Fish under influence: A macroecological analysis of relations between fish species richness and environmental gradients among European tidal estuaries

Nicolas, Delphine; Lobry, Jérémy; Lepage, Mario; Sautour, Benoît; Pape, Olivier Le; Cabral, Henrique N.; Uriarte, Adolfo; Boët, Philippe

doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2009.11.006

Cited by 86 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…We were unable to assess the relationship between plasticity of life history patterns and the area of the river basin and estuary, continental platform width or river discharge. These factors are among the main factors influencing the structure of estuarine fish assemblages (Nicolas et al 2010) and flounder juvenile recruitment (Martinho et al 2009). The inter-annual variability of river discharge may be an indirect driver of flounder life history plasticity, probably due to its control in setting estuarine productivity (Whitfield 1994, Loneragan & Bunn 1999 and in influencing the rate of direct and indirect recruitment of fishes in estuaries (Chícharo et al 2001).…”

Section: Ecological Significance Of Flounder's Diversified Life Histomentioning

confidence: 99%

Plasticity of European flounder life history patterns discloses alternatives to catadromy

Daverat¹,

Morais²,

Dias³

et al. 2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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European flounder Platichthys flesus life history patterns were investigated in 3 basins along a latitudinal gradient (Minho, N Portugal; Gironde, SW France; Seine, N France). We used coupled Sr:Ca and Ba:Ca otolith signatures and microstructure to retrospectively determine habitats occupied by flounder during their life, including early larval ontogeny. Flounder exhibited high life history plasticity among and even within basins, apparent by the diversity of habitats used during larval ontogeny and throughout their lives, and by the age at which flounder migrated to freshwater. Egg signatures probably had a strong maternal influence, and our interpretation suggests that flounder spawned and/or hatched predominantly in brackish waters in the Minho, while in the Gironde and Seine, flounder spawned and/or hatched either in coastal, brackish or freshwater environments. The freshwater egg signature was most frequent in the Seine. These interpretations contradict the current general assumption that flounder spawn exclusively in coastal waters. During pre-metamorphosis and metamorphosis, flounder were predominantly in brackish waters in the Minho, while in the Gironde and Seine, they were mainly in coastal and freshwater environments, respectively. The diversity of flounder life histories (LH) (i.e. sequence of habitat residence: freshwater, brackish or coastal) after metamorphosis was similar between the Minho (LH = 13), Gironde (LH = 13) and Seine (LH = 14) basins. The age at which flounder migrated to freshwater also varied among sites, at an earlier age in the Minho and Gironde (< 0.5 yr old) than in the Seine, where flounder migrating from the coast into freshwater reached maximum frequencies at age 1.3 yr old. Thus, catadromy in European flounder may be facultative, and the factors influencing flounder high LH plasticity deserve thorough research.

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Section: Ecological Significance Of Flounder's Diversified Life Histomentioning

confidence: 99%

Plasticity of European flounder life history patterns discloses alternatives to catadromy

Daverat¹,

Morais²,

Dias³

et al. 2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…Although this pattern of recovery is probably related to the changes in oxygen concentration in bottom layers, it also coincides with sufficient food availability to support permanent colonisation of these inner estuary locations. After the start of colonisation, however, the near complete recovery was achieved in 10 years, probably due to the wellknown contribution of marine species to the total species richness within the estuaries (Nicolas et al 2010). We emphasise that recovery from temporary ecosystem loss, such as water quality problems (including anoxia), may take less time than recovery from permanent ecosystem loss (such as land claim), where the appropriate lost ecosystem needs to be created (also see and references therein).…”

Section: From Hydrologicalmorphological Modificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medium- and Long-term Recovery of Estuarine and Coastal Ecosystems: Patterns, Rates and Restoration Effectiveness

