ORCID Profile
0000-0003-4383-4999
Current Organisation
Griffith University
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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)
Environmental Science and Management | Conservation and Biodiversity | Freshwater Ecology | Environmental Management |
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Fresh, Ground and Surface Water Environments | Land and Water Management of environments not elsewhere classified | Expanding Knowledge in the Environmental Sciences | Water Allocation and Quantification | Fresh, Ground and Surface Water Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity
Related Links
Publications
Environmental, spatial and phylogenetic determinants of fish life-history traits and functional composition of Australian rivers
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-05-2013
DOI: 10.1111/FWB.12166
Classification of flow regimes for environmental flow assessment in regulated rivers: The Huai river basin, China
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-01-2012
DOI: 10.1002/RRA.1483
Biogeographic determinants of Australian freshwater fish life-history indices assessed within a spatio-phylogenetic framework
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-08-2014
DOI: 10.1111/GEB.12212
Abstract: This study aims (1) to quantify the broad‐scale patterns of functional ersity and life‐history strategies of freshwater fish in relation to environmental variation across Australian river basins and (2) to identify key life‐history traits associated with species extinction risk in order to determine how fish communities and extinction‐prone species may respond to future environmental change. One hundred and twenty‐three river basins across eastern A ustralia. Based on 10 key life‐history traits for 194 freshwater fish we used a novel analytical approach to quantify multivariate life‐history indices in relation to environmental variation within a spatio‐phylogenetic framework. We assessed the utility of our analytical framework by contrasting final models against all candidate models, both with and without an eigenvector filtering procedure, and quantified the degree of autocorrelation in all model residuals. Temperature, habitat heterogeneity/availability, flow variability and primary productivity accounted for between 55 and 80% of the variation in life‐history indices. Best‐performing models were all derived from the addition of spatial and phylogenetic covariates to the analytical framework which consistently produced more parsimonious final models with higher explanatory power and insignificant levels of autocorrelation in the model residuals. The life‐history functional ersity of fish assemblages and the composition of life‐history strategies across Australian river basins is in part determined by environmental variability, stability and seasonality, highlighting both the importance of environmentally driven community assembly processes and the potential changes to freshwater fish bio ersity in response to climate change. A spatio‐phylogenetic analytical framework is a key component in the effective management of autocorrelation in ecological data and the derivation of more rigorous trait–environment relationships.
The costs of managing key threats to Australia's biodiversity
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-03-2023
Abstract: Budgeting for bio ersity conservation requires realistic estimates of threat abatement costs. However, data on threat management costs are often unavailable or unable to be extrapolated across relevant locations and scales. Conservation expenditure largely occurs without a priori cost estimates of management activities and is not recorded in ways that can inform future budgets or cost‐effective management decisions. We provided transparent, broadly applicable cost models for 18 Threat Abatement Strategies aimed at managing the processes threatening Australia's bio ersity. We defined the actions required to implement each strategy and used a consistent structure to classify costs of labour, travel, consumables and equipment. We drew upon expert knowledge and published literature to parameterise each model, estimating the implementation cost of each strategy across the Australian continent, accounting for spatial variables such as threat presence, terrain, and travel distance. Estimated annualised costs for the threat abatement strategies varied considerably between strategies and across Australia, ranging from $24 to $879,985 per km 2 ($0.24–$8880 per ha). On average, labour was the largest cost component (49%), followed by consumables (37%), travel (13%) and equipment (2%). Based on national scale variables and assumptions, cost estimates across Australia for each threat abatement strategy ranged from +44% and −33% of the most common cost estimate. Policy implications . We provide a consistent and transparent approach to budgeting for threat abatement strategies, aiming to improve conservation planning processes, outcomes, and reporting across Australia. In addition, understanding the budget required to achieve threat management outcomes can aid revenue‐raising and target setting. The models, cost layers and estimates we generate provide the basis for a nationally consistent approach for estimating and recording the cost of bio ersity management strategies, which should be continually updated and improved with local‐scale information over time.
Quantifying uncertainty in estimation of hydrologic metrics for ecohydrological studies
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2009
DOI: 10.1002/RRA.1249
Spatial variation in the distribution and abundance of submersed macrophytes in an Australian subtropical river
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2003
Planning Across Freshwater and Terrestrial Realms: Cobenefits and Tradeoffs Between Conservation Actions
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-12-2013
DOI: 10.1111/CONL.12080
Age structure of the Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri)
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 23-01-2019
Species invasions and the changing biogeography of Australian freshwater fishes
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-07-2007
DYNAMICS OF IN‐STREAM WOOD AND ITS IMPORTANCE AS FISH HABITAT IN A LARGE TROPICAL FLOODPLAIN RIVER
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-05-2012
DOI: 10.1002/RRA.2580
Understanding invasion success of Pseudorasbora parva in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: Insights from life-history and environmental filters
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2019.133739
Abstract: Understanding mechanisms of fish invasion success is crucial to controlling existing invasions and preventing potential future spread. Despite considerable advances in explaining successful fish invasions, little is known about how non-native fish successfully invade alpine freshwater ecosystems. Here, we explore the role of fish life history and environmental factors in contributing to invasion success of Pseudorasbora parva on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. We compared life history trait differences between native populations in lowland China with introduced populations in lowland Europe and the high elevation Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Linear mixed-effects models were used to analyse life-history trait variation across elevation gradients. A random forest model was developed to identify the key environmental filters influencing P. parva invasion success. Life history characteristics differed substantially between native and introduced populations. Compared with native Chinese populations, introduced populations in lowland Europe had smaller body size, higher fecundity, smaller oocytes and earlier maturation. Introduced populations in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau had smaller body size, lower fecundity, smaller oocytes and later maturation compared with native populations. 1-Year-Length and fecundity in all age classes of females significantly increased with increasing elevation. 2-Year-Length and 3-Year-Length of male significantly increased while maximal longevity and length at first maturity were significantly decreased with the elevation gradient. Habitat type, annual mean temperature, elevation, annual precipitation and precipitation seasonality, were the 5 most important predictors for the occurrence of the P. parva. Our study indicates that invasive P. parva adopt different life history strategies on the plateau compared with invasive populations at low elevations, highlighting that more studies are required for a better understanding of biological invasion under extreme conditions. Considering the ongoing hydrologic alteration and climate change, our study also highlighted that P. parva may expand their distribution range in the future on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Using water residency time to enhance spatio‐temporal connectivity for conservation planning in seasonally dynamic freshwater ecosystems
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-08-2012
Catchment zoning to enhance co-benefits and minimize trade-offs between ecosystem services and freshwater biodiversity conservation
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-03-2018
DOI: 10.1002/AQC.2891
Are alien fish a reliable indicator of river health?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-11-2005
Climate change and its implications for Australia's freshwater fish
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2011
DOI: 10.1071/MF10308
Abstract: Freshwater environments and their fishes are particularly vulnerable to climate change because the persistence and quality of aquatic habitat depend heavily on climatic and hydrologic regimes. In Australia, projections indicate that the rate and magnitude of climate change will vary across the continent. We review the likely effects of these changes on Australian freshwater fishes across geographic regions encompassing a ersity of habitats and climatic variability. Commonalities in the predicted implications of climate change on fish included habitat loss and fragmentation, surpassing of physiological tolerances and spread of alien species. Existing anthropogenic stressors in more developed regions are likely to compound these impacts because of the already reduced resilience of fish assemblages. Many Australian freshwater fish species are adapted to variable or unpredictable flow conditions and, in some cases, this evolutionary history may confer resistance or resilience to the impacts of climate change. However, the rate and magnitude of projected change will outpace the adaptive capacities of many species. Climate change therefore seriously threatens the persistence of many of Australia’s freshwater fish species, especially of those with limited ranges or specific habitat requirements, or of those that are already occurring close to physiological tolerance limits. Human responses to climate change should be proactive and focus on maintaining population resilience through the protection of habitat, mitigation of current anthropogenic stressors, adequate planning and provisioning of environmental flows and the consideration of more interventionist options such as managed translocations.
