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The Mouths of Estuaries Are Key Transition Zones that Concentrate the Ecological Effects of Predators

  • Special Issue: Concepts and Controversies in Tidal Marsh Ecology Revisited
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Abstract

Whether and how landscape context and habitat traits combine to shape animal assemblages and the rate and distribution of ecological functions remains unresolved in many aquatic settings. Saltmarshes are one such ecosystem in which these considerations are frequently acknowledged as important, but quantitative studies of these effects are rare, especially for ecological functions. In this study, the influence of landscape configuration and habitat traits on the composition of fish assemblages and rates of predation were quantified around 30 saltmarshes in three estuaries (i.e., 10 per estuary) in eastern Australia. Fish assemblages were surveyed using unbaited underwater video cameras, and predation was quantified using videoed “Squidpop” predation assays at 10 sites at each saltmarsh. The structure of fish assemblages was best explained by the estuary in which saltmarsh was located, the proximity of sites to estuary mouth, and the area of nearby saltmarsh and mangroves. Predation was dominated (90% of total predation events) by yellowfin bream Acanthopagrus australis (Sparidae), and so rates of predation correlated positively with yellowfin bream abundance. Predation peaked in the lower reaches of estuaries at saltmarshes with lower vegetation cover. These findings suggest that the mouths of estuaries might function as key transition zones that concentrate prey, the products of trophic relay, and the ecological effects of predators near the estuarine-sea interface.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Cody James and Michael Hardcastle for their contribution to field work, and thank University of the Sunshine Coast for funding.

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  1. School of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, DC, Maroochydore, Queensland, 4558, Australia

    Tyson R. Jones, Christopher J. Henderson, Andrew D. Olds, Thomas A. Schlacher, Brandon J. Hourigan, Lucy A. Goodridge Gaines & Ben L. Gilby

  2. Australian Rivers Institute - Coasts & Estuaries, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, 4222, Australia

    Rod M. Connolly

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Jones, T.R., Henderson, C.J., Olds, A.D. et al. The Mouths of Estuaries Are Key Transition Zones that Concentrate the Ecological Effects of Predators. Estuaries and Coasts 44, 1557–1567 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-020-00862-6

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