Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Long and lasting: spatial patterns and temporal trends in a fish community responding to landscape-scale hydrological restoration of a coastal freshwater wetland complex

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Landscape Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Context

Freshwater wetlands, including those in coastal regions, are among the most important, albeit threatened, environments worldwide. Beyond protection, restoration is urgently required to halt the trend of wetland loss. Restoring natural hydrology offers potential to achieve this by landscape-scale rehabilitation of wetland habitat and connectivity for aquatic biodiversity, including freshwater fishes.

Objectives

This study assessed the response of a fish community, across pre-, during and post-restoration periods, to hydrological restoration works within an internationally significant coastal freshwater wetland complex with a history of flow diversion and drainage.

Methods

Biannual sampling of the fish community occurred across five zones of the wetland complex over the pre-, during and post-restoration periods spanning an eight-year timeframe (2012–19).

Results

The study revealed a coastal freshwater wetland harbouring an abundant (179,557 fish caught in this study) and regionally diverse (19 species) fish community, with the catch numerically dominated by native freshwater specialists and diadromous species. Fish community composition and abundance along with species diversity and total abundance responded significantly according to an interaction between zones and the three periods of restoration. Water quality and habitat parameters varied significantly in space and time over the study period, and helps to partially explain the responses of the fish community.

Conclusions

This study provides a practical demonstration on the application of landscape-scale restoration of wetland hydrology and associated rehabilitation of aquatic habitat and connectivity to benefit freshwater fishes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson MJ, Robinson J (2001) Permutation tests for linear models. Australian & New Zealand J Statist 43(1):75–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson MJ, Willis TJ (2003) Cananical analysis of the principal coordinates: A useful method of constrained ordination for ecology. Ecology 84:511–525

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bachmann M (2020) The role of historical sources in the restoration of Long Swamp, Discovery Bay, Victoria. Ecol Manag Restor 21:14–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bachmann M, Farrington L, Veale L (2018) Long Swamp Restoration Trial Evaluation Report: 2014–2017. An assessment of site history, restoration works, eco-hydrological response and future management options. Prepared for the Glenelg Hopkins CMA, by Nature Glenelg Trust, Mumbannar, Victoria

  • Barbier EB, Hacker SD, Kennedy C, Koch EW, Stier AC, Silliman BR (2011) The value of estuarine and coastal ecosystem services. Ecol Monogr 81(2):169–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batzer DP, Sharitz RR (2014) Ecology of Freshwater and Estuarine Wetlands. University of California Press, Oakland

    Google Scholar 

  • Beller EE, Downs PW, Grossinger RM, Orr BK, Salomon MN (2016) From past patterns to future potential: using historical ecology to inform river restoration on an intermittent California river. Landscape Ecol 31(3):581–600

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boon PI (2011) The rehabilitation of coastal wetlands: why small-scale variations in microtopography are critical to success. Australasian Plant Conservation 20(2):9–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Boon PI (2012) Coastal wetlands of temperate eastern Australia: will Cinderella ever go to the ball? Mar Freshw Res 63(10):845–855

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boys CA, Pease B (2017) Opening the floodgates to the recovery of nektonic assemblages in a temperate coastal wetland. Mar Freshw Res 68(6):1023–1035

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carrasco AR, Ferreira Ó, Roelvink D (2016) Coastal lagoons and rising sea level: a review. Earth Sci Rev 154:356–368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman R, Raadik T, Pettigrove V, Hoffmann A (2017) Taking advantage of adaptations when managing threatened species within variable environments: the case of the dwarf galaxias, Galaxiella pusilla (Teleostei, Galaxiidae). Mar Freshw Res 68(1):175–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman R, Raadik T, Whiterod N (2019) Galaxiella toourtkoourt. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T122904035A123382176

  • Copp G (1997) Importance of marinas and off-channel water bodies as refuges for young fishes in a regulated lowland river. Regulated Rivers: Research & Management 13(3):303–307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darwall W, Freyhof J (2016) Lost fishes, who is counting? The extent of the threat to freshwater fish biodiversity. In: Closs G, Krkosek M, Olden J (eds) Conservation of freshwater fishes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 1–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson N, Fluet-Chouinard E, Finlayson C (2018) Global extent and distribution of wetlands: trends and issues. Mar Freshw Res 69(4):620–627

