ORCID Profile
0000-0002-5287-2455
Current Organisation
The University of Canberra
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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)
Ecological Applications | Ecology | Ecological Impacts of Climate Change | Landscape Ecology | Freshwater Ecology | Environmental Science and Management | Global Change Biology | Climate Change Processes | Surfacewater Hydrology | Freshwater Ecology | Landscape Ecology | Conservation And Biodiversity | Community Ecology
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity at Regional or Larger Scales | Fresh, Ground and Surface Water Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity | Ecosystem Adaptation to Climate Change | Effects of Climate Change and Variability on Australia (excl. Social Impacts) | Ecosystem Assessment and Management at Regional or Larger Scales | Land and water management | Rehabilitation of degraded coastal and estuarine areas | Living resources (flora and fauna) | Land and water management | Land and water management | Air quality | Marine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity |
Related Links
Publications
Does seasonal flooding give a native species an edge over a global invader?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-11-2012
DOI: 10.1111/FWB.12047
Searching for effective indicators of ecosystem function in urban streams: assessing cellulose decomposition potential
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-07-2010
Karyotypes and Sex Chromosomes in Two Australian Native Freshwater Fishes, Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua) and Murray Cod (Maccullochella peelii) (Percichthyidae)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 30-08-2019
DOI: 10.3390/IJMS20174244
Abstract: Karyotypic data from Australian native freshwater fishes are scarce, having been described from relatively few species. Golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) and Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii) are two large-bodied freshwater fish species native to Australia with significant indigenous, cultural, recreational and commercial value. The arid landscape over much of these fishes’ range, coupled with the boom and bust hydrology of their habitat, means that these species have potential to provide useful evolutionary insights, such as karyotypes and sex chromosome evolution in vertebrates. Here we applied standard and molecular cytogenetic techniques to characterise karyotypes for golden perch and Murray cod. Both species have a diploid chromosome number 2n = 48 and a male heterogametic sex chromosome system (XX/XY). While the karyotype of golden perch is composed exclusively of acrocentric chromosomes, the karyotype of Murray cod consists of two submetacentric and 46 subtelocentric/acrocentric chromosomes. We have identified variable accumulation of repetitive sequences (AAT)10 and (CGG)10 along with erse methylation patterns, especially on the sex chromosomes in both species. Our study provides a baseline for future cytogenetic analyses of other Australian freshwater fishes, especially species from the family Percichthyidae, to better understand their genome and sex chromosome evolution.
Inferring predator–prey interactions in food webs
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-12-2018
The politicisation of science in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia: discussion of ‘Scientific integrity, public policy and water governance’
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-07-2021
Means and extremes: building variability into community-level climate change experiments
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-02-2013
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.12095
Abstract: Experimental studies assessing climatic effects on ecological communities have typically applied static warming treatments. Although these studies have been informative, they have usually failed to incorporate either current or predicted future, patterns of variability. Future climates are likely to include extreme events which have greater impacts on ecological systems than changes in means alone. Here, we review the studies which have used experiments to assess impacts of temperature on marine, freshwater and terrestrial communities, and classify them into a set of 'generations' based on how they incorporate variability. The majority of studies have failed to incorporate extreme events. In terrestrial ecosystems in particular, experimental treatments have reduced temperature variability, when most climate models predict increased variability. Marine studies have tended to not concentrate on changes in variability, likely in part because the thermal mass of oceans will moderate variation. In freshwaters, climate change experiments have a much shorter history than in the other ecosystems, and have tended to take a relatively simple approach. We propose a new 'generation' of climate change experiments using down-scaled climate models which incorporate predicted changes in climatic variability, and describe a process for generating data which can be applied as experimental climate change treatments.
Antidepressants in stream ecosystems: influence of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on algal production and insect emergence
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 09-2016
DOI: 10.1086/687841
The imperative need for nationally coordinated bioassessment of rivers and streams
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1071/MF15329
Abstract: Declining water quality and ecological condition is a typical trend for rivers and streams worldwide as human demands for water resources increase. Managing these natural resources sustainably is a key responsibility of governments. Effective water management policies require information derived from long-term monitoring and evaluation. Biological monitoring and assessment are critical for management because bioassessment integrates the biological, physical and chemical features of a waterbody. Investment in nationally coordinated riverine bioassessment in Australia has almost ceased and the foci of management questions are on more localised assessments. However, rivers often span political and administrative boundaries, and their condition may be best protected and managed under national policies, supported by a coordinated national bioassessment framework. We argue that a nationally coordinated program for the bioassessment of riverine health is an essential element of sustainable management of a nation’s water resources. We outline new techniques and research needed to streamline current arrangements to meet present-day and emerging challenges for coordinating and integrating local, regional and national bioassessment activities. This paper draws on international experience in riverine bioassessment to identify attributes of successful broad-scale bioassessment programs and strategies needed to modernise freshwater bioassessment in Australia and re-establish national broad-scale focus.
Establishing Environmental Water Requirements for the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia's Largest Developed River System
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-11-2016
DOI: 10.1002/RRA.2975
Energy availability, spatial heterogeneity and ecosystem size predict food‐web structure in streams
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-12-2004
Consequences of altered temperature regimes for emerging freshwater invertebrates
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-06-2016
Weighing the costs and benefits of reduced sampling resolution in biomonitoring studies: Perspectives from the temperate rocky intertidal
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2007
Habitat size influences food web structure in drying streams
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-11-2014
DOI: 10.1111/ECOG.01193
Fast processing of diel oxygen curves: Estimating stream metabolism with BASE (BAyesian Single-station Estimation)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-2015
DOI: 10.1002/LOM3.10011
Operationalizing Network Theory for Ecosystem Service Assessments
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.TREE.2016.10.011
Abstract: Managing ecosystems to provide ecosystem services in the face of global change is a pressing challenge for policy and science. Predicting how alternative management actions and changing future conditions will alter services is complicated by interactions among components in ecological and socioeconomic systems. Failure to understand those interactions can lead to detrimental outcomes from management decisions. Network theory that integrates ecological and socioeconomic systems may provide a path to meeting this challenge. While network theory offers promising approaches to examine ecosystem services, few studies have identified how to operationalize networks for managing and assessing erse ecosystem services. We propose a framework for how to use networks to assess how drivers and management actions will directly and indirectly alter ecosystem services.
