Effect of rainfall as a component of climate change on estuarine fish production in Queensland, Australia

Meynecke, Jan‐Olaf; Lee, Joe; Duke, Norman C.; Warnken, Jan

doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2006.05.011

Cited by 96 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Our findings corroborate the results of other studies, in which a positive correlation of rainfall and abundance of fishes was evident (Salen-Picard et al 2002 andWhitfield et al 2005). These associations might be due to other variables, including primary or secondary production that results from terrestrial nutrient addition (Meynecke et al 2006). Salen-Pilcard et al (2002) suggested that an increase in prey density after flooding events favoured different stages of the Solea solea life cycle, enhancing its population size for several years.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Environmental factors affecting larval fish community in the salt marsh area of Guadiana estuary (Algarve, Portugal)

Gonçalves¹,

Correia²,

Atanasova³

et al. 2015

Sci. Mar.

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Summary: Salt marsh areas in the Guadiana estuary are important nursery sites for many fish species of commercial and recreational value. More effective protection measures should be adopted as the area is highly affected by anthropogenic and natural threats. Studying larval fish communities in these impacted nursery areas will be relevant to the management of local ecosystems and to larval fish ecology in general. Spatial and seasonal distribution and the effect of environmental factors on the larval fish community of this ecosystem were studied for one year (April 2010 to March 2011). Larvae were sampled monthly in parallel with phytoplankton and zooplankton. Hydrological data and physical parameters were monitored. A decision tree model was used to assess the influence of environmental factors on the larval fish community. A total of 130 larvae and 1171 eggs were caught. Diplodus sargus, Sardina pilchardus, and Pomatoschistus microps were the most abundant larval fish species. The peaks of fish larvae abundance occurred in March and April. The output of the model demonstrates that the abundance of larval fish is determined by the abundance of eggs, zooplanktonic food, and water flood and flow. This study shows the importance of the Guadiana salt marsh as an area for fish nursery and highlights the need for conservation of this area.Keywords: larval fish; salt marsh; Guadiana estuary; fish eggs; food availability; flooding events; river flow.Factores ambientales que afectan a la comunidad de larvas de peces en las marismas del estuario del Guadiana (Algarve, Portugal) Resumen: Las zonas de marisma en el estuario del Guadiana constituyen zonas de cría importantes para muchas especies de peces de valor comercial y recreativo. Deberían ser adoptadas unas medidas de protección más efectivas ya que el área está altamente afectada por amenazas tanto antropogénicas como naturales. El estudio de las comunidades de larvas de pez en estas áreas de cría más impactadas será relevante para la gestión del ecosistema local y para la ecología de las larvas de pez en general. La distribución espacial y estacional, y el efecto de factores ambientales en las comunidades de larvas de pez de este ecosistema fueron estudiados durante un año (abril de 2010-marzo de 2011). El muestreo de las larvas fue realizado mensualmente en paralelo con el de fitoplancton y zooplancton. También fueron monitoreados datos hidrológicos y parámetros físicos. Un modelo de Árbol de Decisión fue utilizado para evaluar la influencia de factores ambientales en la comunidad de larvas de pez. Fueron recogidos un total de 130 larvas y 1171 huevos. Diplodus sargus, Sardina pilchardus y Pomatoschistus microps fueron las especies más abundantes. Los picos de abundancia de larvas de pez ocurrieron en marzo y abril. Los resultados del modelo demuestran que la abundancia de larvas de pez viene determinada por la abundancia de huevos, la comida zooplanctónica, los eventos de inundación y el caudal del río. Este estudio muestra la importancia de las marismas del Gua...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Environmental factors affecting larval fish community in the salt marsh area of Guadiana estuary (Algarve, Portugal)

Gonçalves¹,

Correia²,

Atanasova³

et al. 2015

Sci. Mar.

