ORCID Profile
0000-0001-9944-6392
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)
Ecology | Freshwater Ecology | Surface Processes | Ecological Applications | Landscape Ecology | Landscape Ecology | Conservation And Biodiversity | Environmental Management And Rehabilitation | Management And Environment |
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Farmland, Arable Cropland and Permanent Cropland Environments | Ecosystem Adaptation to Climate Change | Forestry | Rehabilitation of Degraded Fresh, Ground and Surface Water Environments | Land and water management | Land and water management | Native forests | Land and water management | Rehabilitation of degraded farmland
Related Links
Publications
Patterns and bioavailability of soil nutrients and carbon across a gradient of inundation frequencies in a lowland river channel, Murray-Darling Basin, Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2015
Propagules in dry wetland sediments as indicators of ecological health: Effects of salinity
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2001
DOI: 10.1002/RRR.616
Mechanistic effects of low-flow hydrology on riverine ecosystems: ecological principles and consequences of alteration
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 12-2012
DOI: 10.1899/12-002.1
Water quality in two Australian dryland rivers: spatial and temporal variability and the role of flow
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2010
DOI: 10.1071/MF09289
Abstract: Water quality, along with hydrology, plays an important role in the spatial and temporal dynamics of a range of ecological patterns and processes in large rivers and is also often a key component of river health assessments. Geology and land use are significant drivers of water quality during flow periods while during periods of no-flow, local-scale factors such as evaporation, groundwater influence and the concentration and precipitation of compounds are important. This study explored the water quality changes in two Australian dryland rivers, the Cooper Creek (Lake Eyre Basin) and the Warrego River (Murray–Darling Basin), across different hydrological phases over several years. Water quality varied both spatially and temporally the greatest spatial variability occurred during the no-flow phase, with temporal changes driven by flow. Concentrations of major anions and cations also varied spatially and temporally, with an overall cation dominance of calcium and magnesium and an anion dominance of bicarbonate. This bicarbonate dominance contrasts with previous data from inland lentic systems where sodium chloride was found to dominate. Such extreme spatial and temporal variability h ers successful derivation of water quality guidelines for these variable rivers and suggests such guidelines would need to be developed with respect to ‘flow phase’.
Relationships between flow variability and macroinvertebrate assemblage composition: Data from four Australian dryland rivers
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2006
DOI: 10.1002/RRA.907
Singing streams: Describing freshwater soundscapes with the help of acoustic indices
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-04-2020
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.6251
Recovery of decomposition rates and decomposer invertebrates during rain forest restoration on disused pasture
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-07-2020
DOI: 10.1111/BTP.12682
A PERSPECTIVE ON DRYLAND RIVER ECOSYSTEMS
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-1995
High potential subsidy of dry-season aquatic fauna to consumers in riparian zones of wet-dry tropical rivers
Publisher: Freshwater Biological Association
Date: 10-2013
DOI: 10.5268/IW-3.4.620
HYDROLOGICAL CHANGES AND ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS ASSOCIATED WITH WATER RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT IN LARGE FLOODPLAIN RIVERS IN THE AUSTRALIAN TROPICS
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-2008
DOI: 10.1002/RRA.1125
Science to Support Management of Receiving Waters in an Event-Driven Ecosystem: From Land to River to Sea
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 19-06-2013
DOI: 10.3390/W5020780
Changes in biofilms induced by flow regulation could explain extinctions of aquatic snails in the lower River Murray, Australia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 1997
Water resource development and hydrological change in a large dryland river: the Barwon-Darling River, Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2000
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
Morphological characteristics of on-farm water storages and their similarity to natural water bodies in the Border Rivers Catchment, Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2010
DOI: 10.1002/AQC.1072
Latitude dictates plant diversity effects on instream decomposition
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 26-03-2021
Abstract: Plant litter functional ersity effects on instream decomposition change across latitudes.
