• myGriffith
    • Staff portal
    • Contact Us⌄
      • Future student enquiries 1800 677 728
      • Current student enquiries 1800 154 055
      • International enquiries +61 7 3735 6425
      • General enquiries 07 3735 7111
      • Online enquiries
      • Staff phonebook
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Griffith Research Online
    • Journal articles
    • View Item
    • Home
    • Griffith Research Online
    • Journal articles
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

  • All of Griffith Research Online
    • Communities & Collections
    • Authors
    • By Issue Date
    • Titles
  • This Collection
    • Authors
    • By Issue Date
    • Titles
  • Statistics

  • Most Popular Items
  • Statistics by Country
  • Most Popular Authors
  • Support

  • Contact us
  • FAQs
  • Admin login

  • Login
  • Consequences of connectivity alteration on riverine fish assemblages: potential opportunities to overcome constraints in applying conventional monitoring designs

    Author(s)
    Rolls, Robert J
    Ellison, Tanya
    Faggotter, Stephen
    Roberts, David T
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Faggotter, Stephen J.
    Rolls, Rob J.
    Ellison, Tanya L.
    Year published
    2013
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    Patterns of connectivity are critical to structuring both spatial and temporal variation in the composition of species populations and assemblages. Water resource development has an important impact on longitudinal connectivity in rivers, and disrupts natural patterns of dispersal of individuals between segments of the river network. Consequently, artificial barriers alter the structure, size and distribution of species populations leading to impacts on aquatic biodiversity. * Quantitative assessment of the ecological effects of connectivity alteration is necessary to develop effective conservation plans to manage the impacts ...
    View more >
    Patterns of connectivity are critical to structuring both spatial and temporal variation in the composition of species populations and assemblages. Water resource development has an important impact on longitudinal connectivity in rivers, and disrupts natural patterns of dispersal of individuals between segments of the river network. Consequently, artificial barriers alter the structure, size and distribution of species populations leading to impacts on aquatic biodiversity. * Quantitative assessment of the ecological effects of connectivity alteration is necessary to develop effective conservation plans to manage the impacts of anthropogenic fragmentation. Connectivity alteration is a complex environmental disturbance because the potential scale of impact is dependent on the spatial scale at which biota undergo life-history processes such as spawning and recruitment. Few river networks have single migration barriers, meaning that multiple points of fragmentation are present and have potentially interacting effects. Therefore, conventional 'control-impact' approaches to impact assessment may be inappropriate or confounded. Furthermore, monitoring patterns of fish population or assemblage structure moving through fish passage facilities alone creates a mismatch between the spatial scale of impact and assessment of water resource development. * This paper uses a case study in subtropical Australia to highlight three potential approaches to increasing inference of the impact of fragmentation by barriers on riverine fish. Thorough understanding of life-history and dispersal ecology of fish is necessary to understand and predict the consequences of fragmentation, and comparing patterns of distribution among species with different migration requirements can identify sources of fragmentation. Monitoring patterns in fish assemblages at both the barrier and river network scale increases the strength of inference of the effects of connectivity alteration and management. Experimental removal of artificial barriers would assist in determining the effect of fragmentation by restoring connectivity. Such approaches would improve predictions of connectivity management and underlying drivers of aquatic biodiversity.
    View less >
    Journal Title
    Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems
    Volume
    23
    Issue
    4
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2330
    Subject
    Conservation and Biodiversity
    Environmental Sciences
    Biological Sciences
    Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/59805
    Collection
    • Journal articles

    Footer

    Disclaimer

    • Privacy policy
    • Copyright matters
    • CRICOS Provider - 00233E

    Tagline

    • Gold Coast
    • Logan
    • Brisbane - Queensland, Australia
    First Peoples of Australia
    • Aboriginal
    • Torres Strait Islander