Connectivity, habitat, and flow regime influence fish assemblage structure: Implications for environmental water management in a perennial river of the wet–dry tropics of northern Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-06-2020
DOI: 10.1002/AQC.3347
Abstract: Environmental water management seeks to balance competing demands between the water needed to sustain human populations and their economic activities and that required to sustain functioning freshwater ecosystems and the species they support. It must be predicated on an understanding of the environmental, hydrological, and biological factors that determine the distribution and abundance of aquatic species. The Daly River of the wet–dry tropics of northern Australia consists of a perennially flowing main stem and large tributaries, as well as many small to large naturally intermittent tributaries, and associated off‐channel wetlands. Increased groundwater abstraction to support irrigated agriculture during the dry season threatens to reduce dry‐season flows that maintain perenniality and persistence of freshwater fishes. Fish assemblages were surveyed at 55 locations during the dry season over a 2‐year period with the goal of establishing the key landscape‐scale and local‐scale (i.e. habitat) drivers of fish species distribution. Longitudinal (upstream/downstream) and lateral (river/floodplain) gradients in assemblage structure were observed with the latter dependent on the position in the river landscape. Underlying these gradients, stream flow intermittency influenced assemblage composition, species richness, and body size distributions. Natural constraints to dispersal were identified and their influence on assemblage structure was also dependent on position within the catchment. Eight distinct assemblage types were identified, defined by differences in the abundance of species within five groups differing in functional traits describing body size, spawning requirements, and dispersal capacity. These functional groups largely comprised species widely distributed in northern Australia. The results of the study are discussed with reference to the environmental flow needs of the Daly River and other rivers of northern Australia. The findings may also be applied to environmental flow management in savannah rivers elsewhere.
Data Acquisition for Conservation Assessments: Is the Effort Worth It?
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 26-03-2013
An integrated assessment of financial, hydrological, ecological and social impacts of ‘development’ on Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in northern Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2013
Determinants of fine‐scale homogenization and differentiation of native freshwater fish faunas in a Mediterranean Basin: implications for conservation
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-08-2011
Migration patterns and estuarine aggregations of a catadromous fish, Australian bass (Percalates novemaculeata) in a regulated river system
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1071/MF16125
Abstract: Catadromous fish species require adequate flows to migrate between fresh and saltwater habitats to reproduce. However, artificial barriers and flow alteration affect fish populations by reducing habitat connectivity and disrupting movement cues. In regulated rivers, it is critical that migratory flow requirements are quantified to optimise water allocation for multiple users. In the present study, we assessed the migratory timing, flow and estuarine aggregation requirements for Australian bass (Percalates novemaculeata). Over 2 years, 66 bass were tracked using an acoustic receiver array in the Logan River (Qld, Australia). Bass performed large-scale downstream movements in response to elevated winter flows (40 and 108m3 s–1), which facilitated migration to the lower estuary, where salinity conditions were appropriate for spawning. Bass migrations occurred only when gonads were mature, despite large flows providing opportunities for movement outside this period. Experimental flow releases from an impoundment (2.1m3 s–1) during winter did not elicit a migratory response. Connectivity between upstream and estuarine habitats was reduced by the presence of instream weirs, with downstream movement across weirs occurring only when sufficient flow magnitude was achieved ( .1m3 s–1). These findings are relevant for water resource managers formulating environmental flow rules for catadromous fish species in systems with multiple instream artificial barriers.
Challenges and opportunities in implementing managed relocation for conservation of freshwater species [Retos y Oportunidades para la Implementación de la Reubicación Controlada para la Conservación de Especies Dulceacuícolas]
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-07-2011
DOI: 10.1111/J.1523-1739.2010.01557.X
Abstract: The rapidity of climate change is predicted to exceed the ability of many species to adapt or to disperse to more climatically favorable surroundings. Conservation of these species may require managed relocation (also called assisted migration or assisted colonization) of in iduals to locations where the probability of their future persistence may be higher. The history of non-native species throughout the world suggests managed relocation may not be applicable universally. Given the constrained existence of freshwater organisms within highly dendritic networks containing isolated ponds, lakes, and rivers, managed relocation may represent a useful conservation strategy. Yet, these same distinctive properties of freshwater ecosystems may increase the probability of unintended ecological consequences. We explored whether managed relocation is an ecologically sound conservation strategy for freshwater systems and provided guidelines for identifying candidates and localities for managed relocation. A comparison of ecological and life-history traits of freshwater animals associated with high probabilities of extirpation and invasion suggests that it is possible to select species for managed relocation to minimize the likelihood of unintended effects to recipient ecosystems. We recommend that translocations occur within the species' historical range and optimally within the same major river basin and that lacustrine and riverine species be translocated to physically isolated seepage lakes and upstream of natural or artificial barriers, respectively, to lower the risk of secondary spread across the landscape. We provide five core recommendations to enhance the scientific basis of guidelines for managed relocation in freshwater environments: adopt the term managed translocation to reflect the fact that in iduals will not always be reintroduced within their historical native range examine the trade-off between facilitation of in idual movement and the probability of range expansion of non-native species determine which species and locations might be immediately considered for managed translocation adopt a hypothetico-deductive framework by conducting experimental trials to introduce species of conservation concern into new areas within their historical range build on previous research associated with species reintroductions through communication and synthesis of case studies.
Lorenzocattarino/Priorityeffort: Priority Conservation Management Effort And Uncertainty Paper
Publisher: Zenodo
Date: 2018
Lorenzocattarino/Priorityeffort: Priority Conservation Management Effort And Uncertainty Paper
Publisher: Zenodo
Date: 2018
Evaluating the costs and benefits of systematic data acquisition for conservation assessments
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-09-2015
DOI: 10.1111/ECOG.00792
Identifying priority aquatic refuges to sustain freshwater biodiversity in intermittent streams in eastern Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-08-2022
DOI: 10.1002/AQC.3871
Abstract: The hydrological variability of intermittent streams means that the spatial distribution of dry‐season aquatic refuges within river networks and the temporal dynamics of hydrological connectivity between them are critical for the persistence of aquatic bio ersity. Here, a new approach is demonstrated to identify surface water bodies as priority refuges for efficient conservation management of freshwater bio ersity in intermittent stream networks. Recently developed models of surface water extent and daily streamflow were used to represent spatio‐temporal variations in hydrological connectivity and surface water persistence within river networks of eastern Australia over a 107‐yr period. Using this information, systematic conservation planning was applied to prioritize aquatic areas for conservation of 25 fish species under two scenarios. One scenario identified priority refuges to complement those already occurring in protected areas, whereas the other did not consider protected area status. The priority networks identified concentrated on the main stems of river catchments where surface water was more likely to be persistent and aquatic refuges were more likely to be connected, but also included headwaters for rare fish species. All three set conservation targets for the 25 fish species can be met in the best solution of priority networks. Although the second scenario achieved the targets with a smaller size of priority network overall, it required more new aquatic refuges and was thus less efficient than the first scenario. The newly developed datasets are useful for freshwater conservation prioritization because they account for hydrological variability of intermittent streams. The systematic prioritization approach applied is transferable to other regions and freshwater taxa to identify aquatic refuges for bio ersity conservation within intermittent stream systems.