Terrestrial invertebrates of dry river beds are not simply subsets of riparian assemblages
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-06-2011
Incorporating ecological principles into statistical models for the prediction of species’ distribution and abundance
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-09-2012
To aggregate or not? Capturing the spatio-temporal complexity of the thermal regime
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2016
Ecological roles and threats to aquatic refugia in arid landscapes: Dryland river waterholes
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2010
DOI: 10.1071/MF09239
Abstract: Dryland rivers are renowned for their periods of ‘boom’ related to the episodic floods that extend over vast floodplains and fuel incredible production, and periods of ‘bust’ where the extensive channel network is restricted to the permanent refugial waterholes. Many of these river systems are unregulated by dams but are under increasing pressure, especially from water abstraction and overland flow interception for agriculture and mining. Although some aquatic organisms with desiccation-resistant life stages can utilise ephemeral floodplain habitats, the larger river waterholes represent the only permanent aquatic habitat during extended periods of low or no flow. These waterholes act as aquatic refugia in an otherwise terrestrial landscape. Variable patterns of connection and disconnection in space and time are a fundamental driver of ersity and function in these dryland river systems, and are vital for dispersal and the maintenance of erse populations, generate the spatial and temporal variability in assemblage structure for a range of different organisms and fuel the productivity that sustains higher trophic levels. Changes to natural patterns of connection and disconnection of refugial waterholes, owing to water-resource development or climate change, will threaten their persistence and diminish their functional capacity to act as aquatic refugia.
High-quality algae attached to leaf litter boost invertebrate shredder growth
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 12-2016
DOI: 10.1086/688667
The role of altitude and associated habitat stability in determining patterns of population genetic structure in two species of Atalophlebia (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-08-2010
The importance of high-quality algal food sources in stream food webs - current status and future perspectives
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-2016
DOI: 10.1111/FWB.12755
Sequential floods drive booms and wetland persistence in dryland rivers: A synthesis
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2010
DOI: 10.1071/MF10106
Abstract: Flow is a key driver regulating processes and ersity in river systems across a range of temporal and spatial scales. In dryland rivers, variability in the timing and scale of floods has specific ecological significance, playing a major role in sustaining biotic ersity across the river-floodplain mosaic. However, longitudinal effects of floods are equally important, delivering water downstream through channels and wetland complexes. Interaction among spatially distributed wetlands, their connecting channel and floodplain geomorphology and the temporally variable flow events not only creates the spatial complexity in dryland rivers but also determines temporal persistence of wetlands. These act as hydrological ‘sponges’, absorbing water from upstream and needing to fill before releasing water downstream. Sequential high flow events are essential for the ecological persistence of riverine wetlands and the transmission of flows further downstream through the channel network. These flood sequences maintain aquatic refugia and drive booms in productivity sustaining aquatic and terrestrial biota over large spatial and temporal scales. Disrupting the sequence, with modified flow regimes and water removal for ersion (e.g. irrigation), significantly reduces the opportunity for wetland replenishment. As a result, the benefits of sequential flooding to the wetland ‘sponges’ and their biotic communities will be lost.
Thermal habitat restricts patterns of occurrence in multiple life-stages of a headwater fish
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 06-2017
DOI: 10.1086/691553
An ecosystem approach for determining environmental water allocations in Australian dryland river systems: the role of geomorphology
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2002
Using disaster to prevent catastrophe: Referencing the impacts of flow changes in large dryland rivers
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2000
DOI: 10.1002/1099-1646(200009/10)16:5<403::AID-RRR593>3.0.CO;2-3
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
Prioritizing management actions for the conservation of freshwater biodiversity under changing climate and land-cover
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2016
Mitochondrial DNA phylogenetic structuring suggests similarity between two morphologically plastic genera of Australian freshwater mussels (Unionoida: Hyriidae)
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2004
Changes in foliage projective cover and its implications for mapping groundwater dependent vegetation across a precipitation gradient
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-01-2018
DOI: 10.1002/ECO.1937
The macroinvertebrate fauna of an Australian dryland river: spatial and temporal patterns and environmental relationships
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2006
DOI: 10.1071/MF05021
Abstract: Waterholes within the dryland Cooper Creek, Lake Eyre Basin, Australia, are connected only during floods and are typically isolated for long periods. Spatial changes in the macroinvertebrate assemblages of 15 of these waterholes belonging to four regions were explored and these changes were related to environmental aspects of the waterholes measured at four spatial scales: floodplain, waterhole, within waterhole and s le habitat. To explore temporal patterns, one region was s led on four occasions differing in time since connection. Spatial patterns were characterised by ‘differentiation by distance’ whereby s les collected closer to each other in the landscape were more similar in assemblage composition than those collected further apart. Thus, there were significant differences between the assemblages of the four regions. Although there was a correlation between macroinvertebrate spatial patterns and a combination of local habitat, geomorphology and water chemistry attributes, it appears unlikely that these variables were responsible for the faunal differentiation by distance. Temporal variability was larger than spatial variability and temporal assemblage patterns were best explained by the ‘connectivity potential’ of waterholes, reflecting the position of in idual waterholes within the broader channel network and long-term connectivity relationships, rather than the actual time since hydrological connection.
