F.J. Valesini

Potential effects of climate change on Australian estuaries and fish utilising estuaries: a review

Estuaries are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because changes in climatic and hydrologic variables that influence freshwater and marine systems will also affect estuaries. We review potential impacts of climate change on Australian estuaries and their fish. Geographic differences are likely because southern Australian climates are predicted to become warmer and drier, whereas northern regions may see increased precipitation. Environmental factors, including salinity gradients, suspended sediment, dissolved oxygen and nutrient concentrations, will be influenced by changing freshwater input and other climate variables. Potential impacts will vary depending on the geomorphology of the estuary and the level of build-up of sand bars across estuarine entrances. Changes to estuarine fish assemblages will depend on associated changes to salinity and estuarine-mouth morphology. Marine migrants may be severely affected by closure of estuarine mouths, depending on whether species ‘must’ use estuarine habitat and the level of migratory v. resident individuals. Depending on how fish in coastal waters locate estuaries, there may be reduced cues associated with estuarine mouths, particularly in southern Australia, potentially influencing abundance. In summary, climate change is expected to have major consequences for Australian estuaries and associated fish, although the nature of impacts will show significant regional variation.

Comparisons between the influence of habitat type, season and body size on the dietary compositions of fish species in nearshore marine waters

Fish were collected from over bare sand in nearshore shallow waters at three sites that varied in the extent to which they were exposed to wave activity and which were located within a 45-km stretch on the lower west coast of Australia. Sampling was undertaken within a 4-6-week period in each season. The volumetric contributions of different prey to the stomach contents and the mouth characteristics of four species, i.e. Sillago bassensis and Sillago vittata (Sillaginidae), Spratelloides robustus (Clupeidae) and Pseudorhombus jenynsii (Bothidae), were determined. Overall, the dietary compositions of the four species differed significantly from each other and those of fish at both the three different sites and in four consecutive seasons were also significantly different. In comparison with S. bassensis, the morphologically similar S. vittata fed to a relatively greater extent on polychaetes than zooplankters, presumably reflecting in part its greater ability to extend its upper jaw downwards towards the benthos. S. robustus typically targeted calanoid copepods in the plankton, whereas P jenynsii fed on larger benthic prey taxa, reflecting the large differences in mouth morphology and feeding behaviour of these species. Although the diets of S. bassensis and S. vittata were strongly influenced by habitat type and season, the former variable was slightly more important for both of these species. However, the reverse applied with S. robustus. Season strongly influenced the dietary composition of P. jenynsii at the one site at which it was regularly caught. The diets of the two Sillago species and P. jenynsii underwent pronounced size-related changes, which would help distribute the food resources among the individuals of the different size classes of each of these species. In contrast, all size classes of S robustus fed predominantly or exclusively on calanoid copepods at all sites and in all seasons, except at the most sheltered site in winter when these zooplankters were not found in samples taken from the water column. The seasonal and habitat variations recorded in the diets of the fish species in this study imply that these species are able to feed opportunistically, a characteristic that would be of particular value to fish that live in nearshore waters where the relative abundance of the different prey types varies with habitat type and season.

Changes in the benthic macroinvertebrate fauna of a large microtidal estuary following extreme modifications aimed at reducing eutrophication

An artificial channel was opened in 1994 between the microtidal Peel-Harvey Estuary and the Indian Ocean to increase tidal exchange and thus ameliorate the problems of eutrophication. Although this greatly reduced macroalgal and cyanobacterial growths and the amount of particulate organic matter, our data indicate that, contrary to managerial expectations, the benthic environment has deteriorated. Thus, although macroinvertebrate density has declined as predicted, taxonomic distinctness (Delta( *)) has also declined and species composition has become more variable. Macroinvertebrate composition has also changed markedly at the species, family and even phylum levels. The Crustacea, the most sensitive of the major macrobenthic taxa to environmental stress, has become proportionally less abundant and speciose, whereas the Polychaeta, the least sensitive, was unique in showing the reverse trend. The benthos of the Peel-Harvey Estuary is thus apparently more stressed than previously, probably due to the multiple effects of a great increase in system use.