Making time for space: the critical role of spatial planning in adapting natural resource management to climate change
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2017
Translocation and Spread of Piscivorous Fishes in the Burdekin River, North-eastern Australia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-01-2006
Integration of science and monitoring of river ecosystem health to guide investments in catchment protection and rehabilitation
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2010
Co-benefits and trade-offs between agriculture and conservation: A case study in Northern Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2015
HYDROGEOMORPHIC CLASSIFICATION OF WASHINGTON STATE RIVERS TO SUPPORT EMERGING ENVIRONMENTAL FLOW MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-07-2011
DOI: 10.1002/RRA.1541
Hydrographic correlates of within‐river distribution and population genetic structure in two widespread species of mountain galaxias (Teleostei, Galaxiidae) in southern Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-12-2018
DOI: 10.1111/FWB.13238
Information uncertainty influences conservation outcomes when prioritizing multi-action management efforts
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-03-2018
Catchment zoning for freshwater conservation: Refining plans to enhance action on the ground
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-06-2015
Rapid assessment of the biodiversity impacts of the 2019–2020 Australian megafires to guide urgent management intervention and recovery and lessons for other regions
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-10-2021
DOI: 10.1111/DDI.13428
Abstract: The incidence of major fires is increasing globally, creating extraordinary challenges for governments, managers and conservation scientists. In 2019–2020, Australia experienced precedent‐setting fires that burned over several months, affecting seven states and territories and causing massive bio ersity loss. Whilst the fires were still burning, the Australian Government convened a bio ersity Expert Panel to guide its bushfire response. A pressing need was to target emergency investment and management to reduce the chance of extinctions and maximise the chances of longer‐term recovery. We describe the approach taken to rapidly prioritise fire‐affected animal species. We use the experience to consider the organisational and data requirements for evidence‐based responses to future ecological disasters. Forested biomes of subtropical and temperate Australia, with lessons for other regions. We developed assessment frameworks to screen fire‐affected species based on their pre‐fire conservation status, the proportion of their distribution overlapping with fires, and their behavioural/ecological traits relating to fire vulnerability. Using formal and informal networks of scientists, government and non‐government staff and managers, we collated expert input and data from multiple sources, undertook the analyses, and completed the assessments in 3 weeks for vertebrates and 8 weeks for invertebrates. The assessments prioritised 92 vertebrate and 213 invertebrate species for urgent management response another 147 invertebrate species were placed on a watchlist requiring further information. The priority species lists helped focus government and non‐government investment, management and research effort, and communication to the public. Using multiple expert networks allowed the assessments to be completed rapidly using the best information available. However, the assessments highlighted substantial gaps in data availability and access, deficiencies in statutory threatened species listings, and the need for capacity‐building across the conservation science and management sectors. We outline a flexible template for using evidence effectively in emergency responses for future ecological disasters.
Estuarine fishes of the South Alligator River, Kakadu National Park, northern Australia
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1071/MF15221
Abstract: Estuaries are recognised globally as areas of high production, ersity and high economic value. Exploitation of the economic potential of estuaries and attendant infrastructural development plus expansion of human populations has resulted in degradation of estuaries worldwide. Many estuaries of northern Australia, in contrast, remain in good ecological condition. The estuarine fish fauna of the South Alligator River, Kakadu region of northern Australia was investigated to determine seasonal and spatial variation in composition. Beam trawls were used at 94 locations over the wet and dry seasons of 2012. In total, 81 taxa were collected, 26 of which had not previously been recorded in the river. Sciaenidae and Engraulidae dominated species richness and abundance. S les were heterogeneous in terms of composition and abundance in a manner unrelated to any measured aspect of the habitat over which trawls occurred. Species richness was higher in the lower estuary than the upper estuary and more species were detected during the wet season. Turnover in assemblage structure between s ling occasions was associated with seasonal variation in discharge concordant with changes in salinity and potentially productivity. Compositional variation was largely ascribed to differential spawning phenology of adults and tolerance to fluctuating salinity. The Kakadu region supports a rich fish fauna moderately distinct from that observed elsewhere in the Northern Territory. Pronounced temporal turnover in assemblage structure and spatial variation at a variety of scales (i.e. within s les, and within and between rivers) collectively pose a challenge to management in light of ongoing and proposed development of the water resources of northern Australia, including its estuaries.
A data-driven method for selecting candidate reference sites for stream bioassessment programs using generalised dissimilarity models
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1071/MF14254
Abstract: Key issues with defining reference condition for stream bioassessment are (1) equivocal definitions of ‘minimally disturbed’ pressure criteria and wide-ranging approaches to site selection, (2) highly modified regions where near-pristine areas do not exist, leading to management decisions based on inconsistent and unquantified benchmarks and (3) costly field c aigns associated with ‘extensive spatial survey’ approaches. We used generalised dissimilarity modelling (GDM) to classify stream segments into ecotypes, and transparently and efficiently define candidate reference conditions for the Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program (EHMP) assessment area in south-eastern Queensland, a highly modified region with a complex biogeographic history. We modelled fish presence–absence data from 396 sites with GIS-based natural and anthropogenic predictors. Stream segments were classified into ecotypes using the GDM-transformed natural variables so that (1) reference-site selection adequately covered the β- ersity of the study area and (2) we could evaluate the validity of incorporating sites from neighbouring catchments outside of the EHMP assessment area. Relationships between selected anthropogenic variables (the river disturbance index and %stream connectivity) and fish assemblages were used to define pressure criteria and map candidate reference conditions. We conclude by describing a new framework that can be used to select indicator-specific reference sites by GDM and a stratified, probabilistic s ling design.
Depth-related composition and structuring of tropical riverine fish assemblages revealed by baited video
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1071/MF16278
Abstract: The aim of the present study was to determine whether boat-based deployment of remote underwater video cameras is effective for surveying fish assemblages in the deepest reaches of two large tropical rivers in north-eastern Australia. In addition, we compared fish assemblages recorded on baited versus unbaited cameras, and evaluated the s ling effort (duration of recording) required to estimate fish assemblages using remote underwater videos. We found that fish assemblages differed according to the depth, with statistically significant differences largely attributable to the prevalence of small-bodied species ( -cm total length, TL), such as Ambassis sp., Melanotaenia sp. and Pseudomugil signifer recorded in shallow (0.4–2.0m) and intermediate (2.1–4.9m) depths, and larger-bodied fish species ( cm TL), such as Lutjanus argentimaculatus, Mesopristes argenteus and Caranx sexfasciatus, in deep water ( .0m). Estimates of fish assemblage attributes generally stabilised after 60min recording duration, suggesting that interrogation of video footage beyond this duration may not be cost-effective. We conclude that depth is an important consideration when surveying large and deep river fish assemblages and that where water clarity is favourable, underwater video provides one of the means by which an assemblage can be investigated across the entire depth profile.
A framework for hydrologic classification with a review of methodologies and applications in ecohydrology
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-08-2011
DOI: 10.1002/ECO.251
Does a bigger mouth make you fatter? Linking intraspecific gape variability to body condition of a tropical predatory fish.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-10-2019
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-019-04522-W
Abstract: In gape-limited predators, gape size restricts the maximum prey size a predator is capable to ingest. However, studies investigating the energetic consequences of this relationship remain scarce. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that gape-size variability influences in idual body condition (a common proxy for fitness) in one of the largest freshwater teleost predators, the barramundi. We found that in idual barramundi with larger gapes relative to body size had higher body condition values compared to conspecifics with smaller gapes. Body condition was highest soon after the wet season, a period of high feeding activity on productive inundated floodplains, and body condition decreased as the dry season progressed when fish were restricted to dry season remnant habitats. The increased condition obtained during the wet season apparently offsets weight loss through the dry season, as in iduals with large gapes were still in better condition than fish with small gapes in the late-dry season. Elucidation of the links between intraspecific variability in traits and performance is a critical challenge in functional ecology. This study emphasizes that even small intraspecific variability in morphological trait values can potentially affect in idual fitness within a species' distribution.
