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Habitat research and resource partitioning in marine waters

 

Research leaders:

Ian Potter, Fiona Valesini and Margaret Platell
Research team:

Alexia Bivoltsis, Tash Coen, David Fairclough, Norm Hall, Matt Hourston, Elaine Lek and Michelle Wildsmith

 

Key research

  • Fiona Valesini - Development of a quantitative approach for identifying different habitat types in nearshore marine waters along the lower west coast of Australia.
  • Fiona Valesini, Tash Coen, Mat Hourston and Michelle Wildsmith - Determining the relationships between those habitat types and the compositions of their fish and invertebrate (zooplankton, hyperbenthic invertebrates, meiofauna and benthic macroinvertebrate) assemblages.
  • Margaret Platell - Development of an understanding of the key dietary components of fish species in nearshore waters, and in other environments.
  • Matt Hourston - Identification of nematodes to unheard of levels, carried out in conjunction with Dr Richard Warwick (Plymouth Marine Laboratory).
  • Fiona Valesini and Ian Potter - Production of a predictive mechanism, whereby environmental and fisheries managers can identify quantitatively the habitat type to which any nearshore marine site belongs and the fauna that it is likely to contain.
  • David Fairclough - Determination, using underwater visual census, of the ways in which species of tuskfish (Labridae) use different habitats in Shark Bay, on the central west coast of Australia.
  • David Fairclough, Ian Potter, Alexia Bivoltsis and Russ Babcock (CSIRO/SRFME) - Determination of the distribution, abundance and diversity of fish species in different habitats, i.e. reefs (using underwater visual census and baited underwater video), seagrass and unvegetated habitats, and also in different regions and management zones of the Jurien Bay Marine Park.
  • Elaine Lek - Diet studies of three co-occurring labrids in Jurien Bay.

Main funding bodies

Fisheries Research and Development Corporation

Department of Fisheries Western Australia

Strategic Research Fund for the Marine Environment

Related publications

Fairclough, D.V., Hesp, S.A., Potter, I.C. and Hall, N.G. 2003. Determination of the biological parameters required for managing the fisheries of four species of tuskfish and western yellowfin bream. FRDC Final Report (2000/137).
Hourston, M., Platell, M.E., Potter, I.C. and Valesini, F.J. 2004. Factors influencing the diets of four morphologically divergent fish species in nearshore marine waters. J. mar. Biol. Ass. U.K. 84, 805-817.
Linke, T.E., Platell, M.E. and Potter, I.C. 2001. Factors influencing the partitioning of food resources among six fish species in a large embayment with juxtaposing bare sand and seagrass habitats. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 266, 193-217.
Platell, M.E. and Potter, I.C. 1996, Influence of water depth, season, habitat and estuary location on the macrobenthic fauna of a seasonally closed estuary. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 76, 1-21.
Platell, M.E. and Potter, I.C. 2001. Partitioning of food resources amongst 18 abundant benthic carnivorous fish species in marine waters on the lower west coast of Australia. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 261, 31-54.
Schafer, L.N., Platell, M.E., Valesini, F.J. and Potter, I.C. 2002. Comparisons between the influence of habitat type, season and body size on the dietary compositions of fish species in nearshore marine waters. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 278, 67-92.
Valesini, F.J., Clarke, K.R., Eliot, I. and Potter, I.C. 2003. A user-friendly quantitative approach to classifying nearshore marine habitats along a heterogeneous coast. Estuarine and Coastal Shelf Science 57, 163-177.
Valesini, F., Potter, I.C. and Clarke, K.R. 2004. To what extent are the fish compositions at nearshore sites along a heterogeneous coast related to habitat type? Estuar. Cstl Shelf Sci. 60 : 737-754.
Wildsmith, M.D., Potter, I.C., Valesini, F.J. and Platell, M.E. 2005. Do the assemblages of macroinvertebrates in nearshore waters of Western Australia vary among habitat types, zones and seasons? J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K. 85: 217-232.
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