Cross-continent comparisons reveal differing environmental drivers of growth of the coral reef fish, Lutjanus bohar

© 2016, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.Biochronologies provide important insights into the growth responses of fishes to past variability in physical and biological environments and, in so doing, allow modelling of likely responses to climate change in the future. We examined spatial variability...

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Main Authors: Ong, J., Rountrey, A., Marriott, R., Newman, Stephen, Meeuwig, J., Meekan, M.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Springer Verlag 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/52180
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author Ong, J.
Rountrey, A.
Marriott, R.
Newman, Stephen
Meeuwig, J.
Meekan, M.
author_facet Ong, J.
Rountrey, A.
Marriott, R.
Newman, Stephen
Meeuwig, J.
Meekan, M.
author_sort Ong, J.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2016, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.Biochronologies provide important insights into the growth responses of fishes to past variability in physical and biological environments and, in so doing, allow modelling of likely responses to climate change in the future. We examined spatial variability in the key drivers of inter-annual growth patterns of a widespread, tropical snapper, Lutjanus bohar, at similar tropical latitudes on the north-western and north-eastern coasts of the continent of Australia. For this study, we developed biochronologies from otoliths that provided proxies of somatic growth and these were analysed using mixed-effects models to examine the historical drivers of growth. Our analyses demonstrated that growth patterns of fish were driven by different climatic and biological factors in each region, including Pacific Ocean climate indices, regional sea level and the size structure of the fish community. Our results showed that the local oceanographic and biological context of reef systems strongly influenced the growth of L. bohar and that a single age-related growth trend cannot be assumed for separate populations of this species that are likely to experience different environmental conditions. Generalised predictions about the growth response of fishes to climate change will thus require adequate characterisation of the spatial variability in growth determinants likely to be found throughout the range of species that have cosmopolitan distributions.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-521802017-10-24T08:05:13Z Cross-continent comparisons reveal differing environmental drivers of growth of the coral reef fish, Lutjanus bohar Ong, J. Rountrey, A. Marriott, R. Newman, Stephen Meeuwig, J. Meekan, M. © 2016, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.Biochronologies provide important insights into the growth responses of fishes to past variability in physical and biological environments and, in so doing, allow modelling of likely responses to climate change in the future. We examined spatial variability in the key drivers of inter-annual growth patterns of a widespread, tropical snapper, Lutjanus bohar, at similar tropical latitudes on the north-western and north-eastern coasts of the continent of Australia. For this study, we developed biochronologies from otoliths that provided proxies of somatic growth and these were analysed using mixed-effects models to examine the historical drivers of growth. Our analyses demonstrated that growth patterns of fish were driven by different climatic and biological factors in each region, including Pacific Ocean climate indices, regional sea level and the size structure of the fish community. Our results showed that the local oceanographic and biological context of reef systems strongly influenced the growth of L. bohar and that a single age-related growth trend cannot be assumed for separate populations of this species that are likely to experience different environmental conditions. Generalised predictions about the growth response of fishes to climate change will thus require adequate characterisation of the spatial variability in growth determinants likely to be found throughout the range of species that have cosmopolitan distributions. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/52180 10.1007/s00338-016-1520-2 Springer Verlag restricted
spellingShingle Ong, J.
Rountrey, A.
Marriott, R.
Newman, Stephen
Meeuwig, J.
Meekan, M.
Cross-continent comparisons reveal differing environmental drivers of growth of the coral reef fish, Lutjanus bohar
title Cross-continent comparisons reveal differing environmental drivers of growth of the coral reef fish, Lutjanus bohar
title_full Cross-continent comparisons reveal differing environmental drivers of growth of the coral reef fish, Lutjanus bohar
title_fullStr Cross-continent comparisons reveal differing environmental drivers of growth of the coral reef fish, Lutjanus bohar
title_full_unstemmed Cross-continent comparisons reveal differing environmental drivers of growth of the coral reef fish, Lutjanus bohar
title_short Cross-continent comparisons reveal differing environmental drivers of growth of the coral reef fish, Lutjanus bohar
title_sort cross-continent comparisons reveal differing environmental drivers of growth of the coral reef fish, lutjanus bohar
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/52180