Human disturbance and long-term changes in fish taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity in the Yellow River, China
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-04-2020
Are large-scale flow experiments informing the science and management of freshwater ecosystems?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-2014
DOI: 10.1890/130076
Quantifying spatial and temporal patterns of flow intermittency using spatially contiguous runoff data
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2018
Does flood rhythm drive ecosystem responses in tropical riverscapes?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-2015
DOI: 10.1890/14-0991.1
Abstract: Biotic communities are shaped by adaptations from generations of exposure to selective pressures by recurrent and often infrequent events. In large rivers, floods can act as significant agents of change, causing considerable physical and biotic disturbance while often enhancing productivity and ersity. We show that the relative balance between these seemingly ergent outcomes can be explained by the rhythmicity, or predictability of the timing and magnitude, of flood events. By analyzing biological data for large rivers that span a gradient of rhythmicity in the Neotropics and tropical Australia, we find that systems with rhythmic annual floods have higher-fish species richness, more stable avian populations, and elevated rates of riparian forest production compared with those with arrhythmic flood pulses. Intensification of the hydrological cycle driven by climate change, coupled with reductions in runoff due to water extractions for human use and altered discharge from impoundments, is expected to alter the hydrologic rhythmicity of floodplain rivers with significant consequences for both bio ersity and productivity.
Species distributions represent intraspecific genetic diversity of freshwater fish in conservation assessments
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-07-2016
DOI: 10.1111/FWB.12810
Dry season habitat use of fishes in an Australian tropical river
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-04-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-019-41287-X
Abstract: The modification of river flow regimes poses a significant threat to the world’s freshwater ecosystems. Northern Australia’s freshwater resources, particularly dry season river flows, are being increasingly modified to support human development, potentially threatening aquatic ecosystems and bio ersity, including fish. More information is urgently needed on the ecology of fishes in this region, including their habitat requirements, to support water policy and management to ensure future sustainable development. This study used electrofishing and habitat survey methods to quantify the dry season habitat use of 20 common freshwater fish taxa in the Daly River in Australia’s wet-dry tropics. Of twenty measured habitat variables, water depth and velocity were the two most important factors discriminating fish habitat use for the majority of taxa. Four distinct fish habitat guilds were identified, largely classified according to depth, velocity and structural complexity. Ontogenetic shifts in habitat use were also observed in three species. This study highlights the need to maintain dry season river flows that support a ersity of riverine mesohabitats for freshwater fishes. In particular, shallow fast-flowing areas provided critical nursery and refuge habitats for some species, but are vulnerable to water level reductions due to water extraction. By highlighting the importance of a ersity of habitats for fishes, this study assists water managers in future decision making on the ecological risks of water extractions from tropical rivers, and especially the need to maintain dry season low flows to protect the habitats of native fish.
Identifying drivers of tropical riverine larval fish abundance and diversity
Publisher: Canadian Science Publishing
Date: 12-2022
Abstract: Several hypotheses and conceptual models propose to explain mechanisms mediating riverine fish abundance, but few empirical studies to date have explored their utility in tropical systems. This study assesses key components of previous fish recruitment models by exploring spatiotemporal variation in larval fish assemblages in response to predicted key drivers in a tropical Australian river catchment. Data on larval fish composition and abundance, alongside hydrological, hydraulic, habitat and food variables, were collected monthly to bimonthly over one year at eight sites. Variables which best predicted larval fish abundance and ersity were determined with Boosted Regression Trees. The most commonly important predictors were microfauna abundance, structural habitat complexity and temperature, with high values of each predicting high larval fish abundance and ersity. Maximum larval ersity occurred when discharge was highest because several wet-season spawning taxa occurred alongside aseasonally spawning taxa. These findings support previous generic fish recruitment models, demonstrating the utility of their inclusion in the recent Riverine Recruitment Synthesis Model and the applicability of this model for describing processes important for tropical riverine fish recruitment.
Classification of natural flow regimes in Australia to support environmental flow management
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-12-2009
Partitioning the variation in stream fish assemblages within a spatio-temporal hierarchy
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2007
DOI: 10.1071/MF06183
Abstract: This paper describes the relative influence of (i) landscape scale environmental and hydrological factors, (ii) local scale environmental conditions including recent flow history, and (iii) spatial effects (proximity of sites to one another), on the spatial and temporal variation in local freshwater fish assemblages in the Mary River, south-eastern Queensland, Australia. Using canonical correspondence analysis, each of the three sets of variables explained similar amounts of variation in fish assemblages (ranging from 44 to 52%). Variation in fish assemblages was partitioned into eight unique components: pure environmental, pure spatial, pure temporal, spatially structured environmental variation, temporally structured environmental variation, spatially structured temporal variation, the combined spatial/temporal component of environmental variation and unexplained variation. The total variation explained by these components was 65%. The combined spatial/temporal/environmental component explained the largest component (30%) of the total variation in fish assemblages, whereas pure environmental (6%), temporal (9%) and spatial (2%) effects were relatively unimportant. The high degree of intercorrelation between the three different groups of explanatory variables indicates that our understanding of the importance to fish assemblages of hydrological variation (often highlighted as the major structuring force in river systems) is dependent on the environmental context in which this role is examined.
Estimating local stream fish assemblage attributes: Sampling effort and efficiency at two spatial scales
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2006
DOI: 10.1071/MF06062
Abstract: As part of a wider study to develop an ecosystem-health monitoring program for wadeable streams of south-eastern Queensland, Australia, comparisons were made regarding the accuracy, precision and relative efficiency of single-pass backpack electrofishing and multiple-pass electrofishing plus supplementary seine netting to quantify fish assemblage attributes at two spatial scales (within discrete mesohabitat units and within stream reaches consisting of multiple mesohabitat units). The results demonstrate that multiple-pass electrofishing plus seine netting provide more accurate and precise estimates of fish species richness, assemblage composition and species relative abundances in comparison to single-pass electrofishing alone, and that intensive s ling of three mesohabitat units (equivalent to a riffle–run–pool sequence) is a more efficient s ling strategy to estimate reach-scale assemblage attributes than less intensive s ling over larger spatial scales. This intensive s ling protocol was sufficiently sensitive that relatively small differences in assemblage attributes ( %) could be detected with a high statistical power (1-β 0.95) and that relatively few stream reaches ( ) need be s led to accurately estimate assemblage attributes close to the true population means. The merits and potential drawbacks of the intensive s ling strategy are discussed, and it is deemed to be suitable for a range of monitoring and bioassessment objectives.
Merging connectivity rules and large‐scale condition assessment improves conservation adequacy in river systems
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-08-2012
Uncertainty in coarse conservation assessments hinders the efficient achievement of conservation goals
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2012
Large-scale Flow Experiments for Managing River Systems
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 12-2011
High rates of organic carbon processing in the hyporheic zone of intermittent streams
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-10-2017
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-017-12957-5
Abstract: Organic carbon cycling is a fundamental process that underpins energy transfer through the biosphere. However, little is known about the rates of particulate organic carbon processing in the hyporheic zone of intermittent streams, which is often the only wetted environment remaining when surface flows cease. We used leaf litter and cotton decomposition assays, as well as rates of microbial respiration, to quantify rates of organic carbon processing in surface and hyporheic environments of intermittent and perennial streams under a range of substrate saturation conditions. Leaf litter processing was 48% greater, and cotton processing 124% greater, in the hyporheic zone compared to surface environments when calculated over multiple substrate saturation conditions. Processing was also greater in more saturated surface environments (i.e. pools). Further, rates of microbial respiration on incubated substrates in the hyporheic zone were similar to, or greater than, rates in surface environments. Our results highlight that intermittent streams are important locations for particulate organic carbon processing and that the hyporheic zone sustains this fundamental process even without surface flow. Not accounting for carbon processing in the hyporheic zone of intermittent streams may lead to an underestimation of its local ecological significance and collective contribution to landscape carbon processes.
