ORCID Profile
0000-0003-4331-4109
Current Organisation
Central Queensland University
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHEMOSPHERE.2018.03.080
Abstract: Agricultural and mining activities contribute to metal inputs in freshwater ecosystems around the world, which can in turn bioaccumulate in biota such as fish. Monitoring of metals loads in biota thus provides insight into the concentrations of bioavailable metals within the environment. Little research has been conducted on the potential of Australian freshwater fish for biomonitoring metals. Within the Fitzroy Basin of Central Queensland, a major agricultural and coal mining region, three commonly-encountered fish taxa were analysed for tissue metal loads. Arsenic concentrations in Nematalosa erebi and Melanotaenia splendida splendida tissue were elevated (above Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) guidelines), with highest concentrations in N. erebi liver tissue (up to 5.14 μg/g). Lead concentrations were above the FSANZ guidelines in all three fish taxa analysed, with highest concentrations in Hypseleotrid full-body tissue (up to 5.99 μg/g). Selenium in M. s. splendida and N. erebi tissue was positively correlated with total selenium in water (p < 0.05 r = 0.68 and 0.87 respectively). Environmental boron, selenium and nickel concentrations were positively correlated with N. erebi liver tissue metals. N. erebi hepatosomatic index was negatively correlated with dissolved arsenic, manganese, and total phosphorus (in water). The results highlight that M. s. splendida and N. erebi yield bioindicators which are responsive to environmental metals, and thus have potential for use in biomonitoring metals. The two species are also widespread along the east coast of Australia, there is thus a strong potential for applying the results to other regions within Australia.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 04-02-2019
Abstract: Coastal seascapes are composed of a ersity of habitats that are linked in space and time by the movement of organisms. The context and configuration of coastal ecosystems shapes many important properties of animal assemblages, but potential seascape effects of natural and artificial habitats on nearby habitats are typically considered in isolation. We test whether, and how, the seascape context of natural and urban habitats modified fish assemblages across estuaries. Fish were s led with underwater videos in five habitat types (mangroves, rock bars, log snags, unvegetated sediments, armoured shorelines) in 17 estuaries in eastern Australia. Different habitats supported distinct fish assemblages, but the spatial context of mangroves and armoured shorelines had pervasive ecological effects that extended across entire estuaries. In most estuarine habitats, fish ersity and abundance was greatest when they were in close proximity of mangroves, and decreased due to the proximity of armoured shorelines. Many cities are centred on estuaries, and urban expansion is often associated with the fragmentation of mangrove forests. Our findings emphasize that these transformations of urban estuarine landscapes are likely to propagate to broader ecological impacts detectable in multiple habitats beyond mangrove forests.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2020
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-02-2019
DOI: 10.1002/RRA.3410
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 03-02-2016
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-12-2019
Abstract: Ecosystem functioning is positively linked to bio ersity on land and in the sea. In high- ersity systems (e.g. coral reefs), species coexist by sharing resources and providing similar functions at different temporal or spatial scales. How species combine to deliver the ecological function they provide is pivotal for maintaining the structure, functioning and resilience of some ecosystems, but the significance of this is rarely examined in low- ersity systems such as estuaries. We tested whether an ecological function is shaped by bio ersity in a low- ersity ecosystem by measuring the consumption of carrion by estuarine scavengers. Carrion (e.g. decaying animal flesh) is opportunistically fed on by a large number of species across numerous ecosystems. Estuaries were chosen as the model system because carrion consumption is a pivotal ecological function in coastal seascapes, and estuaries are thought to support erse scavenger assemblages, which are modified by changes in water quality and the urbanization of estuarine shorelines. We used baited underwater video arrays to record scavengers and measure the rate at which carrion was consumed by fish in 39 estuaries across 1,000 km of coastline in eastern Australia. Carrion consumption was positively correlated with the abundance of only one species, yellowfin bream Acanthopagrus australis, which consumed 58% of all deployed carrion. The consumption of carrion by yellowfin bream was greatest in urban estuaries with moderately hardened shorelines (20%-60%) and relatively large subtidal rock bars (>0.1 km
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1071/MF14120
Abstract: Hypoxia in freshwater ecosystems of the Australian wet tropics occurs naturally, but is increasing as a result of anthropogenic influences. Diel cycling of dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration (fluctuating hypoxia) is common in the region. Laboratory experiments sought to identify relationships between severity of fluctuating hypoxia and sublethal effects on ventilation, feeding and growth for juvenile barramundi (Lates calcarifer), eastern rainbowfish (Melanotaenia splendida splendida) and sooty grunter (Hephaestus fuliginosus). Fish continued to feed and grow under daily exposure to severe fluctuating hypoxia treatments for several weeks. Ventilation rates increased in a significant direct quadratic relationship with the severity of hypoxia treatments and increasing hypoxia caused ventilatory behaviour changes in all species. Barramundi and rainbowfish attempted aquatic surface respiration and were more tolerant of severe hypoxia than was sooty grunter barramundi and rainbowfish are also more likely to experience hypoxia in the wild. There was a significant quadratic relationship between growth and minimum DO saturation for barramundi. Although all three species were tolerant of hypoxia, anthropogenic stressors on tropical Australian aquatic ecosystems may increase the frequency and severity of hypoxic conditions causing a concomitant increase in fish kill events.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-10-2019
