Effects of coastal development on sawfish movements and the need for marine animal crossing solutions

Karissa O Lear; Brendan C Ebner; Travis Fazeldean; Rebecca L Bateman; David L Morgan

doi:10.1111/cobi.14263

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Effects of coastal development on sawfish movements and the need for marine animal crossing solutions

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Effects of coastal development on sawfish movements and the need for marine animal crossing solutions

Karissa O Lear, Brendan C Ebner, Travis Fazeldean, Rebecca L Bateman and David L Morgan

Conservation biology, e14263

2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14263

PMID: 38578170

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Published (Version of Record)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access

Abstract

coastal highway

elasmobranch

shoreline development

threatened species

underpass

Although human-made barriers to animal movement are ubiquitous across many types of ecosystems, the science behind these barriers and how to ameliorate their effects lags far behind in marine environments compared with terrestrial and freshwater realms. Using juvenile sawfish in an Australian nursery habitat as a model system, we aimed to assess the effects of a major anthropogenic development on the movement behavior of coastal species. We compared catch rates and movement behavior (via acoustic telemetry) of juvenile green sawfish (Pristis zijsron) before and after a major coastal structure was built in an important nursery habitat. Acoustic tracking and catch data showed that the development did not affect levels of sawfish recruitment in the nursery, but it did constrain movements of juveniles moving throughout the nursery, demonstrating the reluctance of shoreline-associated species to travel around large or unfamiliar coastal structures. Given the current lack of information on human-made movement barriers in the marine environment, these findings highlight the need for further research in this area, and we propose the development of and experimentation with marine animal crossings as an important area of emerging research.

Details

Title: Effects of coastal development on sawfish movements and the need for marine animal crossing solutions
Authors/Creators: Karissa O Lear - Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems, Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
Brendan C Ebner - James Cook University
Travis Fazeldean - Murdoch University
Rebecca L Bateman - Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems, Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
David L Morgan - Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems, Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
Publication Details: Conservation biology, e14263
Publisher: Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.
Grant note: Chevron Australia
Identifiers: 991005652427707891
Murdoch Affiliation: Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration
Citation topics: 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology; 3.2 Marine Biology; 3.2.92 Fisheries Ecology
Web Of Science research areas: Biodiversity Conservation; Ecology; Environmental Sciences
ESI research areas: Environment/Ecology