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Effects of an experimental environmental flow release on the diet of fish in a regulated coastal Australian river

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Abstract

Environmental flow rules are developed to provide a flow regime necessary to maintain healthy river and floodplain ecosystems in rivers regulated for human uses. However, few studies have experimentally assessed potential ecological mechanisms causing declines in the health and productivity of freshwater fish assemblages in regulated rivers to inform the development of appropriate environmental flows. We tested whether an experimental flow release in a regulated tributary of the Hunter River, Australia, altered the diet of two widely distributed fish species (Australian smelt Retropinna semoni and Cox’s gudgeon Gobiomorphus coxii) compared with data from unregulated reference and regulated control tributaries. Neither species had significant differences in the number of prey taxa ingested, gut fullness or composition of gut contents due to the environmental flow release (EFR). The diet of R. semoni did not differ significantly between regulated and unregulated tributaries in either catchment. However, the diet of G. coxii differed in only one of the two pairs of rivers consistently across all sample times. Assuming the EFR was sufficient to alter the composition of prey available for consumption by the fish species studied, our findings imply that functional indicators, such as the diet of generalist higher-order consumers, may be more suitable indicators of long-term flow regime change rather than short-term flow events.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this research was provided by the New South Wales Department of Water and Energy (now the NSW Office of Water), the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority, Australian Research Council and NSW Department of Primary Industries. Matthew Maxwell and Maria Rolls provided enthusiastic field support, and many local landholders allowed access to study sites and provided much advice. Sampling was conducted according to the University of New England Animal Ethics Committee requirements (AEC permit 06/003) and the NSW Department of Primary Industries scientific collection permit (P06/0014).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 2351, Australia

    Robert J. Rolls, Andrew J. Boulton, Sally E. Maxwell & Darren S. Ryder

  2. New South Wales Office of Water, P.O. Box U245, Armidale, NSW, 2351, Australia

    Ivor O. Growns & Douglas P. Westhorpe

  3. Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, 4111, Australia

    Robert J. Rolls

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  1. Robert J. Rolls
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Correspondence to Robert J. Rolls.

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Rolls, R.J., Boulton, A.J., Growns, I.O. et al. Effects of an experimental environmental flow release on the diet of fish in a regulated coastal Australian river. Hydrobiologia 686, 195–212 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1012-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1012-5

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