Identifying subsoil sediment sources with carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-09-2015
DOI: 10.1002/HYP.10311
Benthic metabolism in two turbid dryland rivers
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-01-2009
Dynamic stability in dry season food webs within tropical floodplain rivers
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2010
DOI: 10.1071/MF09107
Abstract: Debate exists about the effects of hydrological variation on food web dynamics and the relative importance of different sources of organic carbon fuelling food webs in floodplain rivers. Stable carbon isotope analyses and ecological stoichiometry were used to determine the basal sources in dry season macroinvertebrate food webs in two floodplain river systems of Australia’s wet–dry tropics that have contrasting flow regimes. Algae, associated with phytoplankton and biofilm, were the primary food source, potentially contributing % organic carbon to the biomass of a wide range of primary and secondary consumers. However, many consumers assimilated other sources in addition to algae, e.g. detritus from local C3 riparian vegetation. Food webs were characterised by substantial flexibility in the number and types of sources identified as important, which was indicative of generalist feeding strategies. These findings suggest ‘dynamic stability’ in the food webs, which imparts resilience against natural disturbances like flow regime seasonality and variation in hydrological connectivity. This adaptation may be characteristic of macroinvertebrate assemblages in highly seasonal river systems or in those with high levels of flow variability.
Stable carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of early-Holocene gastropods from Wadi Mansurab, north-central Sudan
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 06-1996
DOI: 10.1177/095968369600600203
Abstract: The 8500- to 7000-year-old shell-bearing sediments in shallow claypans near Wadi Mansurab in north-central Sudan appear to reflect a widespread and much wetter period in northeast Africa. Stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis of the Wadi Mansurab gastropods reveals that the shell carbonate is highly depleted in 13 C and 18 O. The highly depleted oxygen isotopic composition is indicative of rainfall derived from a distant oceanic source. The highly negative nature of the oxygen isotopes indicates that the region had significantly less evaporation than today while the extreme variability in isotopic composition (up to 6-7‰ PDB) is consist ent with a seasonal rainfall regime, characterized by a high degree of inter-annual variability. The dominance of semi-aquatic and sw -dwelling gastropods over truly aquatic species implies that the region was probably a seasonally flooded grassplain similar to the toich-lands of south-central Sudan today. Our data support the inference that towards 8500-7000 BP there was a stronger southwest monsoon and an associated northward shift in the summer rainfall zone, which caused the Wadi Mansurab region in north-central Sudan to be season ally flooded during a wetter and possibly cooler period with lower rates of evapotranspiration. From 8500 to 7000 BP, lake levels were high elsewhere in northern Africa, suggesting a regionally wetter climate at that time.
A comparison of spatially explicit landscape representation methods and their relationship to stream condition
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-09-2011
Cryptic species and morphological plasticity in long‐lived bivalves (Unionoida: Hyriidae) from inland Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-09-2003
DOI: 10.1046/J.1365-294X.2003.01941.X
Abstract: Molecular (mitochondrial DNA, isozyme) and morphological ersity of freshwater mussels (Family Hyriidae) was examined at 21 sites encompassing four large river systems, across southwest Queensland, Australia. Evidence was found for two major morphological groups. One group, which occurred in every river system, closely matched a recognized species (Velesunio ambiguus) both morphologically and in a well-supported lineage within a mitochondrial phylogeny generated from partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences. The second group most closely matched Velesunio wilsonii in shell morphology but formed three deeply ergent mitochondrial DNA lineages. All four lineages occurred sympatrically in some areas and displayed corresponding fixed differences at nuclear allozyme loci, which suggests an absence of recent hybridization and the presence of separate species.
