Contrasting environmental drivers of adult and juvenile growth in a marine fish: implications for the effects of climate change

Abstract

Many marine fishes have life history strategies that involve ontogenetic changes in the use of coastal habitats. Such ontogenetic shifts may place these species at particular risk from climate change, because the successive environments they inhabit can differ in the type, frequency and severity of changes related to global warming. We used a dendrochronology approach to examine the physical and biological drivers of growth of adult and juvenile mangrove jack (Lutjanus argentimaculatus) from tropical north-western Australia. Juveniles of this species inhabit estuarine environments and adults reside on coastal reefs. The Niño-4 index, a measure of the status of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) had the highest correlation with adult growth chronologies, with La Niña years (characterised by warmer temperatures and lower salinities) having positive impacts on growth. Atmospheric and oceanographic phenomena operating at ocean-basin scales seem to be important correlates of the processes driving growth in local coastal habitats. Conversely, terrestrial factors influencing precipitation and river runoff were positively correlated with the growth of juveniles in estuaries. Our results show that the impacts of climate change on these two life history stages are likely to be different, with implications for resilience and management of populations.

El Niño Southern Oscillation influences the abundance and movements of a marine top predator in coastal waters

“…The correlation between ENSO and the LC strength affects species biology and ecology within WA waters. For example, La Niña events have positive impacts on growth rates of fish (Nguyen et al., ; Ong et al., ) and corals (Ong et al., ) and altered the distribution patterns of aggregating whale sharks ( Rhincodon typus ; Anderson et al., ; Wilson, Taylor, & Pearce, ). During the strong La Niña event in summer 2011, there was an extreme warming of SST with anomalies of 2–4 ° C persisting for several months (Pearce & Feng, ), during which ecosystems and marine species were affected (Feng, McPhaden, Xie, & Hafner, ; Smale & Wernberg, ; Wernberg et al., ).…”

Evidence for climate‐driven synchrony of marine and terrestrial ecosystems in northwest Australia

“…We used existing detrended (ontogenetic trends removed by dividing the raw series with the mean‐by‐age series) growth increment series for 36 adult mangrove jack ( L. argentimaculatus ) that were collected between 1996 and 2005 at various sites along the NW coast (Fig. ; Ong et al ., ). The detrended increment series from the 36 fish were averaged to obtain a single growth chronology.…”

“…Long‐term growth chronologies have already been developed from trees (O'Donnell et al ., ), corals (Cooper et al ., ), and fish (Ong et al ., ) in this region, providing an opportunity to investigate linked biological responses to climate patterns across taxa and ecosystems. These earlier studies have revealed that growth of trees in NW Australia show a strong positive response to rainfall because water is a limiting resource (O'Donnell et al ., ).…”

“…These earlier studies have revealed that growth of trees in NW Australia show a strong positive response to rainfall because water is a limiting resource (O'Donnell et al ., ). Similarly, coral growth is influenced by regional changes in SST that affect calcification rates (Cooper et al ., ), while adult fish respond to changes in SST and sea surface salinity (SSS) because of changes in metabolism rates, osmoregulation, or food conversion efficiencies (Ong et al ., ). Given that ENSO drives regional environmental and climate variables such as SST, SSS, and rainfall in Australia's NW region, we hypothesized that the growth of these taxa will exhibit similar patterns.…”

Dopamine regulates renal osmoregulation during hyposaline stress via DRD1 in the spotted scat (Scatophagus argus)

“…Salinity is an important environmental factor that greatly affects the physiology of marine fish, influencing their survival and distribution12. Some teleosts such as Anguilla anguilla , Sarotherodon melanotheron and Oreochromis niloticus , have a limited capability to endure salinity fluctuation after long-term acclimation345, and are thus restricted in their ability to move between environments.…”