Variation in functional composition of reef fishes along a tropical‐to‐temperate gradient

Aims Transformation of species and functional composition on subtropical reefs are ongoing due to poleward range shifts of some tropical species, with largely unknown consequences to ecosystem functioning. Trait-based approaches are powerful tools to quantify such changes. Here, we evaluated changes in the trait composition of coral-associated fish assemblages along a tropical-to-temperate environmental gradient of ca. 1400 km in southern Japan with abundance-weighted trait expression to assess how trait composition changes with increasing latitude.

Location Ryukyu Islands and southern Pacific coast of Japan.

Taxon Reef fish.

Methods We tested for shifts in trait space and functional redundancy, based on five morphological, life history and behavioural traits: maximum length, pelagic larval duration, trophic level, substrate preference and reproductive mode. Our trait database was coded with two approaches, first, by attributing a single value to each trait per species, and second, by fuzzy coding that allows more than one value per trait and hence considers some intraspecific trait variation.

Results We found a reduction in specialist habitat traits (coral substrate preference, nesters and herbivores) and an increase in generalist traits (predators) with increasing latitude, along with a contraction in trait space from tropical-to-temperate reefs. Functional redundancy declined with increasing latitude. These trends were closely linked with latitudinal gradients in temperature, along with changes in other environmental factors such as turbidity and photosynthetically active radiation.

Main Conclusion Functional turnover and contractions are thus likely due to the marginal conditions for coral-associated fishes at higher latitudes, favouring generalist species, whereas increased resources at lower latitudes favour high redundancy and niche partitioning. Accounting for intraspecific trait variation indicated the same trends but highlighted increased functional vulnerability across all sites. We show that trait complexity in coral-associated fish communities decreases from tropical-to-temperate reefs, highlighting the reduced functional scope that comes with marginal environmental conditions.