Integration of science and monitoring of river ecosystem health to guide investments in catchment protection and rehabilitation
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2010
Incorporating natural variability into the assessment of ecological health in Australian dryland rivers
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-2005
Riparian restoration offsets predicted population consequences of climate warming in a threatened headwater fish
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-12-2018
DOI: 10.1002/AQC.2864
Assessment of the causes and solutions to the significant 2018–19 fish deaths in the Lower Darling River, New South Wales, Australia
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 13-09-2021
DOI: 10.1071/MF21038
Abstract: In late 2018 to early 2019, three significant fish death events occurred in the Lower Darling River, Australia, with mortality estimates of millions of fish. We examined the proximate and ultimate causes of these events. We determined that not only were the conditions existing at the time a significant contributing factor, but that antecedent conditions, particularly during the period 2010–17, also contributed. The extreme hot and dry climate during 2018, extending into 2019, shaped the conditions that saw a large fish biomass, which had flourished in the Darling River and Menindee Lakes since favourable spawning conditions in 2016, isolated in weir pools, with no means of escaping upstream or downstream. Strong and persistent weir pool stratification created hypoxic conditions in the hypolimnion. A series of sudden cool changes subsequently initiated rapid and sudden mixing of the stratified waters, causing depletion of oxygen throughout the water column and resulting in the fish deaths. The events were also shaped by broader climatic, hydrological and basin management contexts that placed the Lower Darling River at risk of such fish deaths. Our observations have implications for future river management, and we make several suggestions how policy makers and river operators can minimise fish death risks into the future.
PIPELINES AS A REFUGE FOR FRESH-WATER SNAILS
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-1993
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.
In-channel geomorphic complexity: The key to the dynamics of organic matter in large dryland rivers?
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2006
How do abiotic environmental variables shape benthic diatom assemblages in subtropical streams?
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1071/MF15388
Abstract: Diatoms (Division Bacillariophyta) commonly dominate benthic algal communities in upland streams and are the major primary producers that sit at the base of food webs. Given their ecological importance, the aim of the present study was to investigate the spatial patterns of freshwater biofilm biomass and diatom assemblage composition in response to differences in physical and chemical variables in the Bremer, Logan and Albert catchments in south-east Queensland. Patterns in benthic diatom assemblage structure were examined during base flow conditions and the focus was on relating the spatial hierarchical interrelationships among ultimate (i.e. catchments and geology) and proximate (i.e. flow, nutrients, light, conductivity, pH and turbidity) environmental drivers. The spatial difference observed in the benthic diatom assemblages was predominantly driven by proximate environmental drivers, which, in turn, were affected by ultimate drivers. Flow played a critical role in controlling both biofilm biomass and affecting the occurrence of diatom taxa. Nutrients and light also played roles as limiting resources structuring biofilm biomass and the relative abundance of diatoms. Diatom growth form, cell size and attachment mode can be used to create a more quantitative and predictive approach to establishing relationships between diatoms and environmental gradients.
Small‐scale patterns of genetic variation in a headwater specialist mayfly: No influence of selective forest harvesting on diversity
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-08-2012
Is the hyporheic zone a refuge for macroinvertebrates in drying perennial streams?
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2011
DOI: 10.1071/MF11060
Abstract: Drought and drying of perennial streams plays a central role in determining the structure of in-stream communities, decreasing taxa richness and abundance and changing trophic organisation. Further, flow cessation can increase spatial β- ersity of macroinvertebrate communities across disconnected sites. It has been hypothesised that the hyporheic zone may act as a refugium for benthic macroinvertebrates during low flow and flow cessation, but evidence remains equivocal. We explored hyporheic and surface benthic macroinvertebrate community changes associated with low flow and flow cessation conditions during a supra-seasonal drought on two normally perennial rivers: the Cotter and Queanbeyan Rivers (Canberra, ACT). Surface benthic and hyporheic s les were collected from these two rivers and four associated tributary streams across a drying gradient during dry conditions and after flow recovery to test whether macroinvertebrates in perennial streams utilise the hyporheic zone as a refugium and whether there is greater variability in the macroinvertebrate community at sites experiencing flow cessation compared with wetter sites. Low flow had no impact on macroinvertebrate taxa richness or density in either surface benthic or hyporheic habitats, whereas density and taxa richness declined during streambed drying, suggesting that the hyporheic zone did not provide a refugium for some taxa during these dry conditions. Spatial β- ersity peaked at dry sites, likely in response to the broad range of environmental conditions that may differ between refuges and sites, but decreased after flow recovery. Refuges in perennial streams appear more vulnerable to human disturbances during dry periods because a loss of suitable refuges can affect the ability of some macroinvertebrate taxa to recolonise after flow recovery.
