ORCID Profile
0000-0003-2969-7430
Current Organisation
University of Tasmania
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Research Topics
In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Top 5 Research Topics
ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)
Ecology | Community Ecology | Ecological Physiology | Global Change Biology
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Ecosystem Adaptation to Climate Change | Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Coastal and Estuarine Environments | Ecosystem Assessment and Management at Regional or Larger Scales |
Related Links
Publications
An extreme climatic event alters marine ecosystem structure in a global biodiversity hotspot
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-07-2012
DOI: 10.1038/NCLIMATE1627
Climate‐driven impacts of exotic species on marine ecosystems
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-03-2021
DOI: 10.1111/GEB.13283
Seagrass Thermal Limits and Vulnerability to Future Warming
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 27-05-2022
DOI: 10.3389/FMARS.2022.860826
Abstract: Seagrasses have experienced major losses globally mostly attributed to human impacts. Recently they are also associated with marine heat waves. The paucity of information on seagrass mortality thermal thresholds prevents the assessment of the risk of seagrass loss under marine heat waves. We conducted a synthesis of reported empirically- or experimentally-determined seagrass upper thermal limits (T limit ) and tested the hypothesis that they increase with increasing local annual temperature. We found that T limit increases 0.42± 0.07°C per°C increase in in situ annual temperature (R 2 = 0.52). By combining modelled seagrass T limit across global coastal areas with current and projected thermal regimes derived from an ocean reanalysis and global climate models (GCMs), we assessed the proximity of extant seagrass meadows to their T limit and the time required for T limit to be met under high (RCP8.5) and moderate (RCP4.5) emission scenarios of greenhouse gases. Seagrass meadows worldwide showed a modal difference of 5°C between present T max and seagrass T limit . This difference was lower than 3°C at the southern Red Sea, the Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of Mexico, revealing these are the areas most in risk of warming-derived seagrass die-off, and up to 24°C at high latitude regions. Seagrasses could meet their T limit regularly in summer within 50-60 years or 100 years under, respectively, RCP8.5 or RCP4.5 scenarios for the areas most at risk, to more than 200 years for the Arctic under both scenarios. This study shows that implementation of the goals under the Paris Agreement would safeguard much of global seagrass from heat-derived mass mortality and identifies regions where actions to remove local anthropogenic stresses would be particularly relevant to meet the Target 10 of the Aichi Targets of the Convention of the Biological Diversity.
Successful establishment of range-shifting, warm-water Labridae in temperate South Western Australia
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 10-06-2021
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS13666
Abstract: Climate change is rapidly altering the distributions of species and the composition of communities that have evolved over evolutionary time scales. Quantifying changes in species distributions and abundance in response to warming is critical to understanding how these changes modify structure, function and services provided by recipient communities. Changes in size structure of warm- and cool-affiliated species is an important indicator for climate-driven species redistributions over time, and has received relatively little attention. We quantified changes in length and biomass distributions of 25 species of Labridae fishes from 112 sites spanning 2000 km across a warm-cool temperate transition zone in south Western Australia. Length and biomass data were collected in 2005-2006 and 2014-2015 using er operated stereo-video. In the decade between s ling events, south Western Australia experienced an extreme marine heatwave followed by repeated summers of anomalously warm ocean temperatures. Biomass of tropical and subtropical species increased 10-fold and 3-fold, respectively, between 2006 and 2015, whereas temperate species biomass remained relatively stable. In 2014-2015, the abundance and biomass of tropical species (e.g. Scarus ghobban ) increased in the warmest regions and established multiple size classes poleward of their recorded 2005-2006 distributions, suggesting successful overwintering and recruitment where viable populations were not recorded in 2005-2006. Large, slow-growing temperate species such as Achoerodus gouldii and Bodianus frenchii decreased in small and medium size classes in warm regions. Our findings report a substantial change in the size structure and composition of labrid assemblages over a decade of climatic variability.
Publisher Correction: Global ecological impacts of marine exotic species.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-08-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-019-0965-4
Abstract: An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
Tropical herbivores provide resilience to a climate‐mediated phase shift on temperate reefs
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-05-2015
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.12450
Abstract: Climate-mediated changes to biotic interactions have the potential to fundamentally alter global ecosystems. However, the capacity for novel interactions to drive or maintain transitions in ecosystem states remains unresolved. We examined temperate reefs that recently underwent complete seaweed canopy loss and tested whether a concurrent increase in tropical herbivores could be maintaining the current canopy-free state. Turf-grazing herbivorous fishes increased in biomass and ersity, and displayed feeding rates comparable to global coral reefs. Canopy-browsing herbivores displayed high (~ 10,000 g 100 m(-2) ) and stable biomass between 2006 and 2013. Tropical browsers had the highest abundance in 2013 and displayed feeding rates approximately three times higher than previously observed on coral reefs. These observations suggest that tropical herbivores are maintaining previously kelp-dominated temperate reefs in an alternate canopy-free state by grazing turfs and preventing kelp reestablishment. This remarkable ecosystem highlights the sensitivity of biotic interactions and ecosystem stability to warming and extreme disturbance events.