Scaling biodiversity responses to hydrological regimes
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-11-2018
DOI: 10.1111/BRV.12381
Abstract: Of all ecosystems, freshwaters support the most dynamic and highly concentrated bio ersity on Earth. These attributes of freshwater bio ersity along with increasing demand for water mean that these systems serve as significant models to understand drivers of global bio ersity change. Freshwater bio ersity changes are often attributed to hydrological alteration by water-resource development and climate change owing to the role of the hydrological regime of rivers, wetlands and floodplains affecting patterns of bio ersity. However, a major gap remains in conceptualising how the hydrological regime determines patterns in bio ersity's multiple spatial components and facets (taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic). We synthesised primary evidence of freshwater bio ersity responses to natural hydrological regimes to determine how distinct ecohydrological mechanisms affect freshwater bio ersity at local, landscape and regional spatial scales. Hydrological connectivity influences local and landscape bio ersity, yet responses vary depending on spatial scale. Bio ersity at local scales is generally positively associated with increasing connectivity whereas landscape-scale bio ersity is greater with increasing fragmentation among locations. The effects of hydrological disturbance on freshwater bio ersity are variable at separate spatial scales and depend on disturbance frequency and history and organism characteristics. The role of hydrology in determining habitat for freshwater bio ersity also depends on spatial scaling. At local scales, persistence, stability and size of habitat each contribute to patterns of freshwater bio ersity yet the responses are variable across the organism groups that constitute overall freshwater bio ersity. We present a conceptual model to unite the effects of different ecohydrological mechanisms on freshwater bio ersity across spatial scales, and develop four principles for applying a multi-scaled understanding of freshwater bio ersity responses to hydrological regimes. The protection and restoration of freshwater bio ersity is both a fundamental justification and a central goal of environmental water allocation worldwide. Clearer integration of concepts of spatial scaling in the context of understanding impacts of hydrological regimes on bio ersity will increase uptake of evidence into environmental flow implementation, identify suitable bio ersity targets responsive to hydrological change or restoration, and identify and manage risks of environmental flows contributing to bio ersity decline.
Ecosystem science: Toward a new paradigm for managing Australia's inland aquatic ecosystems
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2009
DOI: 10.1071/MF08188
Abstract: Freshwater ecosystems are a foundation of our social, cultural, spiritual and economic well being. The degraded condition of many of Australia’s river ecosystems is testament to our failure to manage these resources wisely. Ecosystem science involves the holistic study of complex biophysical systems to understand the drivers that influence ecological pattern and process. Ecosystem science should underpin both water management and policy. Our understanding of aquatic ecosystems lags behind the increasing problems caused by past land and water management. Current post-graduate training programmes will not provide the aquatic ecosystem scientists needed by government and management agencies to prevent further degradation. We advocate new initiatives to capture the skills, knowledge and innovation of our research community by engaging scientists and managers in large-scale, long-term ecosystem science programmes across Australia and to integrate these programmes with community aspirations, policy, planning and management. We call on management agencies to increase their support for and uptake and use of ecosystem science. We also advocate establishment of national archives for long-term ecologically-relevant data and s les, and clear custodial arrangements to protect, update and facilitate knowledge-transfer. These initiatives need to be supported by more extensive, better-funded post-graduate and post-doctoral programmes in ecosystem science and management.
A novel trap for quantifying the dispersal of seeds by wind
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-04-2011
Evolutionary divergence in freshwater insects with contrasting dispersal capacity across a sea of desert
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-07-2017
DOI: 10.1111/FWB.12959
Evolutionary refugia and ecological refuges: key concepts for conserving Australian arid zone freshwater biodiversity under climate change
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-04-2013
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.12203
Principles for scientists working at the river science‐policy interface
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-02-2022
DOI: 10.1002/RRA.3951
Abstract: In the face of mounting environmental and political challenges in river management, accurate and timely scientific information is required to inform policy development and guide effective management of waterways. The Murray–Darling Basin is Australia's largest river system by area and is the subject of a heavily contested series of water reforms relying comprehensively on river science. River scientists have specialised knowledge that is an important input into evidence‐based decision‐making for the management of the Murray–Darling Basin, but despite extensive literature on the interface between science and policy, there is little guidance on achieving policy relevance for practicing scientists. Here, we provide a set of important discussion points for water scientists to consider when engaging with policy‐makers and environmental water managers. We place our considerations in the context of a broader literature discussing the role of natural‐resource scientists engaging with policy and management. We then discuss the different roles for river scientists when engaging in this space, and the advantages and pitfalls of each. We illustrate the breadth of modes of engagement at the science‐policy‐management interface using the Murray–Darling Basin as an ex le. We emphasise the need for effective governance arrangements and data practices to protect scientists from accusations of operating as advocates when working to inform management and policy.
Impacts of multiple stressors on ecosystem function: Leaf decomposition in constructed urban wetlands
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.ENVPOL.2015.08.038
Abstract: The impact of stormwater on stream biota is well documented, but less is known about the impacts on ecosystem processes, such as the breakdown of organic matter. This study sought to establish whether the degree of urbanisation affected rates of leaf-litter breakdown within constructed wetlands. A litter bag method was used to ascertain rate of decomposition along a gradient of urbanisation (total imperviousness, TI), in constructed wetlands in western and south-eastern Melbourne. A significant positive relationship between TI and breakdown rate was found in the south-eastern wetlands. The significant reduction in rate of invertebrate-mediated breakdown with increasing concentration of certain metals was consistent with other studies. However, overall there was an increase in rate of breakdown. Studies have shown that the effects of heavy metals can be negated if nutrient levels are high. Our results suggest that other parameters besides exposure to contaminants are likely to affect leaf litter breakdown.
Salinized rivers
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 03-2016
Abstract: Anthropogenic salinization of rivers is an emerging issue of global concern, with significant adverse effects on bio ersity and ecosystem functioning. Impacts of freshwater salinization on biota are strongly mediated by evolutionary history, as this is a major factor determining species physiological salinity tolerance. Freshwater insects dominate most flowing waters, and the common lotic insect orders Ephemeroptera (mayflies), Plecoptera (stoneflies) and Trichoptera (caddisflies) are particularly salt-sensitive. Tolerances of existing taxa, rapid adaption, colonization by novel taxa (from naturally saline environments) and interactions between species will be key drivers of assemblages in saline lotic systems. Here we outline a conceptual framework predicting how communities may change in salinizing rivers. We envision that a relatively small number of taxa will be saline-tolerant and able to colonize salinized rivers (e.g. most naturally saline habitats are lentic thus potential colonizers would need to adapt to lotic environments), leading to depauperate communities in these environments.
Stressor dominance and sensitivity‐dependent antagonism: Disentangling the freshwater effects of an insecticide among co‐occurring agricultural stressors
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-06-2019
Cultural value of water and western water management: an Australian Indigenous perspective
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-01-2021
Boldness in extreme environments: temperament divergence in a desert-dwelling fish
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2016
Rapid divergence of animal personality and syndrome structure across an arid-aquatic habitat matrix
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-08-2017
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-017-3924-2
Abstract: Intraspecific trait variation, including animal personalities and behavioural syndromes, affects how in idual animals and populations interact with their environment. Within-species behavioural variation is widespread across animal taxa, which has substantial and unexplored implications for the ecological and evolutionary processes of animals. Accordingly, we sought to investigate in idual behavioural characteristics in several populations of a desert-dwelling fish, the Australian desert goby (Chlamydogobius eremius). We reared first generation offspring in a common garden to compare non-ontogenic ergence in behavioural phenotypes between genetically interconnected populations from contrasting habitats (isolated groundwater springs versus hydrologically variable river waterholes). Despite the genetic connectedness of populations, fish had ergent bold-exploratory traits associated with their source habitat. This demonstrates ergence in risk-taking traits as a rapid phenotypic response to ecological pressures in arid aquatic habitats: neophilia may be suppressed by increased predation pressure and elevated by high intraspecific competition. Correlations between personality traits also differed between spring and river fish. River populations showed correlations between dispersal and novel environment behaviours, revealing an adaptive behavioural syndrome (related to dispersal and exploration) that was not found in spring populations. This illustrates the adaptive significance of heritable behavioural variation within and between populations, and their importance to animals persisting across contrasting habitats.