Water velocity and groundwater upwelling influence benthic algal biomass in a sandy tropical river: implications for water-resource development
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-01-2020
Prediction of Hydrologic Characteristics for Ungauged Catchments to Support Hydroecological Modeling
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 11-2017
DOI: 10.1002/2017WR021119
Fish assemblage dynamics in an intermittent river of the northern Australian wet–dry tropics
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-11-2016
DOI: 10.1111/EFF.12325
Freshwater ecoacoustics as a tool for continuous ecosystem monitoring
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-03-2018
DOI: 10.1002/FEE.1779
Accurately defining the reference condition for summary biotic metrics: A comparison of four approaches
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 31-03-2006
Implications of water extraction on the low-flow hydrology and ecology of tropical savannah rivers: an appraisal for northern Australia
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 06-2015
DOI: 10.1086/681302
Landscape genetic analysis of the tropical freshwater fish Mogurnda mogurnda (Eleotridae) in a monsoonal river basin: importance of hydrographic factors and population history
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-11-2010
Fish movements in response to environmental flow releases in intermittent rivers
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-11-2022
DOI: 10.1111/FWB.14022
Abstract: Variation in river flow is a strong behavioural determinant for the movement of many freshwater fish species and often is linked to key aspects of their life cycle. The alteration of natural flow regimes to meet human water demands can result in changes to this variability, and cause declines in water‐dependent biota. Environmental flows are used as a remediation tool in some regulated rivers with the intention of restoring aspects of the natural flow regime to benefit riverine species, although empirical data are required to inform the efficacy of these interventions. Using acoustic telemetry, we quantified the movement responses of two large‐bodied native fish species (freshwater catfish, Tandanus tandanus and Murray cod, Maccullochella peelii ) to variations in river flow over 4 years in two intermittent regulated rivers in the northern Murray–Darling Basin, Australia. Both rivers received periodic environmental flow releases and also there were several large natural flow events during the study period. Both species displayed a range of intra‐specific movement behaviours. Analysis of in iduals' movements revealed five distinct functional groups, which were represented in both species. We found that periods of environmental flow delivery played an important role in the movement behaviour of both species. Murray cod were more likely to move during periods of environmental flow releases, whereas freshwater catfish were less likely to move on an environmental release following higher antecedent flows. No large‐scale philopatric movements were observed, yet Murray cod were more likely to move during the breeding period, indicative of nest site selection. We also found that the likelihood of movement in both species was higher in the smaller of the two rivers for a given magnitude of flow. Our results suggest that environmental flows may benefit certain fish species by facilitating, rather than cueing breeding behaviours, allowing in iduals improved access to, and provision of, higher‐quality nesting habitats. These findings will aid water managers in creating economical and targeted environmental flow releases, timing larger flow pulses for the species with flow‐cued reproductive strategies, and providing a continuity of smaller baseflows for species whose reproduction is not dependent on flow cues but may be enhanced by greater connectivity.
Development and Application of Predictive Models of Surface Water Extent to Identify Aquatic Refuges in Eastern Australian Temporary Stream Networks
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 11-2019
DOI: 10.1029/2019WR025216
Biogeographical patterns of endemic diversity and its conservation in Australia's artesian desert springs
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-04-2018
DOI: 10.1111/DDI.12757
Reservoir to river: Quantifying fine-scale fish movements after translocation
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-07-2020
DOI: 10.1111/EFF.12490
Assessing the risks and opportunities of presence-only data for conservation planning
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-08-2015
DOI: 10.1111/JBI.12393
Water Scarcity as a Driver of Multiple Stressor Effects
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2019
Incorporating species losses and gains into a fish-based index for stream bioassessment increases the detection of anthropogenic disturbances
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2016
Trait‐based ecology of fishes: A quantitative assessment of literature trends and knowledge gaps using topic modelling
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-08-2019
DOI: 10.1111/FAF.12399
Incorporating ecological principles into statistical models for the prediction of species’ distribution and abundance
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-09-2012
Phylogenetic effects on functional traits and life history strategies of Australian freshwater fish
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-07-2014
Filming and snorkelling as visual techniques to survey fauna in difficult to access tropical rainforest streams
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1071/MF13339
Abstract: Dense tropical rainforest, waterfalls and shallow riffle-run-pool sequences pose challenges for researcher access to remote reaches of streams for surveying aquatic fauna, particularly when using capture-based collecting techniques (e.g. trapping, backpack and boat electrofishing). We compared the detection of aquatic species (vertebrates and invertebrates cm in body length) within pool habitats of a rainforest stream obtained by two visual techniques during both the wet and dry season: active visual survey by snorkelling and baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVSs). Snorkelling detected more species than a single BRUVS at each site, both within and among seasons. Snorkelling was most effective for recording the presence and abundance of diurnally active small-bodied species (adult size mm total length), although both techniques were comparable in detecting large-bodied taxa (turtles, fish and eels). On the current evidence, snorkelling provides the most sensitive and rapid visual technique for detecting rainforest stream fauna. However, in stream sections dangerous to human observers (e.g. inhabited by crocodiles, entanglement, extreme flows), we recommend a stratified deployment of multiple BRUVSs across a range of stream microhabitats within each site.
Improved genetic markers for monitoring recruitment dynamics in the endangered Mary River cod (Maccullochella mariensis)
Publisher: Hindawi Limited
Date: 15-02-2018
DOI: 10.1111/JAI.13633
Conservation biogeography of freshwater fishes: recent progress and future challenges
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-04-2010
Prioritizing refugia for freshwater biodiversity conservation in highly seasonal ecosystems
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-03-2013
DOI: 10.1111/DDI.12082
Do human disturbance variables influence more on fish community structure and function than natural variables in the Wei River basin, China?
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2016
There's more to Fish than Just Food: Exploring the Diverse Ways that Fish Contribute to Human Society
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-06-2020
DOI: 10.1002/FSH.10443
Local stream habitat variables predicted from catchment scale characteristics are useful for predicting fish distribution
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-08-2006
Flow Regimes in Intermittent Rivers and Ephemeral Streams
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2017
Freshwater fishes of northern Australia
Publisher: Magnolia Press
Date: 11-04-2017
DOI: 10.11646/ZOOTAXA.4253.1.1
Abstract: Northern Australia is biologically erse and of national and global conservation signicance. Its ancient landscape contains the world’s largest area of savannah ecosystem in good ecological condition and its rivers are largely free-flowing. Agriculture, previously confined largely to open range-land grazing, is set to expand in extent and to focus much more on irrigated cropping and horticulture. Demands on the water resources of the region are thus, inevitably increasing. Reliable information is required to guide and inform development and help plan for a sustainable future for the region which includes healthy rivers that contain erse fish assemblages. Based on a range of information sources, including the outcomes of recent and extensive new field surveys, this study maps the distribution of the 111 freshwater fishes (excluding elasmobranches) and 42 estuarine vagrants recorded from freshwater habitats of the region. We classify the habitat use and migratory biology of each species. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of the ersity and distribution of fishes of the region within a standardised nomenclatural framework. In addition, we summarise the outcomes of recent phylogeographic and phylogenetic research using molecular technologies to identify where issues of taxonomy may need further scrutiny. The study provides an informed basis for further research on the spatial arrangement of bio ersity and its relationship to environmental factors (e.g. hydrology), conservation planning and phylogentic variation within in idual taxa.