Hyporheic invertebrates as bioindicators of ecological health in temporary rivers: A meta-analysis
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2013
Using diatom indices for water quality assessment in a subtropical river, China
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-12-2013
DOI: 10.1007/S11356-012-1343-9
Abstract: Diatoms have been regularly used as bioindicators to assess water quality of surface waters. However, diatom-based indices developed for a specific geographic region may not be appropriate elsewhere. We s led benthic diatom assemblages in the upper Han River, a subtropical river in China, to evaluate applicability of 14 diatom-based indices used worldwide for water quality assessment. A total of 194 taxa from 31 genera were identified in the dry season and 139 taxa from 23 genera in the wet season. During the dry season, significant relationships were found for all but one of the diatom-based indices (Index Diatom Artois-Picardie) with one or more physical and chemical variables including nutrients and ion concentrations in river waters. The Biological Diatom Index (IBD) and diatom-based eutrophication ollution index (EPI-D) were strongly related to trophic status and ionic content, while Watanabe's Index was related to organic pollution and conductivity. Yet, the diatom indices showed weak relationships with physical and chemical variables during the wet season. It suggests that diatom-based indices developed in Europe can be applied with confidence as bioindicators of water quality in subtropical rivers of China, at least during base-flow conditions.
Climate-change threats to native fish in degraded rivers and floodplains of the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2011
DOI: 10.1071/MF11059
Abstract: Many aquatic ecosystems have been severely degraded by water-resource development affecting flow regimes and biological connectivity. Freshwater fish have been particularly affected by these changes and climate change will place further stress on them. The Murray–Darling Basin (MDB), Australia, represents a highly affected aquatic system with dramatically modified flow regimes. This has impaired the health of its rivers, and potentially limited the adaptive capacity of its biota to respond to a changing climate. Here, we present our predictions of the potential impacts of climate change on 18 native fish species across their distributional ranges against the back-drop of past and continuing water-resource development (WRD). Because most of these species are found across a wide range of geographical and hydrological settings, we classified the MDB into 10 regions to account for likely variation in climate-change effects, on the basis of latitude, elevation and WRD. Cold water-tolerant species will be under greater stress than are warm water-tolerant species. In some regions, the negative impacts on exotic fish such as trout are likely to improve current conditions for native species. Because the impacts of climate change on any given species are likely to vary from region to region, regional fish assemblages will also be differentially affected. The most affected region is likely to occur in the highly disturbed Lower Murray River region, whereas the dryland rivers that are less affected in the northern MDB are likely to remain largely unchanged. Although climate change is a current and future threat to the MDB fish fauna, the continued over-regulation of water resources will place as much, if not more, stress on the remnant fish species.
River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh.) organic matter as a carbon source in the lower Darling River, Australia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2002
Conservation value of variable connectivity: aquatic invertebrate assemblages of channel and floodplain habitats of a central Australian arid-zone river, Cooper Creek
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2002
Spatial distribution of littoral invertebrates in the lower Murray-Darling River system, Australia
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 1998
DOI: 10.1071/MF96062
Abstract: The abundance and richness of macroinvertebrates in the lower Murray and Darling rivers were examined at a macroscale (rivers), mesoscale (billabongs, backwaters, channel) and microscale (vegetation, snags, substrata). In the Darling, insects dominated (85% of taxa, 81% of in iduals) the richest taxa were Diptera (26 taxa) and Coleoptera (15 taxa) and the most abundant were Hemiptera (47%) and Diptera (35%). In the Murray, insects again dominated (84% of taxa, 52% of in iduals), particularly Diptera (22 taxa), Coleoptera (12 taxa) and Hemiptera (9 taxa), but there were more crustaceans (9% of taxa, 47% of in iduals, particularly the atyid shrimp Paratya australiensis). Both assemblages were uneven: in the Darling, % of biomass was Micronecta spp. (Corixidae), Dicrotendipes sp. (Chironomidae) and Macrobrachium australiense (Palaemonidae) in the Murray, 70% of biomass was P. australiensis and Caridina mccullochi (Atyidae) and the insects Micronecta spp. (Corixidae) and Chironomus sp. (Chironomidae). Abundances generally were greatest in the Murray. Hydrologic and geomorphic factors influenced assemblages at the macroscale, whereas microhabitat ersity dominated at the mesoscale.
