Prehistoric archives reveal evidence of predator loss and release in Caribbean reef fish communities

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: O'Dea, Aaron; Dillon, Erin M.; Brandl, Simon J.; Cramer, Katie L.; Cybulski, Jonathan D.; de Gracia, Brigida; Garcia-Mendez, Kimberly; Griswold, Katherine; Lin, Chien-Hsiang; Leray, Matthieu; Lueders-Dumont, Jessica A.; Sellers, Andrew J.; Wake, Thomas A.
• 署名单位: Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; Secretaria Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacin (SENACYT); University of Texas System; University of Texas Austin; Arizona State University; Arizona State University-Tempe; University of Rhode Island; Academia Sinica - Taiwan; Boston College; University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; University of California System; University of California Los Angeles
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-10328
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2503986122
• 发表日期: 2025-07-08
• 关键词: bocas del toro; threespot damselfish; trophic cascades; ecological role; base-line; coral; sharks; assemblages; shifts; CONSEQUENCES

摘要

Understanding how humans have altered coral reef food webs remains challenging due to the absence of prehistoric baselines. Here, we use fish remains preserved in fossil and archaeological deposits from Panam & aacute; and the Dominican Republic to explore how Caribbean reef fish mortality patterns have changed over millennia. By quantifying accumulation rates of shark dermal denticles (scales) and bony fish otoliths (ear stones) in reef sediments, we assess relative fish abundance, while otolith size serves as a proxy for body size at death. Comparisons of these death assemblages suggest a 75% decline in shark- derived material and a 22% reduction in the sizes of human- targeted fishes- consistent with historical exploitation. This evidence of decline in large- bodied, higher trophic level fish remains coincided with a doubling in prey fish otolith accumulation and a 17% increase in their reconstructed body sizes. These patterns in time- averaged death assemblages align with effects of release from predation, documenting an often assumed (but rarely shown) cascading effect. In contrast, otoliths of predator- sheltered cryptobenthic fishes showed no change in either accumulation or size, suggesting that bottom-upenvironmental factors were not responsible for the observed changes. Together, these data indicate that pre- exploitation predator communities strongly controlled exposed prey fishes, but this top-down effect diminishes rapidly toward the food chain base, especially in predator- resistant groups. Understanding trophic cascades on Caribbean reefs requires studying systems before predator depletion.