Ecological effects of non‐native species in marine ecosystems relate to co‐occurring anthropogenic pressures
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-12-2019
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.14930
Abstract: Predictors for the ecological effects of non‐native species are lacking, even though such knowledge is fundamental to manage non‐native species and mitigate their impacts. Current theories suggest that the ecological effects of non‐native species may be related to other concomitant anthropogenic stressors, but this has not been tested at a global scale. We combine an exhaustive meta‐analysis of the ecological effects of marine non‐native species with human footprint proxies to determine whether the ecological changes due to non‐native species are modulated by co‐occurring anthropogenic impacts. We found that non‐native species had greater negative effects on native bio ersity where human population was high and caused reductions in in idual performance where cumulative human impacts were large. On this basis we identified several marine ecoregions where non‐native species may have the greatest ecological effects, including areas in the Mediterranean Sea and along the northwest coast of the United States. In conclusion, our global assessment suggests coexisting anthropogenic impacts can intensify the ecological effects of non‐native species.
Climate-driven regime shift of a temperate marine ecosystem
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 08-07-2016
Abstract: Ecosystems over time have endured much disturbance, yet they tend to remain intact, a characteristic we call resilience. Though many systems have been lost and destroyed, for systems that remain physically intact, there is debate as to whether changing temperatures will result in shifts or collapses. Wernburg et al. show that extreme warming of a temperate kelp forest off Australia resulted not only in its collapse, but also in a shift in community composition that brought about an increase in herbivorous tropical fishes that prevent the reestablishment of kelp. Thus, many systems may not be resilient to the rapid climate change that we face. Science , this issue p. 169
Comparison of diver operated stereo-video and visual census to assess targeted fish species in Mediterranean marine protected areas
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2019
Continental‐scale variation in seaweed host‐associated bacterial communities is a function of host condition, not geography
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-08-2015
Abstract: Interactions between hosts and associated microbial communities can fundamentally shape the development and ecology of 'holobionts', from humans to marine habitat-forming organisms such as seaweeds. In marine systems, planktonic microbial community structure is mainly driven by geography and related environmental factors, but the large-scale drivers of host-associated microbial communities are largely unknown. Using 16S-rRNA gene sequencing, we characterized 260 seaweed-associated bacterial and archaeal communities on the kelp Ecklonia radiata from three biogeographical provinces spanning 10° of latitude and 35° of longitude across the Australian continent. These phylogenetically and taxonomically erse communities were more strongly and consistently associated with host condition than geographical location or environmental variables, and a 'core' microbial community characteristic of healthy kelps appears to be lost when hosts become stressed. Microbial communities on stressed in iduals were more similar to each other among locations than those on healthy hosts. In contrast to biogeographical patterns of planktonic marine microbial communities, host traits emerge as critical determinants of associated microbial community structure of these holobionts, even at a continental scale.
Potential climate-mediated changes to the distribution and density of pomacentrid reef fishes in south-western Australia
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 04-10-2018
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS12736
From Tasmania to the world: long and strong traditions in seaweed use, research, and development
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Date: 25-01-2023
Abstract: Tasmania is an island state in south-eastern Australia that has a long and rich history of seaweed use, research, and development. It is a cool-temperate system with 750 macroalgal species currently described. Tasmanian Aboriginal peoples have lived on this land for at least 40,000 years utilising seaweed as food, shelter, water carriers and medicine, as well as for ceremonial reasons. Modern taxonomic investigations began with French naturalist Jacques-Julien Houtou de La Billardière in 1791, and there are 184 type specimens of seaweeds originating from Tasmania. Ecological and physiological studies of seaweed in Tasmania have focussed on the dominant large brown seaweeds (Laminariales and Fucales) and have contributed significantly to the global understanding of these systems, particularly related to community resilience, seaweed-urchin interactions, their habitat-forming role for other species, responses to global change, and restoration of lost habitat. Ocean warming and changing oceanography have caused a 95% decline in surface canopy cover of Macrocystis pyrifera in eastern Tasmania since the 1950s and led to a focus on restoring these lost forests. Tasmanian seaweed communities have a uniquely high proportion (up to ∼90%) of seaweeds that rely solely on CO 2 for photosynthesis, which has implications for responses to ocean acidification. Tasmania has industries that use brown seaweeds for fucoidan extraction and beach-cast harvest for alginates, fertilisers, and feeds for agriculture. New aquaculture initiatives include integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, offshore kelp mariculture and Asparagopsis cultivation for bioactive products to reduce methane emissions in ruminants, as and the development of unexploited species including Caulerpa spp. for food.
