A meta‐analysis of fish behavioural reaction to underwater human presence

Type Article
Date 2019-09
Language English
Author(s) Samia Diogo S. M.1, Bessa Eduardo2, Blumstein Daniel T.3, Nunes José A. C. C.4, Azzurro Ernesto5, 6, Morroni Lorenzo5, Sbragaglia Valerio5, 7, Januchowski‐hartley Fraser A.8, 9, Geffroy Benjamin8
Affiliation(s) 1 : Department of Ecology, Bioscience Institute University of Sao Paulo Sao Paulo, Brazil
2 : Life and Earth Sciences Area, FUP, and Graduate Program in Ecology, Biology Institute University of Brasília Distrito Federal, Brazil
3 : Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California Los Angeles California, USA
4 : Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação Marinha, Centro de Formação em Ciências Ambientais Universidade Federal do Sul da Bahia Itabuna, Brazil
5 : Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) Livorno, Italy
6 : Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn Napoles, Italy
7 : Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes Leibniz‐Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries Berlin,Germany
8 : MARBEC, Ifremer University Montpellier, CNRS, IRD Palavas‐Les‐Flots ,France
9 : MARBEC, Ifremer University Montpellier, CNRS, IRD Palavas‐Les‐Flots ,France
Source Fish And Fisheries (1467-2960) (Wiley), 2019-09 , Vol. 20 , N. 5 , P. 817-829
DOI 10.1111/faf.12378
WOS© Times Cited 29
Keyword(s) antipredator behaviour, economic escape theory, fish size, flight initiation distance, shoal size
Abstract

In an increasingly anthropic world, humans have profound impacts on the distribution and behaviour of marine fishes. The increased human presence has modified fishesf antipredator behavioural responses, and consequently flight decisions, as a function of their changed perceptions of risk. Understanding how fish react to human presence can help identify the most vulnerable functional groups/species and estimate impacts caused by human disturbance. Shoal and body size are known to influence fish flight initiation distance (FID; the distance between the predator and prey when the prey begins to escape); however, few studies attempt to test the moderators of these relationships. Here, we present a comprehensive meta]analysis evaluating FID of fish in response to human presence. Specifically, we investigated six candidate moderators that could influence the relationship between FID with shoal and body size. Our results showed that individual fish size was strongly and positively correlated with FID and the most important moderator that explained the variance in individual body size]FID relationship was shoaling behaviour. However, and somehow surprisingly, we detected no significant relationship between shoal size and FID. We discuss how these results can inform the development of fish conservation strategies and ultimately assist in the management of marine protected areas.

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Samia Diogo S. M., Bessa Eduardo, Blumstein Daniel T., Nunes José A. C. C., Azzurro Ernesto, Morroni Lorenzo, Sbragaglia Valerio, Januchowski‐hartley Fraser A., Geffroy Benjamin (2019). A meta‐analysis of fish behavioural reaction to underwater human presence. Fish And Fisheries, 20(5), 817-829. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12378 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00500/61173/