Borja

Dauer

Elliott

et al. 2010

Estuaries and Coasts

347

175

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Many estuarine and coastal marine ecosystems have increasingly experienced degradation caused by multiple stressors. Anthropogenic pressures alter natural ecosystems and the ecosystems are not considered to have recovered unless secondary succession has returned the ecosystem to the pre-existing condition or state. However, depending upon the scales of time, space and intensity of anthropogenic disturbance, return along the historic trajectory of the ecosystem may: (1) follow natural restoration though secondary succession; (2) be re-directed through ecological restoration, or (3) be unattainable. In order to address the gaps in knowledge about restoration and recovery of estuarine and coastal ecosystems, this special feature includes the present overview and other contributions to provide a synthesis of our knowledge about recovery patterns, rates and restoration effectiveness. From the 51 examples collated in this contribution, we refine the recovery from the list of stressors into six recovery mechanisms: (1) recovery from sediment modification, which includes all aspects of dredging and disposal; (2) recovery by complete removal of stressors limiting natural ecosystem processes, which includes tidal marsh and inundation restoration; (3) recovery by speed of organic degradation, which includes oil discharge, fish farm wastes, sewage disposal, and paper mill waste; (4) recovery from persistent pollutants, which includes chemical discharges, such as TBT; (5) recovery from excessive biological removal, related to fisheries and (6) recovery from hydrological and morphological modification. Drawing upon experience both from these many examples and from an example of one comprehensive study, we show that although in some cases recovery can take <5 years, especially for the short-lived and high-turnover biological components, full recovery of coastal marine and estuarine ecosystems from over a century of degradation can take a minimum of 15-25 years for attainment of the original biotic composition and diversity may lag far beyond that period.

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“…While later analyses of these data did include tests for differences in fish guild contributions between estuary types within each bioregion and vice versa (Harrison and Whitfield 2008), focus was again not placed on an explicit comparison of the importance of each spatial scale. Moreover, whereas Edgar et al (1999) and Nicolas et al (2010) both rigorously identified the combination of individual environmental variables at a system-wide and, to a lesser extent, regional scale1 that best reflected spatial differences in the fish faunas across many estuaries throughout Tasmania (71) and Europe (135), respectively, they also did not aim to quantify the relative importance of those scales or include local-scale factors. While Sanvicente-Añorve et al (2011) did test how spatial scales, as a whole, differ in their ability to explain differences in estuarine fish faunas along the Mexican Atlantic coast, they included only inter-estuary and, to a lesser extent, regional scales in their study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Importance of Regional, System-Wide and Local Spatial Scales in Structuring Temperate Estuarine Fish Communities

Valesini

Tweedley

Clarke

et al. 2013

Estuaries and Coasts

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An extensive literature base worldwide demonstrates how spatial differences in estuarine fish assemblages are related to those in the environment at (bio)regional, estuary-wide or local (withinestuary) scales. Few studies, however, have examined all three scales, and those including more than one have often focused at the level of individual environmental variables rather than scales as a whole. This study has identified those spatial scales of environmental differences, across regional, estuary-wide and local levels, that are most important in structuring ichthyofaunal composition throughout south-western Australian estuaries. It is the first to adopt this approach for temperate microtidal waters. To achieve this, we have employed a novel approach to the BIOENV routine in PRIMER v6 and a modified global BEST test in an alpha version of PRIMER v7. A combination of all three scales best matched the pattern of ichthyofaunal differences across the study area (ρ = 0.59; P = 0.001), with estuary-wide and regional scales accounting for about twice the variability of local scales. A shade plot analysis showed these broader-scale ichthyofaunal differences were driven by a greater diversity of marine and estuarine species in the permanently-open west coast estuaries and higher numbers of several small estuarine species in the periodically-open south coast estuaries. When interaction effects were explored, strong but contrasting influences of local environmental scales were revealed within each region and estuary type. A quantitative decision tree for predicting the fish fauna at any nearshore estuarine site in south-western Australia has also been produced. The estuarine management implications of the above findings are highlighted.

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Fish under influence: A macroecological analysis of relations between fish species richness and environmental gradients among European tidal estuaries

Cited by 86 publications

References 60 publications

Plasticity of European flounder life history patterns discloses alternatives to catadromy

Plasticity of European flounder life history patterns discloses alternatives to catadromy

Medium- and Long-term Recovery of Estuarine and Coastal Ecosystems: Patterns, Rates and Restoration Effectiveness

The Importance of Regional, System-Wide and Local Spatial Scales in Structuring Temperate Estuarine Fish Communities

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