TY - JOUR
T1 - Contrasting natal origin and movement history informs recovery pathways for three lowland river species following a mass fish kill
AU - Thiem, Jason D.
AU - Baumgartner, Lee J.
AU - Fanson, Ben
AU - Sadekov, Aleksey
AU - Tonkin, Zeb
AU - Zampatti, Brenton P.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding was provided by the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (Contract number MD004886; Recovering the lower Darling) and the Department of Primary Industries – Fisheries.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Journal Compilation
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - Understanding the spatial and temporal scales over which key
population processes occur is fundamental to effective fisheries
management, especially when informing recovery actions following extreme
events. In 2018–19, hypoxia-induced fish kills occurred in the lower
Darling River, south-eastern Australia. We collected carcasses of three
potamodromous species that perished during these events to reconstruct
their lifetime movements and identify potential recovery mechanisms.
Golden perch Macquaria ambigua, Murray cod Maccullochella peelii and silver perch Bidyanus bidyanus otolith 87Sr/86Sr profiles were compared with water 87Sr/86Sr
ratios to better understand natal provenance and movement history, and
to identify the scale at which migration influences population
processes. Golden perch were predominantly locally spawned (Darling
River), although we found some evidence of emigration into the nearby
Murray River early in life and return movements into the Darling River.
Murray cod were mainly locally spawned and thereafter lifelong
residents, with some evidence of stocking supplementing populations.
Silver perch were mostly immigrants, with the Murray River (>500 km
away) the principal source of fish. For recovery of native fish
populations to be effective in the Darling River, recovery actions are
required that incorporate knowledge on the relevant spatial and temporal
scales over which life history processes occur.
AB - Understanding the spatial and temporal scales over which key
population processes occur is fundamental to effective fisheries
management, especially when informing recovery actions following extreme
events. In 2018–19, hypoxia-induced fish kills occurred in the lower
Darling River, south-eastern Australia. We collected carcasses of three
potamodromous species that perished during these events to reconstruct
their lifetime movements and identify potential recovery mechanisms.
Golden perch Macquaria ambigua, Murray cod Maccullochella peelii and silver perch Bidyanus bidyanus otolith 87Sr/86Sr profiles were compared with water 87Sr/86Sr
ratios to better understand natal provenance and movement history, and
to identify the scale at which migration influences population
processes. Golden perch were predominantly locally spawned (Darling
River), although we found some evidence of emigration into the nearby
Murray River early in life and return movements into the Darling River.
Murray cod were mainly locally spawned and thereafter lifelong
residents, with some evidence of stocking supplementing populations.
Silver perch were mostly immigrants, with the Murray River (>500 km
away) the principal source of fish. For recovery of native fish
populations to be effective in the Darling River, recovery actions are
required that incorporate knowledge on the relevant spatial and temporal
scales over which life history processes occur.
KW - hypoxia, river regulation, freshwater fish, otolith microchemistry, strontium isotope.
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U2 - 10.1071/MF20349
DO - 10.1071/MF20349
M3 - Article
VL - 73
SP - 237
EP - 246
JO - Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research
JF - Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research
SN - 0067-1940
IS - 2
ER -