Integrating within-species variation in thermal physiology into climate change ecology.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 17-06-2019
Abstract: Accurately forecasting the response of global biota to warming is a fundamental challenge for ecology in the Anthropocene. Within-species variation in thermal sensitivity, caused by phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation of thermal limits, is often overlooked in assessments of species responses to warming. Despite this, implicit assumptions of thermal niche conservatism or adaptation and plasticity at the species level permeate the literature with potentially important implications for predictions of warming impacts at the population level. Here we review how these attributes interact with the spatial and temporal context of ocean warming to influence the vulnerability of marine organisms. We identify a broad spectrum of thermal sensitivities among marine organisms, particularly in central and cool-edge populations of species distributions. These are characterized by generally low sensitivity in organisms with conserved thermal niches, to high sensitivity for organisms with locally adapted thermal niches. Important differences in thermal sensitivity among marine taxa suggest that warming could adversely affect benthic primary producers sooner than less vulnerable higher trophic groups. Embracing the spatial, temporal and biological context of within-species variation in thermal physiology helps explain observed impacts of ocean warming and can improve forecasts of climate change vulnerability in marine systems. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Physiological ersity, bio ersity patterns and global climate change: testing key hypotheses involving temperature and oxygen’.
Global ecological impacts of marine exotic species.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-04-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-019-0851-0
Abstract: Exotic species are a growing global ecological threat however, their overall effects are insufficiently understood. While some exotic species are implicated in many species extinctions, others can provide benefits to the recipient communities. Here, we performed a meta-analysis to quantify and synthesize the ecological effects of 76 exotic marine species (about 6% of the listed exotics) on ten variables in marine communities. These species caused an overall significant, but modest in magnitude (as indicated by a mean effect size of g < 0.2), decrease in ecological variables. Marine primary producers and predators were the most disruptive trophic groups of the exotic species. Approximately 10% (that is, 2 out of 19) of the exotic species assessed in at least three independent studies had significant impacts on native species. Separating the innocuous from the disruptive exotic species provides a basis for triage efforts to control the marine exotic species that have the most impact, thereby helping to meet Aichi Bio ersity Target 9 of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Canopy interactions and physical stress gradients in subtidal communities
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-05-2015
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.12446
Abstract: Species interactions are integral drivers of community structure and can change from competitive to facilitative with increasing environmental stress. In subtidal marine ecosystems, however, interactions along physical stress gradients have seldom been tested. We observed seaweed canopy interactions across depth and latitudinal gradients to test whether light and temperature stress structured interaction patterns. We also quantified interspecific and intraspecific interactions among nine subtidal canopy seaweed species across three continents to examine the general nature of interactions in subtidal systems under low consumer pressure. We reveal that positive and neutral interactions are widespread throughout global seaweed communities and the nature of interactions can change from competitive to facilitative with increasing light stress in shallow marine systems. These findings provide support for the stress gradient hypothesis within subtidal seaweed communities and highlight the importance of canopy interactions for the maintenance of subtidal marine habitats experiencing environmental stress.
Persistence of tropical herbivores in temperate reefs constrains kelp resilience to cryptic habitats
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-03-2021
Thermal tolerance of Mediterranean marine macrophytes: Vulnerability to global warming
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-11-2018
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.4663
Central and rear-edge populations can be equally vulnerable to warming
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-12-2015
DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS10280
Abstract: Rear (warm) edge populations are often considered more susceptible to warming than central (cool) populations because of the warmer ambient temperatures they experience, but this overlooks the potential for local variation in thermal tolerances. Here we provide conceptual models illustrating how sensitivity to warming is affected throughout a species’ geographical range for locally adapted and non-adapted populations. We test these models for a range-contracting seaweed using observations from a marine heatwave and a 12-month experiment, translocating seaweeds among central, present and historic range edge locations. Growth, reproductive development and survivorship display different temperature thresholds among central and rear-edge populations, but share a 2.5 °C anomaly threshold. Range contraction, therefore, reflects variation in local anomalies rather than differences in absolute temperatures. This demonstrates that warming sensitivity can be similar throughout a species geographical range and highlights the importance of incorporating local adaptation and acclimatization into climate change vulnerability assessments.