DOI: 10.1111/ECOG.04504
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2020
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1071/MF16388
Abstract: Hypoxia can profoundly affect fish reproduction and larval development, but its effects on fish from tropical Australia are not well understood. In the present study, the effects of diel fluctuating hypoxia on reproduction and embryo viability were investigated for a range-limited tropical freshwater fish, namely the Utchee Creek rainbowfish (Melanotaenia utcheensis). The lethal level for adult rainbowfish after gradual oxygen depletion was ~7% dissolved oxygen (DO) saturation. After 28 days, the reproductive success of adult fish exposed to fluctuating hypoxia treatments was measured by fecundity, gonad health, egg incubation time, egg and larval mortality, viability and size of hatching larvae. Reproduction was impaired in the lowest sublethal treatment (minimum 10% DO saturation each day). No ill effects of parental exposure to diel fluctuating hypoxia on embryos were identified, and minor differences in temperature between aquaria had a greater effect on embryos than parental hypoxia treatments. Similarly, no effects of embryonic exposure to diel fluctuating hypoxia were identified. Utchee Creek rainbowfish appear to be more hypoxia tolerant than temperate species, in keeping with their habitat in warm lowland streams, but they are still susceptible to the increasing frequency and intensity of hypoxia possible with increasing temperature and reduced flow as a result of climate change.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-04-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARENVRES.2022.105698
Abstract: Seagrass meadows are an important habitat for Testudines (sea turtles) and Sirenia (dugong and manatee) megaherbivores. Megaherbivores can influence the structuring of seagrass meadows for ex le, foraging patterns have been found to relate to seagrass phenological strategy. However, as these observations are derived from uncontrolled field studies, it is unclear whether grazing drives such changes or if the changes are related to other factors (e.g., temperature, tidal depth, light). In the present study, a mesocosm experiment was designed to test the impacts of grazing on metrics of flowering of Zostera muelleri over two consecutive flowering seasons. Prior to each flowering season, plants were cropped to 3 cm and 1 cm lengths to represent turtle and dugong grazing, respectively. This study measured the timing of flowering, the number of flowering shoots, the height of the flowering shoot, and the number of spathes (sheathing bracts containing seeds) per flowering shoot in each replicate (n = 5) weekly. Cropping had no significant influence on the timing of flowering (i.e., number of days to first and peak flowering) indicating that it is not a trigger for flowering. However, cropping significantly reduced the maximum density of flowering shoots and spathes, which was proposed to be due to resource allocation differences between clonal growth and flower production. A reduction in the flowering ratio was observed in both cropped plant groups and the relatively high density and the ratio of flowering observed in the 1 cm group indicate that the plant was adapting to cope with stress. Morphology of flowering (i.e., the maximum height of flowering shoot and the maximum number of spathes per flowering shoot) was not significantly affected by cropping and these two variables were strongly correlated. The results suggest that cropping can influence the overall flowering densities in a season but not the timing of flowering. This study demonstrated that cropping prior to the flowering season can reduce the expected production of spathes in seed nurseries and suggests it may be beneficial to consider megaherbivores in seed-based restoration activities.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1071/MF17192
Abstract: Hypoxia can have profound sublethal effects on reproduction and embryonic development of some freshwater fish. In the present study, the effects of diel fluctuating hypoxia on embryo viability were investigated for the eastern rainbowfish Melanotaenia splendida splendida, a small-bodied species common in wetlands of tropical Queensland. After daily hypoxic exposure (minimum 5% saturation) from fertilisation until hatch, no effects were found on egg incubation time, egg and larval mortality, and viability and size of hatching larvae. Older life history stages of the species are vulnerable to this level of hypoxia. Embryos of phytolithophilic species are likely exposed to fluctuating dissolved oxygen saturations in their natural habitat, and hypoxia tolerance may be a requirement for fish species that spawn predominantly on submerged plant material.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2012
DOI: 10.1071/MF11190
Abstract: In freshwater systems, dissolved oxygen (DO) saturation frequently fluctuates, falling at night and rising during the day in response to respiration and photosynthesis, respectively, of aquatic biota. Low DO (hypoxia) is a common cause of fish kills in freshwater systems around the world. Laboratory studies on responses of fish to fluctuating DO are currently limited, and require techniques that produce a realistic cycle of DO depletion and replacement. Artificial DO-depletion mechanisms frequently used for hypoxia studies may underestimate the field effects of hypoxia on fish because of the lack of the naturally occurring synergistic effect of lower pH, and seldom allow fish to employ behavioural adaptations to hypoxia, such as aquatic surface respiration. We demonstrate proof-of-principle for an alternative method of creating fluctuating hypoxia in an experimental environment, using the natural rhythms of photosynthesis and respiration of aquatic plants to create realistic conditions. A range of volumes of aquatic macrophytes were used alone and in combination with fish to lower DO saturation in sealed freshwater aquaria, and achieved DO saturations as low as 1.3%. This cost-effective method can be deployed over long periods with minimal effort in comparison to traditional methods of DO reduction.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2022
Location: Australia
No related grants have been discovered for Nicole Flint.