Michigan biology professor: 'Impacts of global change on biodiversity increasingly obvious'

Researchers have discovered that some species of reef fish have found it harder to pinpoint its competitors due largely to the mass coral reef bleaching events. 

The study, conducted by scientists across five Indo-Pacific regions, found that butterfly fish were unable to identify competitor species, and the fish were unable to react appropriately after bleaching caused a widespread loss of coral reefs, which resulted in the fish being less likely to avoid unnecessary fights, according to a University of Michigan news release. 

"The impacts of global change on biodiversity are increasingly obvious," Nate Sanders, the study's co-author and professor at the University of Michigan's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, said in the release. "This work highlights the importance of studying the behavioral responses of individuals in light of global change.”

Proceedings of the Royal Society B published these findings. 

The research was led by Sanders and Sally Keith, a senior lecturer in marine biology at Lancaster University. To come to their conclusions, the scientists used 3,700 observations of 38 species of butterfly fish on reefs before and after coral bleaching events and compared how the fish reacted. 

The study found that after bleaching events, fish of different species were less likely to signal between each other and encounters, that resulted in chases, were up 18%, with about 90% of those escalating to chases. According to the release, researchers also noted how far these chases went also increased.

According to the release, the study revealed environmental changes have not only shaken up the relationship between fish species, which allowed the different species to previously live among each other, but also changed and diversified what these species eat and its territories. 

The Natural Environment Research Council, the Australian Research Council, and the Villum Foundation all helped pay for the research. The release noted that other scientists, who contributed to the study, included Lisa Boström-Einarsson and Ian Hartley of Lancaster University and Jean-Paul Hobbs of the University of Queensland.