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson N, Van Dam A, Finlayson C, McInnes R (2019) Worth of wetlands: revised global monetary values of coastal and inland wetland ecosystem services. Mar Freshw Res 70:1189–1194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson NC (2014) How much wetland has the world lost? Long-term and recent trends in global wetland area. Mar Freshw Res 65(10):934–941

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Andrade-Tubino MF, Azevedo MCC, Franco TP, Araújo FG (2020) How are fish assemblages and feeding guilds organized in different tropical coastal systems? Comparisons among oceanic beaches, bays and coastal lagoons. Hydrobiologia 847(2):403–419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DELWP (2017) Glenelg Estuary and Discovery Bay Ramsar Site Management Plan. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, East Melbourne, Victoria

    Google Scholar 

  • Dudgeon D, Arthington AH, Gessner MO, Kawabata ZI, Knowler DJ, Lévêque C, Naiman RJ, Prieur‐Richard AH, Soto D, Stiassny ML (2006) Freshwater biodiversity: importance, threats, status and conservation challenges. Biol Rev 81(2):163–182

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Egan EM, Hickford MJ, Schiel DR (2019) Understanding the life histories of amphidromous fish by integrating otolith-derived growth reconstructions, post-larval migrations and reproductive traits. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 29(9):1391–1402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erzini K, Inejih CA, Stobberup KA (2005) An application of two techniques for the analysis of short, multivariate non-stationary time-series of Mauritanian trawl survey data. ICES J Mar Sci 62(3):353–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardner R, Finlayson M (2018) Global wetland outlook: state of the World’s wetlands and their services to people. The Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Gland, Switzerland

    Google Scholar 

  • Gimmi U, Lachat T, Bürgi M (2011) Reconstructing the collapse of wetland networks in the Swiss lowlands 1850–2000. Landscape Ecol 26(8):1071–1083

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gomon MF, Bray DJ, Kuiter RH (2008) Fishes of Australia’s Southern Coast. New Holland Publishers, Sydney

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray CA, Rotherham D, Johnson DD (2011) Consistency of temporal and habitat-related differences among assemblages of fish in coastal lagoons. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 95(4):401–414

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grossinger RM, Striplen CJ, Askevold RA, Brewster E, Beller EE (2007) Historical landscape ecology of an urbanized California valley: wetlands and woodlands in the Santa Clara Valley. Landscape Ecol 22(1):103–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Head L (1987) The Holocene prehistory of a coastal wetland system: Discovery Bay, southeastern Australia. Hum Ecol 15(4):435–462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Head L (1988) Holocene vegetation, fire and environmental history of the Discovery Bay region, south-western Victoria. Aust J Ecol 13(1):21–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herbert ER, Boon P, Burgin AJ et al (2015) A global perspective on wetland salinization: ecological consequences of a growing threat to freshwater wetlands. Ecosphere 6(10):1–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howe AJ, Rodríguez JF, Spencer J, MacFarlane GR, Saintilan N (2010) Response of estuarine wetlands to reinstatement of tidal flows. Mar Freshw Res 61(6):702–713

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hua Y, Cui B, He W, Cai Y (2016) Identifying potential restoration areas of freshwater wetlands in a river delta. Ecol Ind 71:438–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IUCN (2020) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2019–3. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources: www.iucnredlist.org. downloaded 19 January 2020

  • Kingsford RT, Basset A, Jackson L (2016) Wetlands: conservation’s poor cousins. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 26(5):892–916

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kjerfve B (1994) Coastal lagoons. In: Kjerfve B (ed) Coastal Lagoon Processes. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Ligas A, Sartor P, Colloca F (2011) Trends in population dynamics and fishery of Parapenaeus longirostris and Nephrops norvegicus in the Tyrrhenian Sea (NW Mediterranean): the relative importance of fishery and environmental variables. Mar Ecol 32:25–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald JI, Tonkin ZD, Ramsey DS, Kaus AK, King AK, Crook DA (2012) Do invasive eastern gambusia (Gambusia holbrooki) shape wetland fish assemblage structure in south-eastern Australia? Mar Freshw Res 63(8):659–671