A user-friendly quantitative approach to classifying nearshore marine habitats along a heterogeneous coast

A scheme, which can be readily used by fisheries and environmental managers and ecologists, has been developed for quantitatively classifying the different habitats found in nearshore marine waters along the heterogeneous lower west coast of Australia. Initially, 25 beach sites, representing a wide range of nearshore environments, were separated into six a priori habitat types on the basis of characteristics that could readily be observed and were likely to influence the extent to which a particular (fish) species occupies a particular habitat. Focus was thus placed on such features as the degree of exposure to wave activity and whether or not seagrass and/or reefs were present in the nearshore vicinity. Subsequently, quantitative data for 27 environmental variables, considered likely to characterise the six habitat types, were obtained for each of the 25 sites from readily accessible sources. When the latter data were subjected to multidimensional scaling (MDS) ordination, the points for the sites representing only three of those six habitat types formed discrete groups. The bvstep routine in the Primer v5.0 statistical package (Clarke & Gorley, Primer v5.0: User Manual/Tutorial, Primer-E Ltd, Plymouth, 2001) was thus used to select a subset of the 27 environmental variables that would provide a better resolution of the six a priori habitat types. This process involved matching the distance matrix constructed from the quantitative environmental data with a matrix constructed from scored data that reflected the criteria for the initial a priori classification scheme. A subset of seven environmental variables gave the best correlation between the two matrices (ρ=0.823), and thus provided the optimal set of quantitative data for discriminating between the six a priori habitat types. These variables comprised both the direct and north-westerly fetches, the minimum distance from the shoreline to the 2 m depth contour, the distance from the shoreline to the first offshore reef chain along a south-westerly transect, and the relative contributions of bare sand, subtidal reef and seagrass. Data for these characteristics at any nearshore site along the coastline can readily be recorded by managers and ecologists and subjected to the ‘nearest-replicate’ classification procedure developed in this study to ascertain the habitat type to which that site should be assigned. Current work is using MDS ordination, in conjunction with associated statistical tests and the bvstep routine, to elucidate the extent to which the compositions of assemblages of fish, benthic macroinvertebrates, meiofauna and zooplankton in nearshore waters along the lower west coast of Australia are related to habitat type(s).

Predicting the resilience and recovery of aquatic systems: A framework for model evolution within environmental observatories

Maintaining the health of aquatic systems is an essential component of sustainable catchment management, however, degradation of water quality and aquatic habitat continues to challenge scientists and policy-makers. To support management and restoration efforts aquatic system models are required that are able to capture the often complex trajectories that these systems display in response to multiple stressors. This paper explores the abilities and limitations of current model approaches in meeting this challenge, and outlines a strategy based on integration of flexible model libraries and data from observation networks, within a learning framework, as a means to improve the accuracy and scope of model predictions. The framework is comprised of a data assimilation component that utilizes diverse data streams from sensor networks, and a second component whereby model structural evolution can occur once the model is assessed against theoretically relevant metrics of system function. Given the scale and transdisciplinary nature of the prediction challenge, network science initiatives are identified as a means to develop and integrate diverse model libraries and workflows, and to obtain consensus on diagnostic approaches to model assessment that can guide model adaptation. We outline how such a framework can help us explore the theory of how aquatic systems respond to change by bridging bottom-up and top-down lines of enquiry, and, in doing so, also advance the role of prediction in aquatic ecosystem management.

The use of benthic macroinvertebrates to establish a benchmark for evaluating the environmental quality of microtidal temperate southern hemisphere estuaries

Establishment of a benchmark against which deleterious changes to an estuary can be evaluated requires validating that it has not been subjected to detrimental anthropogenic perturbations and then identifying the biological features which are indicative of a pristine condition and can thus be employed as indicators for detecting and monitoring departures from the natural state. The characteristics of the benthic macroinvertebrate fauna of an essentially pristine, seasonally-open estuary in Western Australia (Broke Inlet) have been determined and compared with those previously recorded for a nearby eutrophic, seasonally-open estuary (Wilson Inlet). Density was far lower in Broke than Wilson. Compositions differed radically at all taxonomic levels, with polychaetes contributing less, and crustaceans more, to the abundance in Broke. Average taxonomic distinctness was greater for Broke than both Wilson and 16 other temperate southern hemisphere estuaries, whereas the reverse was true for variation in taxonomic distinctness, emphasizing that Broke Inlet is pristine.

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

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 (within-estuary) 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.

