Data for: The Role of Nocturnal Fishes on Coral Reefs: A Quantitative Functional Evaluation

Data on the estimated biomass and productivity of different reef fish familes from various locations around Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Abstract [Related publication]: The ecological functions of nocturnal coral reef fishes are poorly known. Yet, nocturnal resources for consumers are theoretically as abundant and productive, if not more so, than their diurnal counterparts. In this study, we quantify and contrast the energetic dynamics of nocturnal and diurnal fishes in a model coral reef ecosystem, evaluating whether they attain similar levels of biomass production. We integrated a detailed dataset of coral reef fish counts, comprising diurnal and nocturnal species, in sites sheltered and exposed to wave action. We combined somatic growth and mortality models to estimate rates of consumer biomass production, a key ecosystem function. We found that diurnal fish assemblages have a higher biomass than nocturnal fishes: 104% more in sheltered sites and 271% more in exposed sites. Differences in productivity were even more pronounced, with diurnal fishes contributing 163% more productivity in sheltered locations, and 558% more in exposed locations. Apogonidae dominated biomass production within the nocturnal fishes, comprising 54% of total nocturnal fish productivity, proportionally more than any diurnal fish family. The substantially lower contributions of nocturnal fishes to biomass and biomass production likely indicates constraints on resource accessibility. Taxa that overcome these constraints may thrive, as evidenced by apogonids. This study highlights the importance of nocturnal fishes in underpinning the flow of energy and nutrients from nocturnal resources to reef communities; a process driven mainly by small, cryptic fishes. Research data contains both the code and the data for the publication of "The Role of Nocturnal Fishes on Coral Reefs: A Quantitative Functional Evaluation". The zipped file contains word documents that explain the raw data table and the KML files used to create figures. Data was analysed using RStudio and KMLs were created using Google Earth Pro.

本数据集涵盖澳大利亚大堡礁蜥蜴岛周边不同海域的各类礁鱼科生物量估算值与生产力数据。【相关研究文献】目前学界对夜行性珊瑚礁鱼类的生态功能认知仍较为匮乏。然而从理论层面而言，夜行性生物资源的丰富度与生产力即便未超过昼行性类群，也可与之比肩。本研究针对典型珊瑚礁生态系统中的夜行性与昼行性鱼类的能量动态展开量化与对比分析，以评估二者能否达到相近的生物量生产力水平。研究团队整合了一套详尽的珊瑚礁鱼类计数数据集，该数据集覆盖了受波浪庇护与暴露于波浪作用的两类采样点位中的昼行性与夜行性鱼类物种。我们结合个体生长与死亡率模型，估算了消费者生物量生产力这一关键生态系统功能指标。研究结果表明，昼行性鱼类群落的生物量显著高于夜行性鱼类：在庇护采样点位中高出104%，在暴露采样点位中高出271%。二者的生产力差异更为突出，昼行性鱼类在庇护区域的生产力较夜行性鱼类高出163%，在暴露区域则高出558%。天竺鲷科（Apogonidae）在夜行性鱼类的生物量生产力中占据主导地位，其贡献占夜行性鱼类总生产力的54%，占比高于所有昼行性鱼类科属。夜行性鱼类在生物量与生物量生产力方面的贡献显著偏低，这大概率反映了资源可获取性存在约束限制。能够突破这类约束的类群（如天竺鲷科）或可实现种群繁盛。本研究凸显了夜行性鱼类在推动夜行性资源的能量与养分向礁群群落流动这一过程中的重要价值，这一过程主要由体型小巧、隐蔽性强的鱼类所主导。本研究相关数据包含了论文《夜行性鱼类在珊瑚礁中的作用：一项定量功能评估》发表所需的全部代码与原始数据集。压缩包内包含用于说明原始数据表的Word文档，以及用于绘制研究图表的KML文件。本数据分析工作通过RStudio完成，KML文件则借助Google Earth Pro制作。