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Stockwell B, Jadloc CRL, Abesamis RA, Alcala AC, Russ GR
Trophic and benthic responses to no-take marine reserve protection in the Philippines
No-take marine reserves have the potential to prevent dominance of algae on coral reefs through the recovery of harvested populations of herbivorous fish. Using data from 15 reserves of varying ages and from fished sites in the Philippines, Stockwell and colleagues inferred a 15-fold increase in biomass of herbivorous fish, which coincided with a 13-fold decrease in macroalgal cover inside reserves after 11 years of protection. Rapid recovery of parrotfishes was the suspected primary cause for the decline in macroalgae. However, there was little difference in coral cover among reserves of different age. Even in fished sites, coral cover was much higher than macrolgal cover. Thus, there was no evidence that fishing of herbivores has led to 'benthic phase shifts'.
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