Temperature influences species interactions between a native and a globally invasive freshwater snail
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 09-2015
DOI: 10.1086/681639
Patterns and drivers of aquatic invertebrate diversity across an arid biome
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-03-2017
DOI: 10.1111/ECOG.02334
Macroecology of fish community biomass – size structure: effects of invasive species and river regulation
Publisher: Canadian Science Publishing
Date: 2019
Abstract: The biomass of organisms of different sizes is increasingly being used to explore macroscale variation in food-web and community structure. Here we examine how invasive species and river flow regulation affect native fish biomass and fish community log 10 biomass – body mass scaling relationships in Australia’s largest river system, the Murray–Darling. The log 10 biomass – body mass scaling exponent (scaling B) of invasive fishes (95% CI: −0.14 to −0.18) was less negative than for native fishes (95% CI: −0.20 to −0.25), meaning that invasive species attained a higher biomass in larger size-classes compared to native species. Flow alteration and invasive common carp (Cyprinus carpio) biomass were correlated with severe reductions in native fish biomass ranging from −47% to −68% (95% CI). Our study provides novel evidence suggesting that invasive and native communities have different biomass – body mass scaling patterns, which likely depend on differences in their trophic ecology and body size distributions. Our results suggest that restoration efforts using environmental flows and common carp control has potential to boost native fish biomass to more than double the current level.
Continuation of opioid replacement program delivery in the aftermath of cyclones in Queensland, Australia: A qualitative exploration of the perspectives of pharmacists and opioid replacement therapy s
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2020
DOI: 10.1016/J.SAPHARM.2019.11.007
Abstract: Cyclones can significantly impact on communities and their healthcare services. Community members with chronic diseases, including opioid dependence, who rely on these healthcare services are placed at an increased risk of treatment disruption during a disaster event. Disruptions to the continuity of the opioid replacement therapy (ORT) service can potentially lead to relapse, withdrawal, and risky behaviours in clients with potential repercussions for the community. To explore the effects of Queensland (QLD) cyclones on opioid treatment programs within Queensland community and hospital pharmacies from three perspectives. Qualitative research methods were used. Participants comprised five community pharmacists, four Queensland opioid treatment program (QOTP) employees, and five public hospital pharmacists. Participants were identified as they had worked in Townsville, Rockh ton, Mackay, or Yeppoon in a community impacted by a cyclone and involved with ORT supply. Interviews were recorded and data were analysed by two methods - manual coding and the text analytics software Leximancer®. The two themes that emerged from the manual coding process were 'disaster preparedness' and 'continuity of service'. The key themes from the Leximancer® analysis aligned with the two manual coding themes with no new themes identified. Primary dosing site closures in disaster-affected areas led to increased pressures on hospitals and other community pharmacy dosing sites to supply ORT doses to clients. However, a lack of dosing information available to pharmacists and strict legislative requirements made continuity of ORT supply during these cyclones difficult. Continuation of ORT services during and in the aftermath of a cyclone event is complex. This research highlighted a need for a coordination of efforts and shared dosing information between QOTP employees, community pharmacists, and hospital pharmacists. To improve continuity of ORT services, it is essential that these stakeholders engage with each other in preparing for and responding to future events.
Cumulative impacts on Alaskan arctic tundra of a quarter century of road dust
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-2006
Can SPEcies At Risk of pesticides (SPEAR) indices detect effects of target stressors among multiple interacting stressors?
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2021
Herbivore functional traits and macroinvertebrate food webs have different responses to leaf chemical compounds of two macrophyte species in a tropical lake’s littoral zone
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-04-2018
Is resolution the solution?: the effect of taxonomic resolution on the calculated properties of three stream food webs
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-2000
The thermal breadth of temperate and tropic freshwater insects supports the Climate Variability Hypothesis
Publisher: Authorea, Inc.
Date: 16-08-2023
DOI: 10.22541/AU.169219473.35826889/V1
Abstract: Climate change involves increases in mean temperature and changes in temperature variability at multiple temporal scales. Research on species response to climate change has focussed on changes in mean temperature. Thus, there is a need to consider how species will respond to changes in temperature variability. The Climate Variability Hypothesis (CVH) provides a conceptual framework for exploring potential effects of annual scale thermal variability across climatic zones. The CVH predicts ectotherms in temperate regions tolerate a wider range of temperatures than those in tropical regions in response to greater annual variability in temperate regions. However, various other aspects of thermal regimes (e.g. diel variability), organisms’ size and taxonomic identity may also influence thermal tolerance. Indeed, high temperatures in the tropics have been proposed as constraining organisms’ ability to tolerate a wide range of temperatures, implying that high annual maximum temperatures would be associated with tolerating a narrow range of temperatures. We measured thermal regimes and critical thermal limits (CTmax and CTmin) of insects in the orders Ephemeroptera (mayflies), Plecoptera (stoneflies) and Trichoptera (caddisflies) along elevation gradients in streams in temperate and tropical regions of eastern Australia and tested the CVH by determining which variables were most correlated with thermal breadth (Tbr = CTmax - CTmin). Consistent with the CVH, Tbr tended to increase with increasing annual temperature range and increasing body size. Tbr was generally wider in Plecoptera than in Ephemeroptera or Trichoptera. We found no evidence that higher annual maximum temperature constrained in iduals’ abilities to tolerate a wide range of temperatures. The support for the CVH we document, suggests that temperate organisms may be able to tolerate wider range of temperatures than tropical organisms. There is an urgent need to investigate other aspects of thermal regimes, such as diel temperature cycling and minimum temperature.
The global EPTO database: Worldwide occurrences of aquatic insects
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-03-2023
DOI: 10.1111/GEB.13648
Abstract: Aquatic insects comprise 64% of freshwater animal ersity and are widely used as bioindicators to assess water quality impairment and freshwater ecosystem health, as well as to test ecological hypotheses. Despite their importance, a comprehensive, global database of aquatic insect occurrences for mapping freshwater bio ersity in macroecological studies and applied freshwater research is missing. We aim to fill this gap and present the Global EPTO Database , which includes worldwide geo‐referenced aquatic insect occurrence records for four major taxa groups: Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Odonata (EPTO). A total of 8,368,467 occurrence records globally, of which 8,319,689 (99%) are publicly available. The records are attributed to the corresponding drainage basin and sub‐catchment based on the Hydrography90m dataset and are accompanied by the elevation value, the freshwater ecoregion and the protection status of their location. The database covers the global extent, with 86% of the observation records having coordinates with at least four decimal digits (11.1 m precision at the equator) in the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) coordinate reference system. S ling years span from 1951 to 2021. Ninety‐nine percent of the records have information on the year of the observation, 95% on the year and month, while 94% have a complete date. In the case of seven sub‐datasets, exact dates can be retrieved upon communication with the data contributors. Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Odonata, standardized at the genus taxonomic level. We provide species names for 7,727,980 (93%) records without further taxonomic verification. The entire tab‐separated value (.csv) database can be downloaded and visualized at roject/epto_database/ . Fifty in idual datasets are also available at fred.igb‐berlin.de , while six datasets have restricted access. For the latter, we share metadata and the contact details of the authors.