Bayesian network models for environmental flow decision making in the Daly River, Northern Territory, Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-09-2010
DOI: 10.1002/RRA.1456
Distribution of the Lake Eacham Rainbowfish in the Wet Tropics Region, North Queensland
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 1997
DOI: 10.1071/ZO96009
Abstract: The Lake Eacham rainbowfish, Melanotaenia eachamensisAllen & Cross, 1982, was thought to be extinct in the wild until recentresearch demonstrated the presence of wild populations in a few tributaries ofthe upper Johnstone River and the upper Barron River, north Queensland, byusing the technique of DNA sequencing. We present the results of amultivariate analysis of a range of morphological and meristic characters ofrainbowfish collected from rivers of the Wet Tropics region, particularly theJohnstone River, that demonstrate that M. eachamensis iswidespread in the upper and lower reaches of the North and South Johnstonerivers and tributaries of the upper Tully River.M. eachamensis was most often the dominant species inthose locations where sympatry withM. splendida splendida was observed.M. eachamensis should be considered a stream-dwellingspecies rather than a lacustrine species although a significant lacustrinepopulation (Koombooloomba Dam) was detected.
Testing Three Species Distribution Modelling Strategies to Define Fish Assemblage Reference Conditions for Stream Bioassessment and Related Applications
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 12-01-2016
Accounting for continuous species' responses to management effort enhances cost-effectiveness of conservation decisions
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2016
Effects of a low-head weir on multi-scaled movement and behavior of three riverine fish species
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-04-2020
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-020-63005-8
Abstract: Despite providing considerable benefits to society, dams and weirs threaten riverine ecosystems by disrupting movement and migration of aquatic animals and degrading riverine habitats. Whilst the ecological impacts of large dams are well studied, the ecological effects of low-head weirs that are periodically drowned out by high flows are less well-understood. Here we examine the effects of a low-head weir on fine- and broad-scale movements, habitat use, and breeding behaviour of three species of native freshwater fish in the Nymboida River in coastal eastern Australia. Acoustic telemetry revealed that eastern freshwater cod ( Maccullochella ikei ) and eel-tailed catfish ( Tandanus tandanus ) made few large-scale movements, but Australian bass ( Percalates novemaculeata) upstream of the weir were significantly more mobile than those below the weir. Within the weir pool, all three species displayed distinctive patterns in fine-scale movement behaviour that were likely related the deeper lentic environment created by the weir. No in iduals of any species crossed the weir during the study period. Tandanus tandanus nesting behaviour varied greatly above and below the weir, where in iduals in the more lentic upstream environment nested in potentially sub-optimal habitats. Our results demonstrate the potential effects of low-head weirs on movement and behaviour of freshwater fishes.
Measuring benefits of protected area management: Trends across realms and research gaps for freshwater systems
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 05-11-2015
Abstract: Protected areas remain a cornerstone for global conservation. However, their effectiveness at halting bio ersity decline is not fully understood. Studies of protected area benefits have largely focused on measuring their impact on halting deforestation and have neglected to measure the impacts of protected areas on other threats. Evaluations that measure the impact of protected area management require more complex evaluation designs and datasets. This is the case across realms (terrestrial, freshwater, marine), but measuring the impact of protected area management in freshwater systems may be even more difficult owing to the high level of connectivity and potential for threat propagation within systems (e.g. downstream flow of pollution). We review the potential barriers to conducting impact evaluation for protected area management in freshwater systems. We contrast the barriers identified for freshwater systems to terrestrial systems and discuss potential measurable outcomes and confounders associated with protected area management across the two realms. We identify key research gaps in conducting impact evaluation in freshwater systems that relate to three of their major characteristics: variability, connectivity and time lags in outcomes. Lastly, we use Kakadu National Park world heritage area, the largest national park in Australia, as a case study to illustrate the challenges of measuring impacts of protected area management programmes for environmental outcomes in freshwater systems.
Origins and Maintenance of Freshwater Fish Biodiversity in the Wet Tropics Region
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-04-2008
Development and application of a predictive model of freshwater fish assemblage composition to evaluate river health in eastern Australia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-04-2006
Environmental flow requirements of fish in Lesotho rivers using the DRIFT methodology
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2003
DOI: 10.1002/RRA.728
Abstract: DRIFT (Downstream Response to Imposed Flow Transformations) is a scenario‐based environmental flow assessment methodology applied during impact studies associated with the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, Southern Africa. DRIFT offers a structured process for predicting the biophysical, social and economic consequences of altering a river's flow regime. The fish component of DRIFT provides a ten‐step protocol designed to make such predictions using field data on a river's fish fauna linked to information on flow‐related aspects of fish biology drawn from the literature and the knowledge base and professional experience of fish ecologists. A worked ex le of the methodology is presented based on a study site downstream from Katse Dam on the Malibamatso River, Lesotho, where the ecological consequences of four flow scenarios were evaluated. DRIFT and its fish component have emerged from studies in a semi‐arid, developing region where unpredictable hydrological regimes and data scarcity constrain the prediction of ecological responses to flow regulation. Faced with similar information constraints, scientific uncertainty and limited windows of opportunity to guide water management, other countries have employed scientific panels to recommend environmental flows. DRIFT and its fish component compare favourably with recommended best practice for Australian scientific panel assessments of the flow requirements of river ecosystems. The risks associated with use of scientific panel approaches are discussed and minimum data sets and standards are recommended for the conduct of a DRIFT fish assessment. DRIFT and related frameworks represent the second level in a three‐tiered hierarchy of environmental flow methods. They can provide environmental flow recommendations of far greater scientific resolution than hydrological methods by integrating many types of information on the responses of riverine biota to flow modifications. However, DRIFT should only be applied within an adaptive management framework where there is a genuine commitment to the generation and use of new knowledge derived from monitoring and research. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Discharge variability and the development of predictive models relating stream fish assemblage structure to habitat in northeastern Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2000
DOI: 10.1034/J.1600-0633.2000.90105.X
Abstract: Abstract – We developed classification/multiple discriminant analysis models to predict fish assemblage structure and tested whether the predictive power of these models varied with discharge variability. Models developed for assemblages characterized by the density of component species for two rivers with low discharge variability had better predictive power than did models developed for two rivers of higher variability. Similar distinction between rivers of differing flow variability was not evident for models based on assemblages characterized by the presence or absence of component species. Factors such as the within‐river level of beta ersity, location of study sites relative to the river mouth and the degree of covariation in species' occurrence appeared important determinants of predictive power in these models. Randomization tests (Mantel tests) were used to determine the degree of association between site by site association matrices generated for fish assemblage structure (both density and presence/absence) and habitat structure (catchment, physical, microhabitat or a combination). This approach revealed that in most cases, catchment‐related variables explained almost as much of the variation in assemblage structure as variables related to in‐stream habitat structure and that greater association was detected for comparisons based on presence/absence rather than density data. The addition of in‐stream habitat variables to catchment‐related variables usually resulted in explaining the greatest amount of variation. These data suggest that most of the structure observed in the fish assemblages of the study rivers was a result of the effect of regional or catchment factors in determining which species were present at an in idual site and that local factors were then important in determining the abundance of the component species. It is at this level that the effects of regional differences in discharge variability were expressed. Although significantly different from random for all comparisons, Mantel's tests revealed that a substantial amount of variation in the fish assemblage data sets could not be explained by the abiotic (habitat) data sets. It is suggested that the assemblages in question did not represent unit discrete assemblages but were composed of species varying along in idual environmental gradients. Predictive models may be better achieved by modelling the distribution and abundance of in idual species rather than assemblages. NOTE
Strong evidence for changing fish reproductive phenology under climate warming on the Tibetan Plateau
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-02-2018
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.14050
Abstract: Phenological responses to climate change have been widely observed and have profound and lasting effects on ecosystems and bio ersity. However, compared to terrestrial ecosystems, the long-term effects of climate change on species' phenology are poorly understood in aquatic ecosystems. Understanding the long-term changes in fish reproductive phenology is essential for predicting population dynamics and for informing management strategies, but is currently h ered by the requirement for intensive field observations and larval identification. In this study, a very low-frequency s ling of juveniles and adults combined with otolith measurements (long axis length of the first annulus LAFA) of an endemic Tibetan Plateau fish (Gymnocypris selincuoensis) was used to examine changes in reproductive phenology associated with climate changes from the 1970s to 2000s. Assigning in idual fish to their appropriate calendar year class was assisted by dendrochronological methods (crossdating). The results demonstrated that LAFA was significantly and positively associated with temperature and growing season length. To separate the effects of temperature and the growing season length on LAFA growth, measurements of larval otoliths from different sites were conducted and revealed that daily increment additions were the main contributor (46.3%), while temperature contributed less (12.0%). Using constructed water-air temperature relationships and historical air temperature records, we found that the reproductive phenology of G. selincuoensis was strongly advanced in the spring during the 1970s and 1990s, while the increased growing season length in the 2000s was mainly due to a delayed onset of winter. The reproductive phenology of G. selincuoensis advanced 2.9 days per decade on average from the 1970s to 2000s, and may have effects on recruitment success and population dynamics of this species and other biota in the ecosystem via the food web. The methods used in this study are applicable for studying reproductive phenological changes across a wide range of species and ecosystems.
