Life-History Traits and the Functional Diversity of Australian Freshwater Fish

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Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Balcombe, Stephen
Bunn, Stuart
Kennard, Mark
Year published
2014
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Australian freshwaters are home to approximately 256 fish species from 36 families, many of which are endemic to the country and considered threatened, vulnerable or rare in the wild. In part this is due to a long history of continental isolation where increasing aridity and flow unpredictability have given rise to a fish fauna characterised by a unique association of life-history traits (i.e. characteristics of an organism that contribute to its fitness or performance, and which allow it to function in the environment) in order to cope with natural variation in environmental seasonality, stability and predictability. My ...
View more >Australian freshwaters are home to approximately 256 fish species from 36 families, many of which are endemic to the country and considered threatened, vulnerable or rare in the wild. In part this is due to a long history of continental isolation where increasing aridity and flow unpredictability have given rise to a fish fauna characterised by a unique association of life-history traits (i.e. characteristics of an organism that contribute to its fitness or performance, and which allow it to function in the environment) in order to cope with natural variation in environmental seasonality, stability and predictability. My thesis presents an assessment of life- history traits and the functional diversity (the range and value of organismal characteristics) of Australian freshwater fish at multiple spatial scales (i.e. continental, river basin, catchment and population scales), with an emphasis on phylogenetic relationships, environmental determinants and conservation biology.
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View more >Australian freshwaters are home to approximately 256 fish species from 36 families, many of which are endemic to the country and considered threatened, vulnerable or rare in the wild. In part this is due to a long history of continental isolation where increasing aridity and flow unpredictability have given rise to a fish fauna characterised by a unique association of life-history traits (i.e. characteristics of an organism that contribute to its fitness or performance, and which allow it to function in the environment) in order to cope with natural variation in environmental seasonality, stability and predictability. My thesis presents an assessment of life- history traits and the functional diversity (the range and value of organismal characteristics) of Australian freshwater fish at multiple spatial scales (i.e. continental, river basin, catchment and population scales), with an emphasis on phylogenetic relationships, environmental determinants and conservation biology.
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Thesis Type
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Degree Program
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School
Griffith School of Environment
Copyright Statement
The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
Item Access Status
Public
Note
The two published articles have not been published here.
Subject
Freshwater fish, Australia
Conservation biology
Phylogenetic relationships
Freshwater fish, Environmental determinants
Freshwater fish diversity