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  • Assessment of Thermal Stress in Freshwater Crayfish (Euastacus spp. — Decapoda: Parastacidae): A Focus on Biochemical and Metabolic Indicators

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    Bone_2015_02Thesis.pdf (5.614Mb)
    Author(s)
    Bone, James William Parker
    Primary Supervisor
    Wild, Clyde
    Other Supervisors
    Renshaw, Gillian
    Furse, James
    Year published
    2015
    Metadata
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    Abstract
    There is a general consensus among scientists that climate change poses a severe threat to organisms with little tolerance for higher temperatures than those in their current environmental niche. The effects of increased environmental temperature will be of significance in those organisms combining reduced thermal tolerance and limited mobility across the environment to allow shifts to more optimal habitat. The relict populations of the freshwater crayfish genus, Euastacus, in Queensland are generally restricted to cooler mountain-top streams and are at significant extinction risk due to these factors. While noted as threatened ...
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    There is a general consensus among scientists that climate change poses a severe threat to organisms with little tolerance for higher temperatures than those in their current environmental niche. The effects of increased environmental temperature will be of significance in those organisms combining reduced thermal tolerance and limited mobility across the environment to allow shifts to more optimal habitat. The relict populations of the freshwater crayfish genus, Euastacus, in Queensland are generally restricted to cooler mountain-top streams and are at significant extinction risk due to these factors. While noted as threatened by increases in environmental temperature, key knowledge gaps exist regarding the thermal biology of these crayfish. This project sought to answer the underlying question; Are species of Euastacus in Queensland, some with severely restricted distributions, currently experiencing thermal stress in warmer parts of the year? It was anticipated that evidence of fitness reducing temperatures in these crayfish would give an indication of the future effect of climate change, primarily increased temperature, and initiate further research into this vulnerable genus. A minimally-intrusive assessment of physiological and biochemical indicators of tissue damage in response to an imposed thermal stressor were initially developed using a model organism, Cherax quadricarinatus. The data provided “proof of concept” for a validated method to contrast the level of thermal stress experienced between individuals of the same species, conditioned to different temperatures. Additionally, the results indicated that the physiological and biochemical indicators gave some defined effects of higher temperature on the model organism, and opened up the potential for a suite of non invasive assays to be used within the genus Euastacus.
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    Thesis Type
    Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
    Degree Program
    Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
    School
    Griffith School of Environment
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/1813
    Copyright Statement
    The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
    Item Access Status
    Public
    Subject
    Freshwater Crayfish (Euastacus spp. — Decapoda: Parastacidae)
    Euastacus spp. — Decapoda: Parastacidae
    Fresh water crayfish ecology
    Euastacus ecology
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365248
    Collection
    • Theses - Higher Degree by Research

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