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDowall RM (ed) (1996) Freshwater Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Reed Books, Chatswood NSW

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitsch WJ, Gosselink JG (2015) Wetlands. John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreno-Mateos D, Meli P, Vara-Rodríguez MI, Aronson J (2015) Ecosystem response to interventions: lessons from restored and created wetland ecosystems. J Appl Ecol 52(6):1528–1537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicol S, Haynes TB, Fensham R, Kerezsy A (2015) Quantifying the impact of Gambusia holbrooki on the extinction risk of the critically endangered red-finned blue-eye. Ecosphere 6(3):1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pérez-Ruzafa A, Marcos C, Pérez-Ruzafa IM, Pérez-Marcos M (2011) Coastal lagoons:“transitional ecosystems” between transitional and coastal waters. J Coast Conserv 15(3):369–392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pérez-Ruzafa A, Mompeán MC, Marcos C (2007) Hydrographic, geomorphologic and fish assemblage relationships in coastal lagoons. Hydrobiologia 577:107–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pérez-Ruzafa A, Pérez-Ruzafa IM, Newton A, Marcos C (2019) Coastal lagoons: environmental variability, ecosystem complexity, and goods and services uniformity. In: Wolanski E, Day J, Elliott M, Ramesh R (eds) Coasts and Estuaries. Elsevier, New York, pp 253–276

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Perillo G, Wolanski E, Cahoon DR, Hopkinson CS (2018) Coastal Wetlands: An Integrated Ecosystem Approach. Elsevier, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Potter IC, Tweedley JR, Elliott M, Whitfield AK (2015) The ways in which fish use estuaries: a refinement and expansion of the guild approach. Fish Fish 16(2):230–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pyke GH (2008) Plague minnow or mosquito fish? A review of the biology and impacts of introduced Gambusia species. Annu Rev of Ecolo Evol Sys 39:171–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raulings EJ, Morris K, Roache MC, Boon PI (2011) Is hydrological manipulation an effective management tool for rehabilitating chronically flooded, brackish-water wetlands? Freshw Biol 56(11):2347–2369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds M (2007) Preliminary Hydrological Investigation of Long Swamp. La Trobe University, Melbourne, Nelson

    Google Scholar 

  • Runting RK, Lovelock CE, Beyer HL, Rhodes JR (2017) Costs and opportunities for preserving coastal wetlands under sea level rise. Conserv Lett 10(1):49–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saintilan N, Rogers K, Kelleway J, Ens E, Sloane D (2018) Climate change impacts on the coastal wetlands of Australia. Wetlands 38:1–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Simenstad C, Reed D, Ford M (2006) When is restoration not?: Incorporating landscape-scale processes to restore self-sustaining ecosystems in coastal wetland restoration. Ecol Eng 26(1):27–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strayer DL, Dudgeon D (2010) Freshwater biodiversity conservation: recent progress and future challenges. J North Am Benthol Soc 29(1):344–358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taddeo S, Dronova I (2020) Landscape metrics of post-restoration vegetation dynamics in wetland ecosystems. Landscape Ecol 35(2):275–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thioulouse J, Simier M, Chessel D (2004) Simultaneous analysis of a sequence of paired ecological tables. Ecology 85:272–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson RM, King AJ, Kingsford RM, Mac Nally R, Poff NL (2018) Legacies, lags and long-term trends: Effective flow restoration in a changed and changing world. Freshw Biol 63(8):986–995

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Dijk G, Smolders AJ, Loeb R, Bout A, Roelofs JG, Lamers LP (2015) Salinization of coastal freshwater wetlands; effects of constant versus fluctuating salinity on sediment biogeochemistry. Biogeochemistry 126(1–2):71–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verheijen BH, Varner DM, Haukos DA (2018) Effects of large-scale wetland loss on network connectivity of the Rainwater Basin. Nebraska Landscape Ecol 33(11):1939–1951

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vilizzi L (2012) Abundance trends in floodplain fish larvae: the role of annual flow characteristics in the absence of overbank flooding. Fundam Appl Limnol 181(3):215–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vörösmarty CJ, McIntyre PB, Gessner MO et al (2010) Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity. Nature 467(7315):555–561