Interactions between nocturnal turbulent flux, storage and advection at an ideal eucalypt woodland site
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 22-06-2017
Abstract: Abstract. While the eddy covariance technique has become an important technique for estimating long-term ecosystem carbon balance, under certain conditions the measured turbulent flux of CO2 at a given height above an ecosystem does not represent the true surface flux. Profile systems have been deployed to measure periodic storage of CO2 below the measurement height, but have not been widely adopted. This is most likely due to the additional expense and complexity and possibly also the perception, given that net storage over intervals exceeding 24 h is generally negligible, that these measurements are not particularly important. In this study, we used a 3-year record of net ecosystem exchange of CO2 and simultaneous measurements of CO2 storage to ascertain the relative contributions of turbulent CO2 flux, storage, and advection (calculated as a residual quantity) to the nocturnal CO2 balance and to quantify the effect of neglecting storage. The conditions at the site are in relative terms highly favourable for eddy covariance measurements, yet we found a substantial contribution (∼ 40 %) of advection to nocturnal turbulent flux underestimation. The most likely mechanism for advection is cooling-induced drainage flows, the effects of which were observed in the storage measurements. The remaining ∼ 60 % of flux underestimation was due to storage of CO2. We also showed that substantial underestimation of carbon uptake (approximately 80 gC m−2 a−1, or 25 % of annual carbon uptake) arose when standard methods (u∗ filtering) of nocturnal flux correction were implemented in the absence of storage estimates. These biases were reduced to approximately 40–45 gC m−2 a−1 when the filter was applied over the entire diel period, but they were nonetheless large relative to quantifiable uncertainties in the data. Neglect of storage also distorted the relationships between the CO2 exchange processes (respiration and photosynthesis) and their key controls (light and temperature respectively). We conclude that the addition of storage measurements to eddy covariance sites with all but the lowest measurement heights should be a high priority for the flux measurement community.
Do Social–Ecological Syndromes Predict Outcomes for Ecosystem Services? – a Reply to Bodin et al.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2017
A commentary on 'Long-term ecological trends of flow-dependent ecosystems in a major regulated river basin', by Matthew J. Colloff, Peter Caley, Neil Saintilan, Carmel A. Pollino and Neville D. Crossm
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1071/MF15185
Abstract: Colloff et al. in Marine and Freshwater Research (0.1071/MF14067) examined time-series data for flow-dependent vegetation, invertebrates, fish, frogs, reptiles and waterbirds in the Murray–Darling Basin, 1905–2013. They concluded that temporal patterns fluctuated, declining during droughts and recovering after floods. They suggested that major changes in land use in the late 19th century permanently modified these freshwater ecosystems, irretrievably degrading them before major water ersions. Restoring water to the environment might then be interpreted as not addressing biotic declines. We argue that their conclusions are inadequately supported, although data quality remains patchy and they neglected the influence of hydrology and the timing and extent of water resource development. We are critical of the lack of adequate model specification and the omission of statistical power analyses. We show that declines of native flow-dependent flora and fauna have continued through the 20th and early 21st centuries, in response to multiple factors, including long-term changes in flow regimes. We argue that flow-regime changes have been critical, but not in isolation. So, returning water to the environment is a prerequisite for sustained recovery but governments need to improve monitoring and analyses to adequately determine effectiveness of management of the rivers and wetlands of the Murray–Darling Basin.
Invasive predator influences habitat preferences in a freshwater fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-12-2016
Application of DArT seq derived SNP tags for comparative genome analysis in fishes; An alternative pipeline using sequence data from a non-traditional model species, Macquaria ambigua
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 12-12-2019
Balancing the environmental benefits of reforestation in agricultural regions
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2015
Interactions among stressors may be weak
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-03-2018
DOI: 10.1111/DDI.12737
How Might Cross-System Subsidies in Riverine Networks be Affected by Altered Flow Variability?
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-06-2015
Adaptive water management in response to climate change: the case of the southern Murray-Darling Basin
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-03-2023
Ten principles for achieving scientific impact with integrity in policy and management
Publisher: Authorea, Inc.
Date: 06-2021
DOI: 10.22541/AU.162255783.35193499/V1
Abstract: In the face of mounting environmental problems, it is essential that accurate and timely scientific information is available to inform policy development and guide management. Scientists have specialised knowledge necessary for evidenced-based decision making, but despite extensive literature on the interface between science and policy, there is little guidance on achieving policy relevance while maintaining high standards of scientific integrity. Here, we provide a set of principles for environmental scientists to engage with policy makers and environmental water managers. We propose the adoption of a contemporary pluralistic approach using a ersity of modes of engagement between scientists, policy makers, and managers. We define a set of ‘roles’ for environmental scientists to engage effectively with policy and management, and discuss the advantages and pitfalls of each. We illustrate the breadth of modes of engagement at the science-policy-management interface using an ex le from Australia’s largest river system, the Murray-Darling Basin. We challenge the anachronistic, yet persistent concept that engaging with industry or government compromises the objectivity of involved scientists. We argue that there are multiple assurance processes in place to protect scientific integrity. Society needs scientists to be actively involved in finding solutions to the many urgent environmental issues we are facing, and if our principles are followed there are opportunities for healthy interaction between science, policy, and management.
Freshwater food webs: towards a more fundamental understanding of biodiversity and community dynamics
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-05-2012
Integrating Aboriginal cultural values into water planning: a case study from New South Wales, Australia
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-07-2019
Tracing carbon sources in small urbanising streams: Catchment-scale stormwater drainage overwhelms the effects of reach-scale riparian vegetation
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-10-2014
DOI: 10.1111/FWB.12256
A framework for evaluating food-web responses to hydrological manipulations in riverine systems
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2017
Weaving animal temperament into food webs: implications for biodiversity
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-04-2017
DOI: 10.1111/OIK.03642
Assessing the local effects of riparian restoration on urban streams
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-2011
Biological interactions mediate context and species-specific sensitivities to salinity
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 03-12-2019
Abstract: Toxicants have both sub-lethal and lethal effects on aquatic biota, influencing organism fitness and community composition. However, toxicant effects within ecosystems may be altered by interactions with abiotic and biotic ecosystem components, including biological interactions. Collectively, this generates the potential for toxicant sensitivity to be highly context dependent, with significantly different outcomes in ecosystems than laboratory toxicity tests predict. We experimentally manipulated stream macroinvertebrate communities in 32 mesocosms to examine how communities from a low-salinity site were influenced by interactions with those from a high-salinity site along a gradient of salinity. Relative to those from the low-salinity site, organisms from the high-salinity site were expected to have greater tolerance and fitness at higher salinities. This created the potential for both salinity and tolerant-sensitive organism interactions to influence communities. We found that community composition was influenced by both direct toxicity and tolerant-sensitive organism interactions. Taxon and context-dependent responses included: (i) direct toxicity effects, irrespective of biotic interactions (ii) effects that were owing to the addition of tolerant taxa, irrespective of salinity (iii) toxicity dependent on sensitive-tolerant taxa interactions and (iv) toxic effects that were increased by interactions. Our results reinforce that ecological processes require consideration when examining toxicant effects within ecosystems. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Salt in freshwaters: causes, ecological consequences and future prospects’.