Integrating multidirectional connectivity requirements in systematic conservation planning for freshwater systems
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-01-2012
Freshwater wetlands of Moreton Bay, Quandamooka and catchments: Biodiversity, ecology, threats and management
Publisher: figshare
Date: 2019
Quality and contribution of food sources to Australian lungfish evaluated using fatty acids and stable isotopes
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-11-2019
Multiscale effects of flow regime and habitat and their interaction on fish assemblage structure in eastern Australia
Publisher: Canadian Science Publishing
Date: 10-2007
DOI: 10.1139/F07-108
Abstract: We examine the multiscale influence of environmental and hydrological features of the riverine landscape on spatial and temporal variation in fish assemblages in eastern Australia. Multiresponse artificial neural network models provided accurate predictions of fish assemblages in the Mary River based on species presence–absence data (mean Bray–Curtis similarity between predicted and observed composition = 84%) but were less accurate when based on species relative abundance or biomass (mean similarity = 62% and 59%, respectively). Landscape- and local-scale habitat variables (e.g., catchment area and riparian canopy cover) and characteristics of the long-term flow regime (e.g., variability and predictability of flows) were more important predictors of fish assemblages than variables describing the short-term history of hydrological events. The relative importance of these variables was broadly similar for predicting species occurrence, relative abundance, or biomass. The transferability of the Mary River predictive models to the nearby Albert River was high for species presence–absence (i.e., closer match between predicted and observed data) compared with species abundances or biomass. This suggests that the same landscape-scale features are important determinants of distribution of in idual species in both rivers but that interactions between landscape, hydrology, and local habitat features that collectively determine abundance and biomass may differ.
Flow-mediated predator–prey dynamics influence fish populations in a tropical river
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-05-2019
DOI: 10.1111/FWB.13318
Climate-driven synchrony in growth-increment chronologies of fish from the world's largest high-elevation river
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2018.07.108
Abstract: Understanding how sensitive aquatic ecosystems respond to climate change is essential for effective bio ersity conservation and management. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is one of the most globally sensitive areas to climate change with potentially serious implications for resident fish populations and aquatic food webs. However, how the growth of TP fish responds to climate change, and how this response varies with the trophic level of different species remain unknown. We established growth-increment chronologies of two important Schizothoracinae fishes that are endemic to the TP (e.g., the omnivorous Schizopygopsis younghusbandi and the carnivorous Oxygymnocypris stewartii) from the Yarlung Tsangpo River, using otolith increment width measurements and dendrochronological methods. These growth chronologies were correlated with key indicators of environmental variation (temperature, precipitation, and river discharge) to examine the potential effects of climate change. The two chronologies displayed synchronous responses to recent climate change. In this glacial-fed river, the growth of both fish species was significantly and negatively correlated with the mean annual air temperature, while it was positively but not significantly correlated with precipitation and discharge. The higher trophic level species O. stewartii was more sensitive to climate than was the lower trophic level species S. younghusbandi, with temperature variables explaining a higher proportion of growth variability in O. stewartii (64.6%) than in S. younghusbandi (46.4%). The results collectively indicate that both species are highly sensitive to climate change, which may affect fish growth by altering water environment, fish physiological fitness and food availability. This study provides further empirical evidence of the utility of growth-increment chronologies for investigating the effects of climate change on aquatic ecosystems across different basins and water body types of the TP. These findings can inform conservation and management actions related to addressing climate change on the TP and other high-elevation temperate systems found worldwide.
Looking to the past to ensure the future of the world's oldest living vertebrate: Isotopic evidence for multi‐decadal shifts in trophic ecology of the
Australian
lun
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-10-2018
DOI: 10.1002/RRA.3369
A hierarchical zero‐inflated Poisson regression model for stream fish distribution and abundance
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-12-2011
DOI: 10.1002/ENV.1145
Monitoring age‐related trends in genomic diversity of Australian lungfish
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-07-2018
DOI: 10.1111/MEC.14791
Abstract: An important challenge for conservation science is to detect declines in intraspecific ersity so that management action can be guided towards populations or species at risk. The lifespan of Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri) exceeds 80 years, and human impacts on breeding habitat over the last half century may have impeded recruitment, leaving populations dominated by old postreproductive in iduals, potentially resulting in a small and declining breeding population. Here, we conduct a "single-s le" evaluation of genetic erosion within contemporary populations of the Australian lungfish. Genetic erosion is a temporal decline in intraspecific ersity due to factors such as reduced population size and inbreeding. We examined whether young in iduals showed signs of reduced genetic ersity and/or inbreeding using a novel bomb radiocarbon dating method to age lungfish nonlethally, based on
Transport pathways shape the biogeography of alien freshwater fishes in Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-05-2018
DOI: 10.1111/DDI.12777
Widespread omnivory and low temporal and spatial variation in the diet of fishes in a hydrologically variable northern Australian river
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-06-2010
DOI: 10.1111/J.1095-8649.2010.02712.X
Abstract: This article examines the trophic ecology of freshwater fishes (22 species in 15 families) in a wet and dry tropical Australian river of high intra-annual and interannual hydrological variability. Seven major trophic groups were identified by cluster analysis however, four food items (filamentous algae, chironomid larvae, Trichoptera larvae and Ephemeroptera nymphs) comprised almost half of the average diet of all species. The influence of species, fish size, spatial effects and temporal effects on food use was investigated using redundancy analysis. Size, time and space accounted for little of the perceived variation. Ontogenetic changes in diet were minor and limited to a few large species. Spatial variation in trophic composition of the fish assemblages reflected the effects of the Burdekin Falls and dam, a major geographic barrier, on species distributions. Little spatial variation in diet was detected after accounting for this biogeographical effect. Temporal variations in flow, although marked, had little effect on variations in fish diet composition due to the low temporal ersity of food resources in physically monotonous sand and gravel channels. Species identity accounted for<50% of the observed variation in food choice omnivory and generalism were pronounced. The aquatic food web of the Burdekin River appears simple, supported largely by autochthonous production (filamentous and benthic microalgae, and to some extent, aquatic macrophytes). Allochthonous food resources appear to be unimportant. The generalist feeding strategies, widespread omnivory and absence of pronounced trophic segregation reported here for Burdekin River fishes may be common to variable and intermittent rivers of subtropical and tropical northern Australia with similar fish communities and may be a general feature of rivers of low habitat ersity and characterized by flow regimes that vary greatly both within and between years.
Identifying critical habitat for freshwater turtles: integrating long-term monitoring tools to enhance conservation and management
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-03-2017
Multi-action planning for threat management: A novel approach for the spatial prioritization of conservation actions
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 28-05-2015
Freshwater wetlands of Moreton Bay, Quandamooka and catchments: Biodiversity, ecology, threats and management
Publisher: figshare
Date: 2019
Temporal variability of benthic algal δ13C signatures influences assessments of carbon flows in stream food webs
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-05-2010
Groundwater supports intermittent-stream food webs
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 03-2018
DOI: 10.1086/696533
The influence of landscape at multiple spatial scales of the river basins at the Eastern Amazon fish assemblage
Publisher: FapUNIFESP (SciELO)
Date: 2023
DOI: 10.1590/1982-0224-2022-0044
Abstract: Abstract The Amazon River basins present distinct natural and anthropogenic characteristics that influence the structure of stream habitats and their associated biota. The influence of these characteristics can be evaluated through different spatial scales. We aimed to assess the influence (with and without the effect of spatial-geographical factors) of local, macroscale, and land-use variables in the structure of stream fish assemblages of Amazonian catchments with different deforestation levels. A partial redundancy analysis and a reduced metrics model were used to assess these influences. With geographic-spatial effects, we verified that the macroscale and local variables explained the variation in fish composition, and, without the effects, land use also explained the variation in this composition. In the forested catchments, the biota was associated with streams with natural characteristics (e.g., leaf banks). In the deforested catchments, it was associated with land use, sandy catchments with higher soil density (higher capacity of degradation), and less complex streams (fewer leaf banks, more sand). The associated fish have life features linked to these characteristics (e.g., Gymnorh hichthys rondoni associated with sand). This configuration seems to be a result of both the impact of land use in the catchment (i.e., increased erosion, increased sedimentation) and the naturally sandy constitution of the catchment as well, reflecting the sandy substrate.
Coupling environment and physiology to predict effects of climate change on the taxonomic and functional diversity of fish assemblages in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 27-11-2019
Fish response to the temporal hierarchy of the natural flow regime in the Daly River, northern Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-08-2011
DOI: 10.1111/J.1095-8649.2011.03072.X
Abstract: In this study, relationships between flow variation across multiple temporal scales and the distribution and abundance of three fish species, western rainbowfish Melanotaenia australis, sooty grunter Hephaestus fuliginosus and barramundi Lates calcarifer were examined at eight s ling reaches in the Daly River, Northern Territory, Australia. Discharge was highly seasonal during the study period of 2006-2010 with a distinct wet-dry discharge pattern. Significant catchment-wide correlations were identified between species abundance and hydrologic variables across several scales describing the magnitude and variability of flow. A Bayesian hierarchical model which accounted for >80% of variation in abundances for all species and age classes (i.e. juvenile and adult), identified the extent to which the influence of short-term flow variation was dependent upon the historical flow regime. There were distinct ontogenetic differences in these relationships for H. fuliginosus, with variability of recent flows having a negative effect on juveniles which was stronger at locations with higher historical mean daily flow. Lates calcarifer also displayed ontogenetic differences in relationships to flow variation with adults showing a positive association with increase in recent flows and juveniles showing a negative one. The effect of increased magnitude of wet-season flows on M. australis was negative in locations with lower historical mean daily flow but positive in locations with higher historical mean daily flow. The results highlighted how interactions between multiple scales of flow variability influence the abundance of fish species according to their life-history requirements.
Methanotroph community structure and processes in an inland river affected by natural gas macro-seeps
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 09-09-2021
Abstract: Methane availability in freshwaters is usually associated with spatial-temporal variation in methanogenesis. Unusually, however, natural gas macro-seeps occur along the Condamine River in eastern Australia which elevate ambient water-column methane concentrations more than 3,000 times. We quantified the spatial-temporal variation in methane oxidation rates and the total microbial and methanotroph community composition (through the lification and sequencing of 16S rRNA and particulate methane monooxygenase (pmoA) genes), and the factors mediating this variation, in reaches with and without macro-seeps. Sediment methane oxidation rates were, on average, 29 times greater, and the abundance of methanotrophs significantly higher, in the vicinity of methane macro-seeps compared to non-seep sites. Methylocystis was the most abundant methanotroph group at all sites, but type Ib methanotrophs showed the steepest increase in abundance at seep sites. pmoA gene analysis identified these as clade 501, while 16S rRNA gene analysis identified these as the closely related genus Methylocaldum. Sediment methane oxidation rates and the relative abundance and composition of benthic microbial communities were primarily influenced by methane availability which was in turn related to variation in river discharge. Methane-derived carbon may be an important energy source for the aquatic food webs in reaches affected by natural gas macro-seeps.
Flow-related migration, juvenile dispersal and gonad development in two co-occurring mullet species, Mugil cephalus and Trachystoma petardi, in a regulated river system
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.1071/MF18365
Abstract: Catadromous fish species often use elevated flows to migrate from freshwater to downstream spawning grounds. However, in regulated river systems, artificial barriers and flow alteration can disrupt movement cues, affecting fish migration. Using a combination of acoustic telemetry, passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and gonad maturity data, we assessed the migratory timing and flow requirements for downstream spawning migrations and upstream dispersal in two co-occurring mullet species in the Logan River, eastern Australia. Over 4 years, 141 adult sea mullet (Mugil cephalus) and 28 adult pinkeye mullet (Trachystoma petardi) were implanted with acoustic transmitters and broad-scale movements tracked using an array of 49 acoustic receivers. Juvenile upstream dispersal was monitored using implanted PIT tags and readers deployed in weir fishways. Sea mullet and pinkeye mullet undertook large-scale downstream migrations from February to March. Movements past weirs only occurred once sufficient flow had occurred and, in the case of pinkeye mullet, when gonads were mature. In contrast, juvenile dispersal into upstream habitats occurred primarily between November and April on low flows. This study advances our understanding of bidirectional movement ecology and flow requirements of two co-occurring mullet species to inform environmental flow management (e.g. to facilitate fish passage) in a regulated river system.
We like to listen to stories about fish: Integrating indigenous ecological and scientific knowledge to inform environmental flow assessments
Publisher: Resilience Alliance, Inc.
Date: 2014
Corrigendum to: Depth-related composition and structuring of tropical riverine fish assemblages revealed by baited video
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1071/MF16278_CO
Abstract: The aim of the present study was to determine whether boat-based deployment of remote underwater video cameras is effective for surveying fish assemblages in the deepest reaches of two large tropical rivers in north-eastern Australia. In addition, we compared fish assemblages recorded on baited versus unbaited cameras, and evaluated the s ling effort (duration of recording) required to estimate fish assemblages using remote underwater videos. We found that fish assemblages differed according to the depth, with statistically significant differences largely attributable to the prevalence of small-bodied species (Ambassis sp., Melanotaenia sp. and Pseudomugil signifer recorded in shallow (0.4–2.0m) and intermediate (2.1–4.9m) depths, and larger-bodied fish species ( cm TL), such as Lutjanus argentimaculatus, Mesopristes argenteus and Caranx sexfasciatus, in deep water ( .0m). Estimates of fish assemblage attributes generally stabilised after 60min recording duration, suggesting that interrogation of video footage beyond this duration may not be cost-effective. We conclude that depth is an important consideration when surveying large and deep river fish assemblages and that where water clarity is favourable, underwater video provides one of the means by which an assemblage can be investigated across the entire depth profile.
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End Date: 12-2014
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