Figure 1.
Map showing the study locations for which data were included in the meta-analysis.
Figure 2.
Boxplots showing the distribution of individual effect sizes (Hedges' d values) for mean densities of juvenile nursery species in different habitats across locations and fish species.
Gray filled boxes indicate data for the Caribbean region, while striped boxes represent the Indo-Pacific region. The boxes show the median effect size (middle line in the box) and the lower and upper quartiles, while the ends of the whiskers represent standard deviation (SD) representing the variability across species and study locations. MG = mangroves; SG = seagrass beds and RF = coral reef. The first mentioned habitat of the pair represents the control habitat for the respective comparison; e.g. SG–MG shows the effect size for fish densities in mangroves (positive = higher) compared to seagrass beds. For average Hedges' d values, their significance, and associated sensitivity analyses see Table 1.
Table 1.
Summary statistics of a random-effects model for overall comparison of juvenile (1–10 cm, TL) fish densities in seagrass beds (SG), mangroves (MG), and coral reefs (RF).
Figure 3.
Rank-order of species-specific habitat utilization patterns based on the weighted mean effect size (d+) ± bias-corrected 95% confidence interval (based on variability across study locations) for the Caribbean region for a) seagrass (SG) – mangrove (MG) comparison, b) coral reef (RF) – seagrass comparison, and c) coral reef – mangrove comparison.
If confidence intervals do not cross the vertical line at d = 0, the effect size is significant.
Figure 4.
Rank-order of species-specific habitat utilization patterns based on the weighted mean effect size (d+) ± bias-corrected 95% confidence interval (based on variability across study locations) for the Indo-Pacific region for a) seagrass (SG) – mangrove (MG) comparison, b) coral reef (RF) – seagrass comparison, and c) coral reef – mangrove comparison.
If confidence intervals do not cross the vertical line at d = 0, the effect size is significant.
Figure 5.
Cluster analysis plot based on Euclidean distances using Hedges' d values for all three habitat comparisons per fish species.
Species from the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific are combined. Species for which one or more habitat comparisons were absent were omitted as no distance measure could be calculated.
Figure 6.
Mean effect size ± SE (based on variability across species) for densities of juvenile nursery species in different habitats as a function of tidal amplitude for the Caribbean (filled squares) and Indo-Pacific (open squares) regions, for a) seagrass (SG) – mangrove (MG) comparison, b) coral reef (RF) – seagrass comparison, and c) coral reef – mangrove comparison.
Numbers in the graphs indicate: Belize (1), Curaçao (2), Aruba (3), Grand Cayman (4), Florida (5), Turks and Caicos Islands (6), Bimini (7), San Salvador (8), Andros (9), Abaco (10), Bermuda (11), Lee Stocking Island (12), Solomon Islands (13), Wakatobi (14), Ryukyu Islands (15), Moreton (16), Palm Islands (17), Kunduchi (18), Mafia (19), Mbegani (20) Zanzibar (21) and Pemba (22).