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“…There is good empirical data to support a link between freshwater inflows and estuarine fish production (e.g. Meynecke et al 2006;Balston 2009), and thus long-term changes in inflows associated with climate change may increase production of some species. Most research on the effects of freshwater inputs has come from descriptive and small-scale experiments (Gillanders and Kingsford 2002); however, increasing use of acoustic tracking technology is allowing better coupling of patterns of fish movements with freshwater flow into estuaries (e.g.…”

Section: Freshwater Flow Estuarine Fishesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting range shifts among Australian fishes in response to climate change

Booth

Bond

Macreadie

2011

Mar. Freshwater Res.

144

136

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Abstract. One of the most obvious and expected impacts of climate change is a shift in the distributional range of organisms, which could have considerable ecological and economic consequences. Australian waters are hotspots for climate-induced environmental changes; here, we review these potential changes and their apparent and potential implications for freshwater, estuarine and marine fish. Our meta-analysis detected ,300 papers globally on 'fish' and 'range shifts', with ,7% being from Australia. Of the Australian papers, only one study exhibited definitive evidence of climate-induced range shifts, with most studies focussing instead on future predictions. There was little consensus in the literature regarding the definition of 'range', largely because of populations having distributions that fluctuate regularly. For example, many marine populations have broad dispersal of offspring (causing vagrancy). Similarly, in freshwater and estuarine systems, regular environmental changes (e.g. seasonal, ENSO cycles -not related to climate change) cause expansion and contraction of populations, which confounds efforts to detect range 'shifts'. We found that increases in water temperature, reduced freshwater flows and changes in ocean currents are likely to be the key drivers of climateinduced range shifts in Australian fishes. Although large-scale frequent and rigorous direct surveys of fishes across their entire distributional ranges, especially at range edges, will be essential to detect range shifts of fishes in response to climate change, we suggest careful co-opting of fisheries, museum and other regional databases as a potential, but imperfect alternative.

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“…The subtrop-ical waters of Hervey Bay are also a spawning region for temperate pelagic fish (Ward et al 2003) and support the fishery industry worth several tens of millions of dollars, with aquaculture recently developing into a significant industry. Furthermore recent studies showed how the reduction of river discharge and most likely also precipitation, impacts on the fish production on the East coast of Australia (Staunton-Smith et al 2004, Growns and James 2005, Meynecke et al 2006). Their findings indicate a reduction in catch due to a decline in freshwater supply.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Impact of climate variability on an east Australian bay

Gräwe

Wolff

Ribbe

2010

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

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The climate along the subtropical east coast of Australia is changing significantly. Rainfall has decreased by about 50 mm per decade and temperature increased by about 0.1 C per decade during the last fifty years. These changes are likely to impact upon episodes of hypersalinity and the persistence of inverse circulations, which are often characteristic features of the coastal zone in the subtropics and are controlled by the balance between evaporation, precipitation, and freshwater discharge. In this study, observations and results from a general ocean circulation model are used to investigate how current climate trends have impacted upon the physical characteristics of the Hervey Bay, Australia. During the last two decades, mean precipitation in Hervey Bay deviates by 13 % from the climatology . In the same time, the river discharge is reduced by 23 %. In direct consequence, the frequency of hypersaline and inverse conditions has increased. Moreover, the salinity flux out of the bay has increased and the evaporation induced residual circulation has accelerated. Contrary to the drying trend, the occurrence of severe rainfalls, associated with floods, leads to short-term fluctuations in the salinity. These freshwater discharge events are used to estimate a typical response time for the bay.

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Effect of rainfall as a component of climate change on estuarine fish production in Queensland, Australia

Cited by 96 publications

References 64 publications

Environmental factors affecting larval fish community in the salt marsh area of Guadiana estuary (Algarve, Portugal)

Environmental factors affecting larval fish community in the salt marsh area of Guadiana estuary (Algarve, Portugal)

Detecting range shifts among Australian fishes in response to climate change

Impact of climate variability on an east Australian bay

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