Aquatic communities in arid landscapes: Local conditions, dispersal traits and landscape configuration determine local biodiversity
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-05-2015
DOI: 10.1111/DDI.12342
Shock wave refraction patterns at a slow–fast gas–gas interface at superknock relevant conditions
Publisher: AIP Publishing
Date: 11-2021
DOI: 10.1063/5.0066345
Abstract: Shock wave refraction theory and high-resolution numerical simulations were employed to predict the refraction pattern under superknock relevant conditions at slow–fast gas–gas interfaces which are characterized by a higher acoustic impedance in the incident phase than in the transmitted phase. First, our theoretical and computational methodologies were validated against results from the literature for planar shock–straight oblique interface interactions. Second, our framework was applied to planar shock-/cylindrical shock–cylindrical interface interactions. The theoretical regime diagram agrees well with the numerical predictions for the former configuration whereas significant discrepancies were observed for the latter. Numerical results show the formation of temperature and pressure peaks as the refraction structure transits from a free precursor refraction to a twin von Neumann refraction. This change in thermodynamic state can induce a significant reduction in ignition delay time, potentially leading to detonation onset.
Reforestation with native mixed-species plantings in a temperate continental climate effectively sequesters and stabilizes carbon within decades
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-10-2015
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.12746
Abstract: Reforestation has large potential for mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration. Native mixed-species plantings have a higher potential to reverse bio ersity loss than do plantations of production species, but there are few data on their capacity to store carbon. A chronosequence (5-45 years) of 36 native mixed-species plantings, paired with adjacent pastures, was measured to investigate changes to stocks among C pools following reforestation of agricultural land in the medium rainfall zone (400-800 mm yr(-1)) of temperate Australia. These mixed-species plantings accumulated 3.09 ± 0.85 t C ha(-1) yr(-1) in aboveground biomass and 0.18 ± 0.05 t C ha(-1) yr(-1) in plant litter, reaching amounts comparable to those measured in remnant woodlands by 20 years and 36 years after reforestation respectively. Soil C was slower to increase, with increases seen only after 45 years, at which time stocks had not reached the amounts found in remnant woodlands. The amount of trees (tree density and basal area) was positively associated with the accumulation of carbon in aboveground biomass and litter. In contrast, changes to soil C were most strongly related to the productivity of the location (a forest productivity index and soil N content in the adjacent pasture). At 30 years, native mixed-species plantings had increased the stability of soil C stocks, with higher amounts of recalcitrant C and higher C:N ratios than their adjacent pastures. Reforestation with native mixed-species plantings did not significantly change the availability of macronutrients (N, K, Ca, Mg, P, and S) or micronutrients (Fe, B, Mn, Zn, and Cu), content of plant toxins (Al, Si), acidity, or salinity (Na, electrical conductivity) in the soil. In this medium rainfall area, native mixed-species plantings provided comparable rates of C sequestration to local production species, with the probable additional benefit of providing better quality habitat for native biota. These results demonstrate that reforestation using native mixed-species plantings is an effective alternative for carbon sequestration to standard monocultures of production species in medium rainfall areas of temperate continental climates, where they can effectively store C, convert C into stable pools and provide greater benefits for bio ersity.
How sensitive are invertebrates to riparian-zone replanting in stream ecosystems?
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1071/MF14360
Abstract: Clearing native vegetation has pervasive effects on stream and river ecosystems worldwide. The stated aims of replanting riparian vegetation often are to restore water quality and to re-establish biotic assemblages. However reach-scale restoration may do little to combat catchment-scale degradation, potentially inhibiting restoration success. Whether reinstating bio ersity is a realistic goal or appropriate indicator of restoration success over intermediate timeframes ( years) is currently unclear. We measured the response of aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages to riparian replanting in a chronosequence of replanted reaches on agricultural streams in south-eastern Australia. Sites had been replanted with native vegetation 8–22 years before the study. Indices of macroinvertebrate sensitivity did not respond to replanting over the time gradient, probably because replanting had little benefit for local water quality or in-stream habitat. The invertebrate assemblages were influenced mainly by catchment-scale effects and geomorphological characteristics, but were closer to reference condition at sites with lower total catchment agricultural land cover. Reach-scale replanting in heavily modified landscapes may not effectively return bio ersity to pre-clearance condition over decadal time-scales. Restoration goals, and the spatial and temporal scale of processes required to meet them, should be carefully considered, and monitoring methods explicitly matched to desired outcomes.
TROPHIC LEVELS AND TROPHIC TANGLES: THE PREVALENCE OF OMNIVORY IN REAL FOOD WEBS
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-2007
DOI: 10.1890/05-1454
Abstract: The concept of trophic levels is one of the oldest in ecology and informs our understanding of energy flow and top-down control within food webs, but it has been criticized for ignoring omnivory. We tested whether trophic levels were apparent in 58 real food webs in four habitat types by examining patterns of trophic position. A large proportion of taxa (64.4%) occupied integer trophic positions, suggesting that discrete trophic levels do exist. Importantly however, the majority of those trophic positions were aggregated around integer values of 0 and 1, representing plants and herbivores. For the majority of the real food webs considered here, secondary consumers were no more likely to occupy an integer trophic position than in randomized food webs. This means that, above the herbivore trophic level, food webs are better characterized as a tangled web of omnivores. Omnivory was most common in marine systems, rarest in streams, and intermediate in lakes and terrestrial food webs. Trophic-level-based concepts such as trophic cascades may apply to systems with short food chains, but they become less valid as food chains lengthen.
The use of fatty acids to identify food sources of secondary consumers in wetland mesocosms
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2020
A truce with neutral theory: local deterministic factors, species traits and dispersal limitation together determine patterns of diversity in stream invertebrates
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-2006
DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2656.2006.01068.X
Abstract: 1. Studies seeking to explain local patterns of ersity have typically relied on niche explanations, reflected in correlations with local environmental conditions, or neutral theory, invoking dispersal processes and speciation. 2. We used macroinvertebrate community data from 10 streams that varied independently in local ecological conditions and spatial proximity. Neutral theory predicts that similarity in communities will be negatively associated with distance between sites, while niche theory suggests that community similarity will be positively associated with similarity in local ecological conditions. 3. Similarity in total invertebrate, grazer and predator assemblages showed negative relationships with distance and, for grazers and predators, positive relationships with local ecological conditions. However, the best model predicting community similarity in all three cases included aspects of both local ecological conditions and distance between sites. 4. When assemblages were analysed according to dispersal ability, high-dispersal species were shown to be freely accessing all sites and community similarity was not well predicted by either local ecology or spatial separation. Assemblages of species with low and moderate dispersal ability were best predicted by combined models, including distance between sites and local ecological factors. 5. The results suggest that the perceived dichotomy between neutral and local environmental processes in determining local patterns of ersity may not be useful. Neutral and niche processes structured these communities differentially depending on trophic level and species traits. 6. We emphasize the potential for both dispersal processes and local environmental conditions to explain local patterns of ersity.
An integrated database of stream macroinvertebrate traits for Australia: concept and application
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2020
Connectivity, genetic structure and stress response of Phragmites australis: Issues for restoration in a salinising wetland system
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2013
Swimming through sand: connectivity of aquatic fauna in deserts
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-10-2015
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.1741
Acute, diel, and annual temperature variability and the thermal biology of ectotherms
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-10-2022
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.16453
Abstract: Global warming is increasing mean temperatures and altering temperature variability at multiple temporal scales. To better understand the consequences of changes in thermal variability for ectotherms it is necessary to consider thermal variation at different time scales (i.e., acute, diel, and annual) and the responses of organisms within and across generations. Thermodynamics constrain acute responses to temperature, but within these constraints and over longer time periods, organisms have the scope to adaptively acclimate or evolve. Yet, hypotheses and predictions about responses to future warming tend not to explicitly consider the temporal scale at which temperature varies. Here, focusing on multicellular ectothermic animals, we argue that consideration of multiple processes and constraints associated with various timescales is necessary to better understand how altered thermal variability because of climate change will affect ectotherms.
Influences of the antidepressant fluoxetine on stream ecosystem function and aquatic insect emergence at environmentally realistic concentrations
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2019
Consequences of realistic patterns of biodiversity loss: an experimental test from the intertidal zone
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2010
DOI: 10.1071/MF09244
Abstract: Studies of the effects of bio ersity on ecosystem function (BDEF) have largely found positive, saturating relationships. However, these studies have been criticised for generating species loss randomly when real extinctions are strongly biased toward rare species. We investigated BDEF relationships in the mollusc fauna of an intertidal rock platform at Griffiths Point, San Remo, south-east Victoria, Australia. Field surveys found that areas with the lowest function (mollusc biomass) were associated with lowest ersity. Excluding in idual species from experimental enclosures affected function differentially depending on species’ initial abundance. Rectangular enclosures were attached to the rock platform enabling molluscs to be enclosed while allowing sea water to flow through. Removal of the most abundant species had a positive effect on mollusc biomass, suggesting an inhibition of the other species in the community. In the absence of the most common species, the less abundant species were more productive in combination than when present singly. Taken collectively, these results provide evidence for a relationship between bio ersity and ecosystem function which is a product of both ersity per se and species identity.
Trophic relationships of the platypus: insights from stable isotope and cheek pouch dietary analyses
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1071/MF15004
Abstract: The unique Australian monotreme, the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) potentially exerts a strong top-down influence on riverine food webs in eastern Australia. However, despite considerable interest in the evolutionary history and physiology of the platypus, little is known of its trophic relationships. To address this lack of knowledge we used stable isotope analysis, in combination with the analysis of food items stored in cheek pouches, to determine its position in a typical riverine food web. This was the essential first step in the process of designing a larger study to investigate the relative importance of top-down and bottom-up effects in rivers where the platypus occurs. We found that platypuses were feeding on a wide range of benthic invertebrates, particularly insect larvae. The similarity of δ13C and δ15N values recorded for the platypus, a native fish (Galaxias sp.) and the exotic mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) indicated dietary overlap and potential competition for the same resources. Although cheek pouch studies identify most of the major groups of prey organisms, the potential for contribution of the soft-bodied organisms such as larval dipterans, is suggested by stable isotope analysis, indicating that the use of both techniques will be important in future ecological investigations.
Reconciling theory and practise: The role of stream ecology
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2010
DOI: 10.1002/RRA.1284
Correction: Comparison of Mercury Contamination in Live and Dead Dolphins from a Newly Described Species, Tursiops australis
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 12-11-2014
The effects of climatic fluctuations and extreme events on running water ecosystems
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 19-05-2016
Abstract: Most research on the effects of environmental change in freshwaters has focused on incremental changes in average conditions, rather than fluctuations or extreme events such as heatwaves, cold snaps, droughts, floods or wildfires, which may have even more profound consequences. Such events are commonly predicted to increase in frequency, intensity and duration with global climate change, with many systems being exposed to conditions with no recent historical precedent. We propose a mechanistic framework for predicting potential impacts of environmental fluctuations on running-water ecosystems by scaling up effects of fluctuations from in iduals to entire ecosystems. This framework requires integration of four key components: effects of the environment on in idual metabolism, metabolic and biomechanical constraints on fluctuating species interactions, assembly dynamics of local food webs, and mapping the dynamics of the meta-community onto ecosystem function. We illustrate the framework by developing a mathematical model of environmental fluctuations on dynamically assembling food webs. We highlight (currently limited) empirical evidence for emerging insights and theoretical predictions. For ex le, widely supported predictions about the effects of environmental fluctuations are: high vulnerability of species with high per capita metabolic demands such as large-bodied ones at the top of food webs simplification of food web network structure and impaired energetic transfer efficiency and reduced resilience and top-down relative to bottom-up regulation of food web and ecosystem processes. We conclude by identifying key questions and challenges that need to be addressed to develop more accurate and predictive bio-assessments of the effects of fluctuations, and implications of fluctuations for management practices in an increasingly uncertain world.
Marine conservation: towards a multi-layered network approach
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 02-11-2020
Abstract: Valuing, managing and conserving marine bio ersity and a full range of ecosystem services is at the forefront of research and policy agendas. However, bio ersity is being lost at up to a thousand times the average background rate. Traditional disciplinary and siloed conservation approaches are not able to tackle this massive loss of bio ersity because they generally ignore or overlook the interactive and dynamic nature of ecosystems processes, limiting their predictability. To conserve marine bio ersity, we must assess the interactions and impacts among bio ersity and ecosystem services (BD-ES). The scaling up in complexity from single species to entire communities is necessary, albeit challenging, for a deeper understanding of how ecosystem services relate to bio ersity and the roles species have in ecosystem service provision. These interactions are challenging to map, let alone fully assess, but network and system-based approaches provide a powerful way to progress beyond those limitations. Here, we introduce a conceptual multi-layered network approach to understanding how ecosystem services supported by bio ersity drive the total service provision, how different stressors impact BD-ES and where conservation efforts should be placed to optimize the delivery of ecosystem services and protection of bio ersity. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Integrative research perspectives on marine conservation’.
Resource tracking in marine parasites: going with the flow?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-03-2013
Biological consequences of clear-cut logging around streams-Moderating effects of management
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2009
Resolving the trophic relations of cryptic species: An example using stable isotope analysis of dolphin teeth
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 18-02-2011
Moving beyond methods: the need for a diverse programme in climate change research
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-10-2014
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.12202
Abstract: Understanding effects of climate change on ecosystems will require a erse range of approaches. We proposed using downscaled climate models to generate realistic weather scenarios as experimental treatments. Kreyling et al. propose a gradient approach to determine the shape of response functions. These approaches are different, but highly complementary.
Early response of the platypus to climate warming
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-07-2011
The influence of native replanting on stream ecosystem metabolism in a degraded landscape: can a little vegetation go a long way?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-08-2013
DOI: 10.1111/FWB.12236
Stepping in Elton’s footprints: a general scaling model for body masses and trophic levels across ecosystems
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-12-2010
DOI: 10.1111/J.1461-0248.2010.01568.X
Abstract: Despite growing awareness of the significance of body-size and predator-prey body-mass ratios for the stability of ecological networks, our understanding of their distribution within ecosystems is incomplete. Here, we study the relationships between predator and prey size, body-mass ratios and predator trophic levels using body-mass estimates of 1313 predators (invertebrates, ectotherm and endotherm vertebrates) from 35 food-webs (marine, stream, lake and terrestrial). Across all ecosystem and predator types, except for streams (which appear to have a different size structure in their predator-prey interactions), we find that (1) geometric mean prey mass increases with predator mass with a power-law exponent greater than unity and (2) predator size increases with trophic level. Consistent with our theoretical derivations, we show that the quantitative nature of these relationships implies systematic decreases in predator-prey body-mass ratios with the trophic level of the predator. Thus, predators are, on an average, more similar in size to their prey at the top of food-webs than that closer to the base. These findings contradict the traditional Eltonian paradigm and have implications for our understanding of body-mass constraints on food-web topology, community dynamics and stability.