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wedderburn S, Whiterod N, Gwinn D (2019) Determining the Status of Yarra Pygmy Perch in the Murray–Darling Basin. Report to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office. The University of Adelaide and Aquasave–Nature Glenelg Trust, Adelaide,

  • Whiterod N, Hammer M, Raadik T et al (2019) Nannoperca obscura.The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T39301A123379189

  • Whiterod NS, Hammer MP, Vilizzi L (2015) Spatial and temporal variability in fish community structure in Mediterranean climate temporary streams. Fundam Appl Limnol 187(2):135–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woillez M, Rivoirard J, Petitgas P (2009) Using min/max autocorrelation factors of survey-based indicators to follow the evolution of fish stocks in time. Aquat Living Resour 22(2):193–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu Y, Zhang G, Rousseau AN (2019) Quantitative assessment on basin-scale hydrological services of wetlands. Science China Earth Sciences:1–13

  • Zeug S, Winemiller K (2008) Relationships between hydrology, spatial heterogeneity, and fish recruitment dynamics in a temperate floodplain river. River Res Applic 24(1):90–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao Q, Bai J, Huang L, Gu B, Lu Q, Gao Z (2016) A review of methodologies and success indicators for coastal wetland restoration. Ecol Ind 60:442–452

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuur AF, Fryer RJ, Jolliffe IT, Dekker R, Beukema JJ (2003a) Estimating common trends in multivariate time series using dynamic factor analysis Environmetrics: The Official Journal of the International Environmetrics Society 14(7):665–685

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuur AF, Ieno EN, Smith GM (2007) Analysing Ecological Data. Springer, Netherlands

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Zuur AF, Tuck ID, Bailey N (2003b) Dynamic factor analysis to estimate common trends in fisheries time series. Canadian Journal of fsheries and Aquatic Sciences 60(5):542–552

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was partially funded by the Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority (Glenelg Hopkins CMA), which was supplemented by internal funding and volunteer effort from Nature Glenelg Trust. We thank landowners and Parks Victoria for access to some sampling sites. Field assistance was provided by Luke Albury, Caleb Bachmann, Dale Bachmann, Marie Bisson, Travis Brown, Tim Carew, Daniel Deppeler, Tom Ferguson, Ruan Gannon, Dane Handreck, Toni Haywood, Lachie Hetherington, Tom Hiatt, Sheryl Holliday, Lauren Kivisalu, Callum La Spina, Ryan Little, Adam Mattner, Mitchell McMaster, Braden Mitchell, Dan McLeod, Patrick Pickett, Brien Roberts, Dave Ryan, Eddie Saievi, Michelle Sargent, Lu-Wei Spinks, Rose Thompson, Jonathan Tuck, Liam Turner, Rob Veale, Gaye Veale, Elijah Wood and Cory Young. Thanks to Jarred Obst (Glenelg Hopkins CMA) for the provision of information on the status of the Glenelg River mouth. We thank the Editor-in-Chief Jianguo (Jingle) Wu and two anonymous reviewers for constructive feedback on the manuscript. All sampling was conducted in accordance with necessary permits (Victorian Fisheries Authority General Research Permit (RP1172)) and approvals (Wildlife and Small Institutions Animal Ethics Committee Approval (09.19); National Parks Act, Wildlife Act 1975 and Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 Research Permit (10009076)).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aquasave−Nature Glenelg Trust, Victor Harbor, South Australia, 5211, Australia

    Nick S. Whiterod

  2. Nature Glenelg Trust, Warrnambool, VIC, 3280, Australia

    Lauren Brown & Lachlan Farrington

  3. Nature Glenelg Trust, Mount Gambier, South Australia, 5290, Australia

    Mark Bachmann

  4. Department of Ecology and Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland

    Lorenzo Vilizzi

Authors
  1. Nick S. Whiterod
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lauren Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mark Bachmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lachlan Farrington
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Lorenzo Vilizzi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nick S. Whiterod.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Whiterod, N.S., Brown, L., Bachmann, M. et al. Long and lasting: spatial patterns and temporal trends in a fish community responding to landscape-scale hydrological restoration of a coastal freshwater wetland complex. Landscape Ecol 36, 1511–1532 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-021-01219-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-021-01219-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation