Biodiversity Commons^™

Conserving Nature's Chorus: Local And Landscape Features Promoting Frog Species Richness In Farm Dams, Martino E. Malerba, Jodi J L Rowley, Peter I. Macreadie, James Frazer, Nicholas J. Wright, Nayyar Zaidi, Asef Nazari, Dhananjay Thiruvady, Don A. Driscoll

Climate Science Research Articles

Habitat loss is a key factor in the ongoing freshwater biodiversity crisis. A promising way to help tackle the rapid decline in freshwater biodiversity is to improve the potential for artificial wetlands to provide habitat for aquatic wildlife. Farm dams (also known as agricultural ponds) are among the most abundant waterbodies in agricultural landscapes and can act as “oases” against droughts for many species. Despite their prominent role in agriculture, predictive models to evaluate their ecological potential are yet to emerge. Here we use a continental-scale data set of 104,013 audio recordings from citizen scientists to identify and locate 107 …

Houtman Abrolhos Islands Fish Habitat Protection Area: A Summary Of Marine Resource Use And Ecological Attributes, Scott N. Evans, Nick Konzewitsch, Lynda M. Bellchambers

Fisheries research reports

The Houtman Abrolhos Islands (Abrolhos) is an archipelago of up to 210 small islands and associated reefs located approximately 65-90 km offshore from Geraldton, Western Australia (WA). The islands and waters of the Abrolhos are of significance for both land-based and marine based values. The marine state territorial waters of the Abrolhos are managed by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) as the Houtman Abrolhos Islands Fish Habitat Protection Area (Abrolhos FHPA). This report aims to provide a summary of the DPIRD data on aquatic resource use (e.g., aquaculture, commercial, recreational and charter fishing) and ecological attributes …

Otoliths Of South-Western Australian Fish: A Photographic Catalogue, Chris Dowling, Kim Smith, Elaine Lek, Joshua Brown

Fisheries research reports

Due to the species-specific nature of otoliths and given they are often the only part of the fish preserved when fish die, otolith catalogues can be used in numerous applications, such as diet studies in fish eating animals, including pinnipeds, fish and sea birds; archaeological purposes such as reconstructing indigenous people’s diets from otoliths found in middens or evolutionary history of fish species by comparing fossilized otoliths. Given the unique mixture of subtropical and temperate fish, including many endemic species that occur off the southwest corner of WA having a catalogue for this area is extremely important for people working …

Integrated Fisheries Management Draft Allocation Report – West Coast Demersal Scalefish, Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries management papers

No abstract provided.

Likelihood Of Marine Pest Introduction To The Indian Ocean Territories, Justin I. Mcdonald, Samantha D. Bridgwood, Mathew Hourston

Fisheries research reports

The introduction of new species to environments in which they did not evolve has been widely recognised as one of the top five threats to marine ecosystem function and to biodiversity (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005).

Phylogeography Of The Reef Fish Cephalopholis Argus(Epinephelidae) Indicates Pleistocene Isolation Across The Indo-Pacific Barrier With Contemporary Overlap In The Coral Triangle, Michelle R. Gaither, Brian W. Bowen, Tiana-Rae Bordenave, Luiz A. Rocha, Stephen J. Newman, Juan A. Gomez, Lynne Van Herwerden, Matthew T. Craig

Fisheries Research Articles

Background

The Coral Triangle (CT), bounded by the Philippines, the Malay Peninsula, and New Guinea, is the epicenter of marine biodiversity. Hypotheses that explain the source of this rich biodiversity include 1) the center of origin, 2) the center of accumulation, and 3) the region of overlap. Here we contribute to the debate with a phylogeographic survey of a widely distributed reef fish, the Peacock Grouper (Cephalopholis argus; Epinephelidae) at 21 locations (N = 550) using DNA sequence data from mtDNA cytochrome b and two nuclear introns (gonadotropin-releasing hormone and S7 ribosomal protein).

Results

Population structure was significant …

Fisheries Research Report No. 181 - Developing Long-Term Indicators For The Sub-Tidal Embayment Communities Of Cockburn Sound, Danielle Johnston, C. Wakefield, A Sampey, J Fromont, D C. Harris

Fisheries research reports

Swan Catchment Council Project – 01-0506 T 2006 – 2008 program

The geomorphology of Cockburn Sound is unique to the lower west coast of Australia due to the relative paucity of sheltered nearshore marine embayments along this coastline. Numerous studies on many of the commercially and/or recreationally important species that inhabit Cockburn Sound have demonstrated that for many of them this marine embayment constitutes an integral part of their life history. Since the commencement of industrial and urban development in the mid 1950s, in the waters and along the shores of Cockburn Sound, the marine fauna utilising this area have …

Re-Assessment Of Carrying Capacities In The Ashburton River Catchment, Alan L. Payne, A M E Van Vreeswyk, K A. Leighton

Agriculture reports

Potential carrying capacities for land systems in the catchment of the Ashburton River were first estimated in 1983 as a result of a rangeland survey of the area undertaken during 1976, 1977 and 1978. Potential carrying capacity (termed capability capacity in the 1988 report) is a suggested sustainable level of use assuming that all pastures are in good range condition, the entire station is adequately watered for the effective management of livestock and seasonal conditions are average. The Ashburton Land Conservation District Committee had previously requested a re-assessment of carrying capacities for Ashburton stations following the widespread establishment of buffel …

Fisheries Research Report No. 133 - Preliminary Assessment And Seasonal Fluctuations In The Fish Biota Inhabiting The Concentrator Ponds Of Dampier Salt, Port Hedland, With Options For The Potential Application Of Results, Brett Molony, Gareth Parry

Fisheries research reports

The concentrator ponds (CPs) of Dampier Salt, Port Hedland, cover an area in excess of 7 300 ha. Water is pumped from two adjacent, mangrove-lined estuaries at certain times of the year and small and larvae fishes are carried into the ponds, becoming trapped. A survey of the fish biota within the CPs was undertaken at four time periods between May 2000 and February 2001 to identify the species of fishes present and to estimate their abundances and distribution throughout the CPs. Further, the Artemia resources within the CPs were also assessed for identification of species and quality.

Forty two …

Fisheries Research Report No. 134, Vol 1 - Towards An Assessment Of The Natural And Human Use Impacts On The Marine Environment Of The Abrolhos Islands, F J. Webster, C J. Dibden, C F. Chubb

Fisheries research reports

The State Territorial Waters surrounding the Abrolhos Islands are gazetted as a Fish Habitat Protection Area and vested with the Minister for Fisheries under the Fish Resources Management Act 1994. Three Fisheries Management Papers have identified management priorities for the marine environment at the Abrolhos Islands:

• Management of the Houtman Abrolhos System
• Aquaculture Plan for the Houtman Abrolhos Islands
• Sustainable Tourism Plan for the Houtman Abrolhos Islands.

These plans and other national and international obligations to examine the effect of extractive and non-extractive anthropogenic activities on marine habitats (eg. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999) led to …

The Agriculture And Land Description Of The Midlands, Wongan Hills And Dalwallinu Districts Of W.A., D N. Sawkins

Agriculture reports

This report deals with the area of responsibility of the Moora District Office of the W.A. Department of Agriculture. The Moora advisory district consists of seven shires which cover 2,811,400 hectares. Agriculture in the advisory district varies according to climate and soil type, Sheep and cattle production are the main enterprises in the high rainfall (coastal) areas. Mixed cereal sheep production is the main system in the medium and low rainfall areas with cereals increasing in importance as annual rainfall diminishes.

Aspects Of The Ecology Of Fish And Commercial Crustaceans Of The Blackwood River Estuary, Western Australia, R.C. J. Lenanton

Fisheries research bulletins

Beach seine nets, set or mesh nets, otter trawls and plankton nets were used to sample fish and commercial crustaceans every two months over the period March 1974 to March 1975, and again in July 1975 at a number of stations throughout the Blackwood River estuary, Western Australia.

Fish And Crustacea Of The Western Australian South Coast Rivers And Estuaries, R.C. J. Lenanton

Fisheries research bulletins

A one year survey was undertaken to provide a preliminary check list of the fish fauna of the Western Australian south coast rivers and estuarine systems. Crustaceans collected during the survey were also included in the check list.