@article{fdi:010072431,
  title = {{H}uman activities as a driver of spatial variation in the trophic structure of fish communities on {P}acific coral reefs},
  author = {{R}uppert, {J}. {L}. {W}. and {V}igliola, {L}aurent and {K}ulbicki, {M}ichel and {L}abrosse, {P}. and {F}ortin, {M}. {J}. and {M}eekan, {M}. {G}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{A}nthropogenic activities such as land-use change, pollution and fishing impact the trophic structure of coral reef fishes, which can influence ecosystem health and function. {A}lthough these impacts may be ubiquitous, they are not consistent across the tropical {P}acific {O}cean. {U}sing an extensive database of fish biomass sampled using underwater visual transects on coral reefs, we modelled the impact of human activities on food webs at {P}acific-wide and regional (1,000s-10,000s km) scales. {W}e found significantly lower biomass of sharks and carnivores, where there were higher densities of human populations (hereafter referred to as human activity); however, these patterns were not spatially consistent as there were significant differences in the trophic structures of fishes among biogeographic regions. {A}dditionally, we found significant changes in the benthic structure of reef environments, notably a decline in coral cover where there was more human activity. {D}irect human impacts were the strongest in the upper part of the food web, where we found that in a majority of the {P}acific, the biomass of reef sharks and carnivores were significantly and negatively associated with human activity. {F}inally, although human-induced stressors varied in strength and significance throughout the coral reef food web across the {P}acific, socioeconomic variables explained more variation in reef fish trophic structure than habitat variables in a majority of the biogeographic regions. {N}otably, economic development (measured as {GDP} per capita) did not guarantee healthy reef ecosystems (high coral cover and greater fish biomass). {O}ur results indicate that human activities are significantly shaping patterns of trophic structure of reef fishes in a spatially nonuniform manner across the {P}acific {O}cean, by altering processes that organize communities in both "top-down" (fishing of predators) and "bottomup" (degradation of benthic communities) contexts.},
  keywords = {biogeography ; habitat ; multiscale analysis ; socioeconomic ; spatial food ; webs ; structural equation models ; {PACIFIQUE}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{G}lobal {C}hange {B}iology},
  volume = {24},
  numero = {1},
  pages = {{E}67--{E}79},
  ISSN = {1354-1013},
  year = {2018},
  DOI = {10.1111/gcb.13882},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010072431},
}