Journal ArticleDOI
Submerged oceanic shoals of north Western Australia are a major reservoir of marine biodiversity
TLDR
This paper provides a first assessment of fish communities associated with the submerged oceanic banks and shoals in north-west Australia, and made regional comparisons of fish community structure (species composition, richness and abundance) and assessed the influence of depth, substrate and location.Abstract:
This paper provides a first assessment of fish communities associated with the submerged oceanic banks and shoals in north-west Australia. Until recently, little was known about these deeper and more inaccessible reefs. The mesophotic coral-reef habitats (20–80 m) were a major reservoir of marine biodiversity, with unique and exceptionally high fish diversity and abundance. Species richness in the study region was 1.4 times, and abundance almost twice, that recorded for similar mesophotic habitats on the Great Barrier Reef in north-east Australia. A review of the published literature revealed that Australia’s NW oceanic shoals support the highest fish species richness reported for mesophotic reefs to date. We made regional comparisons of fish community structure (species composition, richness and abundance) and assessed the influence of depth, substrate and location. The presence of consolidated calcareous reef, depth and aspect (a surrogate for exposure) had the greatest influence on species richness. In contrast, aspect and the presence of benthic biota had the greatest influence on fish abundance. Sites most exposed to the prevailing currents (facing north-east) had lowest fish abundance, while highest abundances were recorded on moderately exposed sites (along the north-west and south-east edges). The most abundant species were small (Pomacentrus coelestis) and large (Naso hexacanthus) planktivorous fish. Currently, 29.3% of NE Australia mesophotic reefs are within no-take management zones of the Great Barrier Reef. In contrast, just 1.3% of the NW oceanic shoals are designated as no-take areas. The location and extent of mesophotic reefs remain poorly quantified globally. Because these habitats support significant biodiversity and have the potential to act as important refugia, understanding their extent is critical to maintaining coral-reef biodiversity and resilience and supporting sustainable management.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Baseline assessment. Report of a company wide risk factor survey.
TL;DR: Completing a heart health survey of risk factor prevalence among a working population will give occupational health professionals a basis on which to set goals and objectives for effective CVD intervention programs.
Journal ArticleDOI
Biodiversity and spatial patterns of benthic habitat and associated demersal fish communities at two tropical submerged reef ecosystems
Muhammad Azmi Abdul Wahab,Ben Radford,Mike Cappo,Jamie Colquhoun,Marcus Stowar,Martial Depczynski,Karen Miller,Andrew Heyward +7 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors quantified the benthic and fish communities of two proximate, predominantly mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs), Glomar Shoal and Rankin Bank, which are geographically isolated from other similar features in the region.
Journal ArticleDOI
Shoal environment as a biodiversity hotspot: A case from the Barremian-Albian strata of Gabal Lagama (North Sinai, Egypt)
TL;DR: In this article, the facies architecture of the Barremian-Albian succession of Gabal Lagama (North Sinai, Egypt) represents high-energy carbonates deposited on a complex oolite shoal.
Journal ArticleDOI
A comparison of marine communities along a subsea pipeline with those in surrounding seabed areas
Dianne L. McLean,Dianne L. McLean,Katherine Cure,M.A. Abdul Wahab,Ronen Galaiduk,Matthew J. Birt,Brigit Vaughan,Jamie Colquhoun,Mark Case,Ben Radford,Ben Radford,Marcus Stowar,S. Harries,Andrew Heyward,Karen Miller +14 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated fish and benthic communities along a ca.345 km section of offshore pipeline in remote northern Australia to compare pipeline communities with those in surrounding areas and provide context for decommissioning risk assessments.
References
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vegan: Community Ecology Package
Jari Oksanen,F. Guillaume Blanchet,Roeland Kindt,Pierre Legendre,Peter R. Minchin,Robert B. O'Hara,Gavin Simpson,Péter Sólymos,M. Henry H. Stevens,Helene H. Wagner +9 more
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A new method for non-parametric multivariate analysis of variance
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Species assemblages and indicator species:the need for a flexible asymmetrical approach
Marc Dufrêne,Pierre Legendre +1 more
TL;DR: A new and simple method to find indicator species and species assemblages characterizing groups of sites, and a new way to present species-site tables, accounting for the hierarchical relationships among species, is proposed.
Journal ArticleDOI
Climate Change and Distribution Shifts in Marine Fishes
TL;DR: It is shown that the distributions of both exploited and nonexploited North Sea fishes have responded markedly to recent increases in sea temperature, with nearly two-thirds of species shifting in mean latitude or depth or both over 25 years.