Resilience of seagrass populations to thermal stress does not reflect regional differences in ocean climate
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-12-2021
DOI: 10.1111/NPH.17885
Abstract: The prevalence of local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity among populations is critical to accurately predicting when and where climate change impacts will occur. Currently, comparisons of thermal performance between populations are untested for most marine species or overlooked by models predicting the thermal sensitivity of species to extirpation. Here we compared the ecological response and recovery of seagrass populations ( Posidonia oceanica ) to thermal stress throughout a year‐long translocation experiment across a 2800‐km gradient in ocean climate. Transplants in central and warm‐edge locations experienced temperatures 29°C, representing thermal anomalies 5°C above long‐term maxima for cool‐edge populations, 1.5°C for central and 1°C for warm‐edge populations. Cool‐edge, central and warm‐edge populations differed in thermal performance when grown under common conditions, but patterns contrasted with expectations based on thermal geography. Cool‐edge populations did not differ from warm‐edge populations under common conditions and performed significantly better than central populations in growth and survival. Our findings reveal that thermal performance does not necessarily reflect the thermal geography of a species. We demonstrate that warm‐edge populations can be less sensitive to thermal stress than cooler, central populations suggesting that Mediterranean seagrasses have greater resilience to warming than current paradigms suggest.
Detecting water quality improvement along the Catalan coast (Spain) using stress-specific biochemical seagrass indicators
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2015
Bubble curtains: Herbivore exclusion devices for ecology and restoration of marine ecosystems?
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 19-09-2017
Branching coral as a macroalgal refuge in a marginal coral reef system
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-02-2010
Reply to: Indiscriminate data aggregation in ecological meta-analysis underestimates impacts of invasive species
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-02-2020
Shifts in Labridae geographical distribution along a unique and dynamic coastline
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-09-2019
DOI: 10.1111/DDI.12980
Thermal Performance of Seaweeds and Seagrasses Across a Regional Climate Gradient
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 25-02-2022
DOI: 10.3389/FMARS.2022.733315
Abstract: Comparative patterns in thermal performance between populations have fundamental implications for a species thermal sensitivity to warming and extreme events. Despite this, within-species variation in thermal performance is seldom measured. Here we compare thermal performance both within-species and between-species, for two species of seagrass ( Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa ) and two species of seaweed ( Padina pavonica and Cystoseira compressa ) across the Mediterranean Sea. Experimental populations from four locations representing between 75 and 99% of each species thermal distribution and a 6°C gradient in summer temperatures, were exposed to 10 temperature treatments between 15 and 36°C. Experimental thermal performance displayed the greatest variability between species, with optimal temperatures differing by over 10°C within the same location. Within-species differences in thermal performance were also important for P. oceanica which displayed large thermal safety margins within cool and warm-edge populations and small safety margins within central populations. Our findings suggest patterns of thermal performance in Mediterranean seagrasses and seaweeds retain deep “pre-Mediterranean” evolutionary legacies, suggesting marked differences in sensitivity to warming within and between benthic marine communities.
Genetic diversity and kelp forest vulnerability to climatic stress
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-01-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-018-20009-9
Abstract: Genetic ersity confers adaptive capacity to populations under changing conditions but its role in mediating impacts of climate change remains unresolved for most ecosystems. This lack of knowledge is particularly acute for foundation species, where impacts may cascade throughout entire ecosystems. We combined population genetics with eco-physiological and ecological field experiments to explore relationships among latitudinal patterns in genetic ersity, physiology and resilience of a kelp ecosystem to climate stress. A subsequent ‘natural experiment’ illustrated the possible influence of latitudinal patterns of genetic ersity on ecosystem vulnerability to an extreme climatic perturbation (marine heatwave). There were strong relationships between physiological versatility, ecological resilience and genetic ersity of kelp forests across latitudes, and genetic ersity consistently outperformed other explanatory variables in contributing to the response of kelp forests to the marine heatwave. Population performance and vulnerability to a severe climatic event were thus strongly related to latitudinal patterns in genetic ersity, with the heatwave extirpating forests with low genetic ersity. Where foundation species control ecological structure and function, impacts of climatic stress can cascade through the ecosystem and, consequently, genetic ersity could contribute to ecosystem vulnerability to climate change.