Food webs: reconciling the structure and function of biodiversity
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.TREE.2012.08.005
Abstract: The global bio ersity crisis concerns not only unprecedented loss of species within communities, but also related consequences for ecosystem function. Community ecology focuses on patterns of species richness and community composition, whereas ecosystem ecology focuses on fluxes of energy and materials. Food webs provide a quantitative framework to combine these approaches and unify the study of bio ersity and ecosystem function. We summarise the progression of food-web ecology and the challenges in using the food-web approach. We identify five areas of research where these advances can continue, and be applied to global challenges. Finally, we describe what data are needed in the next generation of food-web studies to reconcile the structure and function of bio ersity.
What does biodiversity actually do? A review for managers and policy makers
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-07-2006
The impacts of an invasive herbivore (Camelus dromedaries) on arid zone freshwater pools: An experimental investigation of the effects of dung on macroinvertebrate colonisation
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2015
Restoring cultural plant communities at sacred water sites
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-01-2021
Communities at the extreme: Aquatic food webs in desert landscapes
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-09-2019
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.5648
Do birds of a feather disperse plants together?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-02-2011
The role of temperature and dispersal in moss-microarthropod community assembly after a catastrophic event
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 05-11-2012
Abstract: There is a clear crisis in the maintenance of bio ersity. It has been generated by a multitude of factors, notably habitat loss, now compounded by the effects of climate change. Predicted changes in climate include increased severity and frequency of extreme climatic events. To manage landscapes, an understanding of the processes that allow recovery from these extreme events is required. Understanding these landscape-scale processes of community assembly and disassembly is hindered by the large scales at which they operate. Model systems provide a means of studying landscape scale processes at tractable scales. Here, we assess the combined effects of temperature and habitat-patch isolation on assembly of naturally erse moss microarthropod communities after a high-temperature event. We show that community assembly depends on temperature and on degree of habitat isolation. Heated communities were heavily dominated in abundance by two species, one of them relatively large. The resulting size-structure is unlike that seen in the field. Community composition in habitat fragments appears also to have been influenced by the source pool of recolonizing fauna. Our results highlight the value of dispersal in disturbed landscapes and the potential for habitat connectivity to buffer communities from the effects of climate change.
Comparison of Mercury Contamination in Live and Dead Dolphins from a Newly Described Species, Tursiops australis
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 19-08-2014
Basal resource quality and energy sources in three habitats of a lowland river ecosystem
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-07-2020
DOI: 10.1002/LNO.11548
Abstract: Understanding energy flow through ecosystems and among sub‐habitats is critical for understanding patterns of bio ersity and ecosystem function. It can also be of considerable applied interest in situations where managing for connectivity among habitats is important for restoring degraded ecosystems. Here, we describe patterns of basal resource quality and identify primary basal energy sources in three habitats—river channels, anabranches and wetlands—of a lowland river floodplain in the Murray River catchment, Australia during a period of disconnected surface flow. We used a combination of stable isotope and fatty acid analyses to determine which basal resources were assimilated by the backswimmer Anisops thienemanni and the Eastern mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki and assessed food quality across the three habitats. Seston was a primary basal resource for both animals in all three habitats, but was of higher quality within floodplain habitats than in the river channel. Although floodplain seston contained higher concentrations of essential fatty acids, fatty acid profiles of animals from different habitats remained similar. Our research suggests that inundation of floodplains and subsequent reconnection to the river could be valuable to afford riverine animals the opportunity to access high quality resources, but highlights a need to quantitatively assess the transfer of essential fatty acids between trophic levels to determine how much riverine animals are in fact limited by poorer quality food resources. We demonstrate the importance of estimating the quality of organic matter fluxes into food webs, and the potential role of targeted environmental flows to re‐establish high quality energy pathways in riverine ecosystems.
The influence of urbanisation on macroinvertebrate biodiversity in constructed stormwater wetlands
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2015.07.066
Abstract: The construction of wetlands in urban environments is primarily carried out to assist in the removal of contaminants from wastewaters however, these wetlands have the added benefit of providing habitat for aquatic invertebrates, fish and waterbirds. Stormwater quantity and quality is directly related to impervious area (roads, sealed areas, roofs) in the catchment. As a consequence, it would be expected that impervious area would be related to contaminant load and bio ersity in receiving waters such as urban wetlands. This study aimed to establish whether the degree of urbanisation and its associated changes to stormwater runoff affected macroinvertebrate richness and abundance within constructed wetlands. Urban wetlands in Melbourne's west and south east were s led along a gradient of urbanisation. There was a significant negative relationship between total imperviousness (TI) and the abundance of aquatic invertebrates detected for sites in the west, but not in the south east. However macroinvertebrate communities were relatively homogenous both within and between all study wetlands. Chironomidae (non-biting midges) was the most abundant family recorded at the majority of sites. Chironomids are able to tolerate a wide array of environmental conditions, including eutrophic and anoxic conditions. Their prevalence suggests that water quality is impaired in these systems, regardless of degree of urbanisation, although the causal mechanism is unclear. These results show some dependency between receiving wetland condition and the degree of urbanisation of the catchment, but suggest that other factors may be as important in determining the value of urban wetlands as habitat for wildlife.
Towards a systems approach for river basin management
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-01-2019
DOI: 10.1002/RRA.3242
META-ANALYSIS: TROPHIC LEVEL, HABITAT, AND PRODUCTIVITY SHAPE THE FOOD WEB EFFECTS OF RESOURCE SUBSIDIES
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2007
DOI: 10.1890/0012-9658(2007)88[140:MTLHAP]2.0.CO;2
Abstract: Studies of the effects of cross-habitat resource subsidies have been a feature of food web ecology over the past decade. To date, most studies have focused on demonstrating the magnitude of a subsidy or documenting its effect in the recipient habitat. Ecologists have yet to develop a satisfactory framework for predicting the magnitude of these effects. We used 115 data sets from 32 studies to compare consumer responses to resource subsidies across recipient habitat type, trophic level, and functional group. Changes in consumer density or biomass in response to subsidies were inconsistent across habitats, trophic, and functional groups. Responses in stream cobble bar and coastline habitats were larger than in other habitats. Contrary to expectation, the magnitude of consumer response was not affected by recipient habitat productivity or the ratio of productivity between donor and recipient habitats. However, consumer response was significantly related to the ratio of subsidy resources to equivalent resources in the recipient habitat. Broad contrasts in productivity are modified by subsidy type, vector, and the physical and biotic characteristics of both donor and recipient habitats. For this reason, the ratio of subsidy to equivalent resources is a more useful tool for predicting the possible effect of a subsidy than coarser contrasts of in situ productivity. The commonness of subsidy effects suggests that many ecosystems need to be studied as open systems.
