903/5dde18faf37e3