Distributional responses to marine heat waves: insights from length frequencies across the geographic range of the endemic reef fish Choerodon rubescens
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-11-2017
Ecological status of seagrass ecosystems: An uncertainty analysis of the meadow classification based on the Posidonia oceanica multivariate index (POMI)
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2011
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARPOLBUL.2011.06.016
Abstract: Quantifying the uncertainty associated with monitoring protocols is essential to prevent the misclassification of ecological status and to improve s ling design. We assessed the Posidonia oceanica multivariate index (POMI) bio-monitoring program for its robustness in classifying the ecological status of coastal waters within the Water Framework Directive. We used a 7-year data set covering 30 sites along 500 km of the Catalonian coastline to examine which version of POMI (14 or 9 metrics) maximises precision in classifying the ecological status of meadows. Five factors (zones within a site, sites within a water body, depth, years and surveyors) that potentially generate classification uncertainty were examined in detail. Of these, depth was a major source of uncertainty, while all the remaining spatial and temporal factors displayed low variability. POMI 9 matched POMI 14 in all factors, and could effectively replace it in future monitoring programs.
Reproductive seasonality and early life temperature sensitivity reflect vulnerability of a seaweed undergoing range reduction
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 09-01-2014
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS10567
Latitudinal variation in macroalgal consumption by fishes on the Great Barrier Reef
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 28-03-2011
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS09016
The 'Great Southern Reef': Social, ecological and economic value of Australia's neglected kelp forests
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1071/MF15232
Abstract: Kelp forests define km of temperate coastline across southern Australia, where ~70% of Australians live, work and recreate. Despite this, public and political awareness of the scale and significance of this marine ecosystem is low, and research investment miniscule ( %), relative to comparable ecosystems. The absence of an identity for Australia’s temperate reefs as an entity has probably contributed to the current lack of appreciation of this system, which is at odds with its profound ecological, social and economic importance. We define the ‘Great Southern Reef’ (GSR) as Australia’s spatially connected temperate reef system. The GSR covers ~71000km2 and represents a global bio ersity hotspot across at least nine phyla. GSR-related fishing and tourism generates at least AU$10 billion year–1, and in this context the GSR is a significant natural asset for Australia and globally. Maintaining the health and ecological functioning of the GSR is critical to the continued sustainability of human livelihoods and wellbeing derived from it. By recognising the GSR as an entity we seek to boost awareness, and take steps towards negotiating the difficult challenges the GSR faces in a future of unprecedented coastal population growth and global change.
Uncertainty analysis along the ecological quality status of water bodies: The response of the Posidonia oceanica multivariate index (POMI) in three Mediterranean regions
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARPOLBUL.2012.03.007
Abstract: Uncertainty analyses allow the identification and quantification of the factors that contribute to the potential misclassification of the ecological status of water bodies, helping to improve the s ling design used in monitoring. Here we used a Posidonia oceanica multivariate index (POMI) bio-monitoring dataset covering a total of 81 sites distributed throughout 28 water bodies from the coast of Catalonia, Balearic Islands and Croatia to determine the levels of uncertainty associated with each region and how they change according to the quality status of water bodies. Overall, variability among sites (meadows) within water bodies was the factor that generated the greatest risk of misclassification among the three regions, within which the Balearic Islands had the lowest uncertainty, followed by Croatia and Catalonia. When water bodies classified in good/high quality were separated from those in moderate oor status classes, we found that the latter displayed higher levels of uncertainty than the former.
A functional perspective on the meaning of the term ‘herbivore’: patterns versus processes in coral reef fishes
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-04-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S00338-023-02378-4
Abstract: Herbivorous fishes are a key functional group in coral reef ecosystems and have been the focus of a vast body of research. While substantial progress has been made in research, challenges persist, especially in respect to quantifying patterns versus processes. Despite this challenge being recognised over 40 years ago. To help clarify such challenges, and work towards solutions, in this perspective we explore how the definition of ‘herbivorous reef fishes’ precludes an easy translation between patterns of herbivore abundance and the process of herbivory. Indeed, if herbivorous fishes are defined as, a fish in which the diet is predominantly based on plant material , then this encompasses a erse suite of fishes which all remove primary producers to varying extents and have markedly different impacts on reef functioning. Given this situation, we explore how our approaches to directly quantifying herbivory on reefs have progressed. We highlight how lessons learnt from macroalgal assays could be applied to the direct quantification of herbivory from algal turfs in the epilithic algal matrix (EAM) a community of primary producers that are invariably difficult to work with and quantify. Nevertheless, given the abundance of turfs on coral reefs, and their relative importance in herbivore dynamics, widespread process-based assessment of EAM herbivory represents an avenue for expanding future research. Recognising the difficulty of translating patterns in herbivore abundance to the process of herbivory, and an enhanced focus on EAM herbivory, will be necessary to comprehensively quantify the process of herbivory on Anthropocene coral reefs.