A potential role for overland dispersal in shaping aquatic invertebrate communities in arid regions
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-03-2016
DOI: 10.1111/FWB.12744
Effect of Native Vegetation Loss on Stream Ecosystem Processes: Dissolved Organic Matter Composition and Export in Agricultural Landscapes
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-09-2014
Importance of parasites and their life cycle characteristics in determining the structure of a large marine food web
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-12-2004
The effects of urbanization on trophic relationships in constructed wetlands
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 03-2017
DOI: 10.1086/690674
Pattern and process in food webs: evidence from running waters
Publisher: Oxford University PressOxford
Date: 07-04-2005
DOI: 10.1093/ACPROF:OSO/9780198564836.003.0006
Abstract: Studies on streams provide some of the most detailed and best resolved webs yet available, and provide a means to test food web theory. These systems can be used to test patterns in connectance webs and the effect of s ling on the patterns evident. The role of body-size in stream webs is reviewed. This chapter deals with attempts to quantify food webs by measures of energy flow and interaction strengths, and to characterize the circumstances leading to the presence or absence of trophic cascades in food webs. Streams are strongly linked through their food webs with surrounding systems, such as ground water and flood plains, and such cross-system subsidies is considered. The effect of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on food web attributes is addressed. Finally, the relationship between bio ersity/ecosystem functions in stream webs is addressed in the context of environmental stress.
Mouthpart morphology and trophic position of microarthropods from soils and mosses are strongly correlated
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2012
Multiple Lines of Evidence Indicate Limited Natural Recruitment of Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua) in the Highly Regulated Lachlan River
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 07-06-2020
DOI: 10.3390/W12061636
Abstract: Freshwater ecosystems and their associated biota have been negatively impacted by the human development of water resources. Fundamental to restoration activities for target species is an understanding of the factors affecting population decline or recovery. Within Australia’s Murray–Darling Basin, recovery efforts to address the population decline of native freshwater fish include stock enhancement, habitat restoration, and the delivery of environmental water. Essential to guiding future management actions is information to assess the efficacy of these efforts. We undertook a study to investigate whether natural spawning and recruitment, stock enhancement, or a combination of the two is contributing to sustaining populations of golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) in the highly regulated Lachlan River, Australia. Otolith microchemistry and genetic analyses were used as complementary tools to determine the source (hatchery origin or wild-spawned) of existing populations in the catchment. We identified that natural spawning and recruitment was contributing to riverine populations in some years but that populations were heavily reliant on stocking. It was not possible to distinguish hatchery and wild-born fish using genetic tools, highlighting the value of using multiple lines of evidence to establish causal mechanisms contributing to population recovery.
The importance of spatial and temporal scale in describing hydrogeomorphic character of riverine landscapes
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-2021
Habitat size influences community stability
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-11-2021
DOI: 10.1002/ECY.3545
Abstract: Mechanisms linked to demographic, biogeographic, and food‐web processes thought to underpin community stability could be affected by habitat size, but the effects of habitat size on community stability remain relatively unknown. We investigated whether those habitat‐size‐dependent properties influenced community instability and vulnerability to perturbations caused by disturbance. This is particularly important given that human exploitation is contracting ecosystems, and abiotic perturbations are becoming more severe and frequent. We used a perturbation experiment in which 10 streams, spanning three orders of magnitude in habitat size, were subjected to simulated bed movement akin to a major flood disturbance event. We measured the resistance, resilience, and variability of basal resources, and population and community‐level responses across the stream habitat‐size gradient immediately before, and at 0.5, 5, 10, 20, and 40 d post‐disturbance. Resistance to disturbance consistently increased with stream size in all response variables. In contrast, resilience was significantly higher in smaller streams for some response variables. However, this higher resilience of small ecosystems was insufficient to compensate for their lower resistance, and communities of smaller streams were thus more variable over time than those of larger streams. Compensatory dynamics of populations, especially for predators, stabilized some aspects of communities, but these mechanisms were unrelated to habitat size. Together, our results provide compelling evidence for the links between habitat size and community stability, and should motivate ecologists and managers to consider how changes in the size of habitats will alter the vulnerability of ecosystems to perturbations caused by environmental disturbance.
Allocation of effort in stream food-web studies: the best compromise?
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2001
DOI: 10.1071/MF00041
Abstract: The amount and allocation of effort needed to characterize stream food webs was investigated in five replicate streams. Two areas were considered:analysis of community composition (number of in iduals s led)and of diets (number of in iduals gutted per animal taxon). Food webs were described by use of consistent methodology, then the effort was retrospectively reduced by considering half of the gut s les (halving dietary analysis effort)and by successively reducing the number of in iduals included. Food webs with a reduced number of in iduals overestimated connectance and prey:predator ratios, and underestimated species richness, links per species and mean chain lengths. These changes were due to loss of some invertebrate predator species when effort was reduced. In contrast, for dietary analysis the amount of effort expended on non-predatory invertebrates was more influential halving effort in dietary analysis of non-predatory taxa reduced estimates of connectance and links per species. This study suggests that the effort needed to produce a reasonable estimate is highly dependent on the food-web attribute in question, and that aiming for equity of effort across taxonomic groups is as important as expending greater effort in general.
Predator traits determine food-web architecture across ecosystems
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-05-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-019-0899-X
Abstract: Predator-prey interactions in natural ecosystems generate complex food webs that have a simple universal body-size architecture where predators are systematically larger than their prey. Food-web theory shows that the highest predator-prey body-mass ratios found in natural food webs may be especially important because they create weak interactions with slow dynamics that stabilize communities against perturbations and maintain ecosystem functioning. Identifying these vital interactions in real communities typically requires arduous identification of interactions in complex food webs. Here, we overcome this obstacle by developing predator-trait models to predict average body-mass ratios based on a database comprising 290 food webs from freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems across all continents. We analysed how species traits constrain body-size architecture by changing the slope of the predator-prey body-mass scaling. Across ecosystems, we found high body-mass ratios for predator groups with specific trait combinations including (1) small vertebrates and (2) large swimming or flying predators. Including the metabolic and movement types of predators increased the accuracy of predicting which species are engaged in high body-mass ratio interactions. We demonstrate that species traits explain striking patterns in the body-size architecture of natural food webs that underpin the stability and functioning of ecosystems, paving the way for community-level management of the most complex natural ecosystems.
Modelling food-web mediated effects of hydrological variability and environmental flows
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2017
Mesocosm Experiments as a Tool for Ecological Climate-Change Research
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2013
Legacies, lags and long‐term trends: Effective flow restoration in a changed and changing world
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-10-2017
DOI: 10.1111/FWB.13029
Sub-organism (acetylcholinesterase activity), population (survival) and chemical concentration responses reinforce mechanisms of antagonism associated with malathion toxicity
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2021
Urban catchment hydrology overwhelms reach scale effects of riparian vegetation on organic matter dynamics
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-02-2011
More Than a Service: Values of Rivers, Wetlands and Floodplains Are Informed by Both Function and Feeling
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-10-2023
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End Date: 12-2015
Amount: $708,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityDiscovery Projects - Grant ID: DP180102016
Start Date: 2018
End Date: 12-2023
Amount: $383,108.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity