Tropical mangroves are known to support fish production, but natural variability in the link between mangrove habitats and fish populations undermines our ability to manage, conserve and restore this ecological relationship. This is largely due to undefined context-dependence in the use of mangroves by fish. We collected a spatially extensive dataset of 494 mangrove fish assemblages using standardised Remote Underwater Video surveys of mangrove edge habitats from five environmentally heterogenous regions in the Indo-Pacific. We used machine learning methods to define contextual limits of the use of mangroves by reportedly mangrove-affiliated fish. We found that tidal range and proximity to coral reefs were the most important contextual predictors of the use of mangroves by most taxa. We established data-driven threshold values for important contextual predictors of the use of mangroves by fish, offering new insights into the variable role played by tropical mangroves in supporting fish life histories. Where mangroves occur as part of reef seascapes in regions with limited tidal range (<1.5 m), they appear to serve an important juvenile habitat function for a wide spectrum of reef fish. In regions with substantially larger tidal ranges, mangroves appear to only support certain reef species with coastal life histories. Coastal and estuary fish were able to use mangroves in a wide variety of non-reef contexts. We demonstrate that key thresholds in environmental context can govern the functional role of mangroves, with strong implications for the role of other habitats in coastal seascapes.

中文翻译：

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鱼类与红树林的联系取决于环境：潮汐状况和珊瑚礁邻近程度决定了热带红树林的生态作用

众所周知，热带红树林支持鱼类生产，但红树林栖息地和鱼类种群之间联系的自然变化削弱了我们管理、保护和恢复这种生态关系的能力。这主要是由于鱼类对红树林的利用没有明确的环境依赖性。我们使用标准化远程水下视频调查，对印度太平洋地区五个环境异质区域的红树林边缘栖息地进行了标准化远程水下视频调查，收集了 494 种红树林鱼类组合的空间广泛数据集。我们使用机器学习方法来定义据报道与红树林有关的鱼类使用红树林的环境限制。我们发现潮汐范围和与珊瑚礁的接近程度是大多数类群使用红树林的最重要的背景预测因素。我们为鱼类利用红树林的重要背景预测因子建立了数据驱动的阈值，为热带红树林在支持鱼类生活史中发挥的可变作用提供了新的见解。在潮差有限（<1.5 m）的地区，红树林作为珊瑚礁海景的一部分出现，它们似乎为多种珊瑚鱼提供了重要的幼鱼栖息地功能。在潮差较大的地区，红树林似乎只支持某些具有沿海生活史的珊瑚礁物种。沿海和河口鱼类能够在各种非珊瑚礁环境中利用红树林。我们证明，环境背景中的关键阈值可以控制红树林的功能作用，对沿海海景中其他栖息地的作用具有重大影响。