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The Importance of Regional, System-Wide and Local Spatial Scales in Structuring Temperate Estuarine Fish Communities

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Abstract

An extensive literature base worldwide demonstrates how spatial differences in estuarine fish assemblages are related to those in the environment at (bio)regional, estuary-wide or local (within-estuary) scales. Few studies, however, have examined all three scales, and those including more than one have often focused at the level of individual environmental variables rather than scales as a whole. This study has identified those spatial scales of environmental differences, across regional, estuary-wide and local levels, that are most important in structuring ichthyofaunal composition throughout south-western Australian estuaries. It is the first to adopt this approach for temperate microtidal waters. To achieve this, we have employed a novel approach to the BIOENV routine in PRIMER v6 and a modified global BEST test in an alpha version of PRIMER v7. A combination of all three scales best matched the pattern of ichthyofaunal differences across the study area (ρ = 0.59; P = 0.001), with estuary-wide and regional scales accounting for about twice the variability of local scales. A shade plot analysis showed these broader-scale ichthyofaunal differences were driven by a greater diversity of marine and estuarine species in the permanently-open west coast estuaries and higher numbers of several small estuarine species in the periodically-open south coast estuaries. When interaction effects were explored, strong but contrasting influences of local environmental scales were revealed within each region and estuary type. A quantitative decision tree for predicting the fish fauna at any nearshore estuarine site in south-western Australia has also been produced. The estuarine management implications of the above findings are highlighted.

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Notes

  1. While both of these studies did include measurements for the latitude and/or longitude of each estuary to capture their geographical differences, these data were continuous rather than categorical and thus did not reflect a regional-scale classification, e.g. a grouping of estuaries according to bioregion.

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Acknowledgments

The Australian Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and Murdoch University are gratefully acknowledged for funding this research. We also thank Michelle Wildsmith, Mathew Hourston, Natasha Coen, Thea Linke and Christopher Hallett for their assistance with field sampling and construction of environmental data sets. KRC acknowledges his Honorary Fellowship position at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK, and an adjunct Professorial position at Murdoch University, Western Australia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research, Murdoch University, South St, Murdoch, Perth, WA, 6150, Australia

    F. J. Valesini, J. R. Tweedley, K. R. Clarke & I. C. Potter

  2. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, West Hoe, Plymouth, PL 3DH, UK

    K. R. Clarke

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  1. F. J. Valesini
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  2. J. R. Tweedley
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  3. K. R. Clarke
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Correspondence to F. J. Valesini.

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Communicated by Josianne G. Støttrup

Appendix

Appendix

Table 2 Mean density (number of fish 100 m−2) and standard deviation (given in superscript values) of each fish species in each fish group (B–AB) identified in the Swan–Canning and Peel–Harvey estuaries (located on the west coast) and the Broke, Wilson and Wellstead estuarine systems (located on the south coast) in south-western Australia. Fish groups are ordered by region and, within each region, by their Bray–Curtis similarities. The estuarine usage functional guild for each species (sensu Potter et al. 2013) in south-western Australia is given after each species name, i.e. marine category (MS marine straggler, MEO marine estuarine-opportunist), estuarine category (E solely estuarine, EM estuarine and marine, EF estuarine and freshwater), diadromous category (SA semi-anadromous), freshwater category (FS freshwater straggler, FEO freshwater estuarine-opportunist)
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Valesini, F.J., Tweedley, J.R., Clarke, K.R. et al. The Importance of Regional, System-Wide and Local Spatial Scales in Structuring Temperate Estuarine Fish Communities. Estuaries and Coasts 37, 525–547 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-013-9720-2

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