Coleoptera (Chrysomelidae, Coccinellidae, Curculionoidea) in sclerophyll woodland: variation in assemblages among host plants, and host specificity of phytophagous and predatory beetles
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-12-2012
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.
Effects of light and nutrients on periphyton and the fatty acid composition and somatic growth of invertebrate grazers in subtropical streams
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-02-2016
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-016-3573-X
Abstract: Algal polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), essential for somatic growth and reproduction of aquatic animals, are influenced by ambient environmental conditions, including light and nutrients. Few studies have addressed the extent to which changes in algal PUFA can influence stream herbivore PUFA profiles and the implications for stream food webs. We manipulated subtropical stream periphyton by applying two light levels (open and shaded canopy) and two nutrient regimes (ambient and enriched) to investigate the response of PUFA and somatic growth in stream herbivores. After 6 weeks, the relative content of periphyton PUFA (%) changed distinctly and differed among treatments. Periphyton in the control treatment with open canopy showed a decline in eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) relative to initial conditions, whereas shading increased EPA and total highly unsaturated FA (HUFA), but decreased α-linolenic acid (ALA), linoleic acid and total C18 PUFA. The interaction of open canopy and added nutrients increased periphyton ALA compared with initial conditions, while the combined effects of shading and added nutrients led to greater total HUFA. FA similarity between stream grazers (the mayfly Austrophlebioides and caddisfly Helicopsyche) and periphyton increased with periphyton HUFA content. In addition, the growth of large instars of both grazers also increased in response to increased periphyton HUFA %. Our findings show that environmental changes, associated with riparian canopy and nutrients, can lead to changes in periphyton PUFA composition that in turn affect growth and PUFA composition in stream grazers.
Spatial variation in periphyton fatty acid composition in subtropical streams
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-04-2015
DOI: 10.1111/FWB.12578
Functions of riparian forest in urban catchments: a case study from sub-tropical Brisbane, Australia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-09-2011
Response of benthic macroinvertebrates to gradients in hydrological connectivity: a comparison of temperate, subtropical, Mediterranean and semiarid river floodplains
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-12-2013
DOI: 10.1111/FWB.12292
Flow variability and the ecology of large rivers
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 1998
DOI: 10.1071/MF94161
Abstract: Ecological processes in large rivers are controlled by their flow variability. However, it is difficult to find measures of hydrological variability that characterize groups of rivers and can also be used to generate hypotheses about their ecology. Multivariate analyses of the hydrographs of 52 rivers worldwide revealed distinctive patterns of flow variability that were often correlated with climate. For ex le, there were groups of rivers that corresponded broadly with ‘tropical’ and ‘dryland’ climates. However, some rivers from continental climates occupy both extremes of this range, illustrating the limitations of simple classification. In idual rivers and groups of rivers may also have different hydrographic ‘signatures’, and attempts to combine measures of hydrological variability into indices mask biologically significant information. This paper identifies 11 relatively independent measures of hydrological variability that help categorize river types and are each associated with aspects of fish biology. Ways are suggested by which the Flood Pulse Concept can be expanded to encompass hydrological variability and accommodate differences among groups of rivers from different climatic regions. Such recognition of the complex role of hydrological variability enhances the value of the concept for river conservation, management and restoration.
Hydrological connectivity drives patterns of macroinvertebrate biodiversity in floodplain rivers of the Australian wet dry tropics
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-02-2009
The effect of light and nutrients on algal food quality and their consequent effect on grazer growth in subtropical streams
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 12-2016
DOI: 10.1086/688092
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