Comparisons between the ichthyofaunas of a temperate lagoonal-like estuary and the embayment into which that estuary discharges

Leschenault Estuary consists of a large lagoonal-like water body, which opens into Koombana Bay through a short and deep entrance channel at its southern end. Since the only major tributary discharges into the estuary opposite the entrance channel, much of the freshwater discharge in the winter passes directly out to sea. Consequently, during the year of the present study, the mean monthly salinities in the main body of the estuary remained above 20 per mil. This presumably accounts for the fact that the ichthyofaunal composition in the shallows of the estuary did not undergo the type of marked changes that are exhibited in other south-western Australian estuaries, in which salinities often fall below 10 per mil in winter. Despite the maintenance of high salinities in Leschenault Estuary and a close proximity to Koombana Bay, the estuary contained a far greater density and markedly different species composition of fish than that found in that marine embayment. This difference reflected, in part, the high abundance in Leschenault Estuary of some species whose entire life cycle is confined to estuaries,e.g. the atherinidsAtherinosoma elongata andLeptatherina wallacei and the gobiesPseudogobius olorum andAfurcagobius suppositus, and the fact that the juveniles of several marine species,e.g. Hyperlophus vittatus, Sillaginodes punctata, Mugil cephalus andGymnapistes marmoratus were also largely or entirely restricted to the estuary. In contrast,Lesueurina platycephala, which was by far the most abundant species in Koombana Bay, was absent in the estuary. Furthermore, the relatively protected region of Koombana Bay contained a greater density and different composition of fish than the more exposed region of this embayment. This reflected the greater use that was made of the protected region as a nursery area by certain marine species,e.g. Aldrichetta forsten andSillago bassensis. Our data, when taken in conjunction with those collected on the fish fauna in other south-western Australian estuaries, demonstrate that, within this geographical region, some fish species are specifically adapted to the estuarine environment, and that certain marine species apparently have a strong preference for using the highly protected and productive waters of this type of environment as a nursery area.

The use of stable isotope ratios in whitebait otolith carbonate to identify the source of prey for Western Australian penguins

A methodology has been developed and used to investigate a direct link between juvenile whitebait (Hyperlophus vittatus), the key prey species sampled from the stomachs of Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor), and the specific nursery area of that prey. A unique application of existing methodology initially involved the measurement of the stable isotopes of oxygen (δ18O:δ16O) and carbon (δ13C:δ12C) in sagittal otolith carbonate, using standard mass spectrometric techniques. The results indicated that the inshore distribution of juvenile (0+ year old) whitebait between Cockburn Sound and Koombana Bay, Western Australia consisted of a number of separate assemblages. Measured differences in stable oxygen isotope ratios were attributed to variations in freshwater input to the embayments that provided the whitebait habitats. In contrast, the measured stable carbon isotope ratios probably resulted from the different isotopic compositions of the food webs in the various habitats. Secondly, a comparison of the average value of carbon and oxygen isotope signatures of pooled otoliths from samples of whitebait from a number of different nearshore coastal sites (assemblages), with that of whitebait obtained from the stomachs of penguins at their main breeding site (Penguin Island) indicated that the values from the penguins resemble most closely those of the average otolith values obtained from whitebait from only one site (Becher Point). Assuming that the whitebait sampled were representative of the whitebait in the nearshore habitats and the diets of the penguins, then these results imply that at the time of sampling the penguins were feeding on whitebait from only one site.

Effects of a harmful algal bloom on the community ecology, movements and spatial distributions of fishes in a microtidal estuary

Harmful algal blooms can adversely affect fish communities, though their impacts are highly context-dependent and typically differ between fish species. Various approaches, comprising univariate and multivariate analyses and multimetric Fish Community Indices (FCI), were employed to characterise the perceived impacts of a Karlodinium veneficum bloom on the fish communities and ecological condition of the Swan Canning Estuary, Western Australia. The combined evidence suggests that a large proportion of the more mobile fish species in the offshore waters of the bloom-affected area relocated to other regions during the bloom. This was indicated by marked declines in mean species richness, catch rates and FCI scores in the bloom region but concomitant increases in these characteristics in more distal regions, and by pronounced and atypical shifts in the pattern of inter-regional similarities in fish community composition during the bloom. The lack of any significant changes among the nearshore fish communities revealed that bloom impacts were less severe there than in deeper, offshore waters. Nearshore habitats, which generally are in better ecological condition than adjacent offshore waters in this system, may provide refuges for fish during algal blooms and other perturbations, mirroring similar observations of fish avoidance responses to such stressors in estuaries worldwide.