Climate change decouples marine and freshwater habitats of a threatened migratory fish
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Author(s)
Lin, Hsien-Yung
Bush, Alex
Linke, Simon
Possingham, Hugh P
Brown, Christopher J
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2017
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Show full item recordAbstract
Aim
To assess how climate change may decouple the ecosystems used by a migratory fish, and how decoupling influences priorities for stream restoration.
Location
Australia.
Methods
We modelled changes in habitat suitability under climate change in both riverine and marine habitats for a threatened diadromous species, the Australian Grayling Prototroctes maraena, using niche models. The loss of riverine habitats for Grayling was compared with or without considering the impact of climate change on adjacent marine habitats. We also asked whether considering marine climate change changed the locations where removing dams had ...
View more >Aim To assess how climate change may decouple the ecosystems used by a migratory fish, and how decoupling influences priorities for stream restoration. Location Australia. Methods We modelled changes in habitat suitability under climate change in both riverine and marine habitats for a threatened diadromous species, the Australian Grayling Prototroctes maraena, using niche models. The loss of riverine habitats for Grayling was compared with or without considering the impact of climate change on adjacent marine habitats. We also asked whether considering marine climate change changed the locations where removing dams had the greatest benefit for Grayling conservation. Results Climate change is expected to cause local extinction in both marine and river habitats regardless of whether dams are retained or removed at the trailing edge of the Grayling's range (north-eastern). Decoupling of habitats was most apparent in the eastern and south-eastern portion of the Grayling's range, where ocean warming may cause a decline in the suitability of marine habitats for larvae, while many freshwater habitats retained suitable habitat for adults. Removing dams to restore connectivity between ocean and freshwater habitats was predicted to have the greatest benefit for Grayling in southern portions of their range. Under climate change, the priorities for barrier removal gradually shift towards dams at higher elevation because of increasing suitability of freshwater habitats at higher elevations. Main conclusions Our study highlights the importance of assessing climate range shifts in multiple ecosystems for migratory species and can help inform priorities for stream restoration under a changing climate.
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View more >Aim To assess how climate change may decouple the ecosystems used by a migratory fish, and how decoupling influences priorities for stream restoration. Location Australia. Methods We modelled changes in habitat suitability under climate change in both riverine and marine habitats for a threatened diadromous species, the Australian Grayling Prototroctes maraena, using niche models. The loss of riverine habitats for Grayling was compared with or without considering the impact of climate change on adjacent marine habitats. We also asked whether considering marine climate change changed the locations where removing dams had the greatest benefit for Grayling conservation. Results Climate change is expected to cause local extinction in both marine and river habitats regardless of whether dams are retained or removed at the trailing edge of the Grayling's range (north-eastern). Decoupling of habitats was most apparent in the eastern and south-eastern portion of the Grayling's range, where ocean warming may cause a decline in the suitability of marine habitats for larvae, while many freshwater habitats retained suitable habitat for adults. Removing dams to restore connectivity between ocean and freshwater habitats was predicted to have the greatest benefit for Grayling in southern portions of their range. Under climate change, the priorities for barrier removal gradually shift towards dams at higher elevation because of increasing suitability of freshwater habitats at higher elevations. Main conclusions Our study highlights the importance of assessing climate range shifts in multiple ecosystems for migratory species and can help inform priorities for stream restoration under a changing climate.
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Journal Title
Diversity and Distributions
Volume
23
Issue
7
Copyright Statement
© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Climate change decouples marine and freshwater habitats of a threatened migratory fish, Global Change Biology, Volume 23, Issue 7, Pages 751–760, 2017 which has been published in final form at 10.1111/ddi.12570. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving (http://olabout.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-820227.html#terms)
Subject
Environmental sciences
Other environmental sciences not elsewhere classified
Biological sciences