Geography and island geomorphology shape fish assemblage structure on isolated coral reef systems
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-05-2018
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.4136
Persistent thermally driven shift in the functional trait structure of herbivorous fishes: Evidence of top‐down control on the rebound potential of temperate seaweed forests?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-01-2022
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.16070
Abstract: Extreme climatic events can reshape the functional structure of ecological communities, potentially altering ecological interactions and ecosystem functioning. While these shifts have been widely documented, evidence of their persistence and potential flow‐on effects on ecosystem structure following relaxation of extreme events remains limited. Here, we investigate changes in the functional trait structure – encompassing dimensions of resource use, thermal affinity, and body size – of herbivorous fishes in a temperate reef system that experienced an extreme marine heatwave (MHW) and subsequent return to cool conditions. We quantify how changes in the trait structure modified the nature and intensity of herbivory‐related functions (macroalgae, turf, and sediment removal), and explored the potential flow‐on effects on the recovery dynamics of macroalgal foundation species. The trait structure of the herbivorous fish assemblage shifted as a result of the MHW, from dominance of cool‐water browsing species to increased evenness in the distribution of abundance among temperate and tropical guilds supporting novel herbivory roles (i.e. scraping, cropping, and sediment sucking). Despite the abundance of tropical herbivorous fishes and intensity of herbivory‐related functions declined following a period of cooling after the MHW, the underlying trait structure displayed limited recovery. Concomitantly, algal assemblages displayed a lack of recovery of the formerly dominant foundational species, the kelp Ecklonia radiata , transitioning to an alternative state dominated by turf and Sargassum spp. Our study demonstrates a legacy effect of an extreme MHW and exemplified the value of monitoring phenotypic (trait mediated) changes in the nature of core ecosystem processes to predict and adapt to the future configurations of changing reef ecosystems.
Diversity among Macroalgae-Consuming Fishes on Coral Reefs: A Transcontinental Comparison
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 20-09-2012
Tropicalization shifts herbivore pressure from seagrass to rocky reef communities
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 11-01-2023
Abstract: Climate-driven species redistributions are reshuffling the composition of marine ecosystems. How these changes alter ecosystem functions, however, remains poorly understood. Here we examine how impacts of herbivory change across a gradient of tropicalization in the Mediterranean Sea, which includes a steep climatic gradient and marked changes in plant nutritional quality and fish herbivore composition. We quantified in idual feeding rates and behaviour of 755 fishes of the native Sarpa salpa , and non-native Siganus rivulatus and Siganus luridus . We measured herbivore and benthic assemblage composition across 20 sites along the gradient, spanning 30° of longitude and 8° of latitude. We coupled patterns in behaviour and composition with temperature measurements and nutrient concentrations to assess changes in herbivory under tropicalization. We found a transition in ecological impacts by fish herbivory across the Mediterranean from a predominance of seagrass herbivory in the west to a dominance of macroalgal herbivory in the east. Underlying this shift were changes in both in idual feeding behaviour (i.e. food choice) and fish assemblage composition. The shift in feeding selectivity was consistent among temperate and warm-affiliated herbivores. Our findings suggest herbivory can contribute to the increased vulnerability of seaweed communities and reduced vulnerability of seagrass meadows in tropicalized ecosystems.
Ocean warming compresses the three-dimensional habitat of marine life.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-12-2020
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-019-1058-0
Abstract: Vertical migration to reach cooler waters is a suitable strategy for some marine organisms to adapt to ocean warming. Here, we calculate that realized vertical isotherm migration rates averaged -6.6 + 18.8 m dec
Canopy facilitates seaweed recruitment on subtidal temperate reefs
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-08-2014
Related Organisations
Related Funding Activities
Rethinking Climate Change Vulnerability: Drivers Patterns Of Thermal Tolerance Adaptation In The Ocean.
Start Date: 2016
End Date: 2018
Funder: European Commission
View Funded ActivityDiscovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100900
Start Date: 06-2020
End Date: 12-2024
Amount: $426,718.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity