Do native invasions challenge Australian fisheries species?

Funding: 2017: $27,825

Project Member(s): Booth, D.

Funding or Partner Organisation: Australian Research Council (ARC Discovery Projects)

Start year: 2017

Summary: Summary: We tackle the Research Priority ‘Environmental change’ by innovatively analysing an 11-18 year dataset to reveal the drivers of successful native invasions, experimentally evaluating their effect on fish diversity and productivity, and developing holistic models that forecast their impacts on the near-future distribution and stocks of inshore fisheries species. In a changing world where many people depend on oceans for food and livelihood, predicting the future distribution of fisheries species is one of the big challenges we face. Many inshore fisheries species are being stressed simultaneously by native invasions and ocean warming, but rigorous empirical data and models that can provide reliable forecasts of these impacts are lacking. Impact Statement: Accurate forecasts are important for how and where we fish and source our seafood in the near future. Traditional correlative models that forecast future species distributions have limited power because they exclude species interactions and key physical drivers other than temperature increase. Holistic models that integrate biological and physical drivers are urgently needed to enable successful predictions of the risks faced under a changing climate by fisheries species on which humans depend.

Publications:

Kingsbury, KM, Gillanders, BM, Booth, DJ, Coni, EOC & Nagelkerken, I 2020, 'Range-extending coral reef fishes trade-off growth for maintenance of body condition in cooler waters', Science of The Total Environment, vol. 703, pp. 134598-134598.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Keywords: Native fish invasions; fisheries; seagrass; rocky reef

FOR Codes: Effects of Climate Change and Variability on Australia (excl. Social Impacts), Marine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity, Climate Change Models, Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology), Ecological Impacts of Climate Change, Ecological impacts of climate change and ecological adaptation, Marine biodiversity, Effects of climate change on Australia (excl. social impacts)

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.