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

C.S. Hallett; F.J. Valesini; K.R. Clarke; S.D. Hoeksema

doi:10.1007/s10750-015-2383-1

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

Journal article

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Peer reviewed

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

C.S. Hallett, F.J. Valesini, K.R. Clarke and S.D. Hoeksema

Hydrobiologia, Vol.763(1), pp.267-284

2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2383-1

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Abstract

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.

Details

Title: Effects of a harmful algal bloom on the community ecology, movements and spatial distributions of fishes in a microtidal estuary
Authors/Creators: C.S. Hallett (Author/Creator) - Murdoch University
F.J. Valesini (Author/Creator) - Murdoch University
K.R. Clarke (Author/Creator) - Murdoch University
S.D. Hoeksema (Author/Creator) - Murdoch University
Publication Details: Hydrobiologia, Vol.763(1), pp.267-284
Publisher: Kluwer Academic Publishers
Identifiers: 991005541819707891
Copyright: © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
Murdoch Affiliation: School of Veterinary and Life Sciences; Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Citation topics: 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology; 3.2 Marine Biology; 3.2.1182 Coastal Vegetation
Web Of Science research areas: Marine & Freshwater Biology
ESI research areas: Plant & Animal Science