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Marine and Freshwater Research Marine and Freshwater Research Society
Advances in the aquatic sciences
Marine and Freshwater Research

Marine and Freshwater Research

Volume 63 Number 4 2012

MF11169 Negative effects of exotic pine invasion on macroinvertebrate communities in southern Brazil coastal ponds

Cristina Stenert, Roberta C. Bacca, Aline B. Moraes, Arthur C. de Ávila and Leonardo Maltchik
pp. 283-292

Exotic pine invasion has been a concern in southern Brazil and its impacts on aquatic biodiversity are poorly known. The main goal of this study was to determine the impact of pine invasion on macroinvertebrate communities in southern Brazil ponds. The pine occurrence decreased the macroinvertebrate richness and abundance, and changed their composition. The removal of pine trees is crucial to aquatic biodiversity conservation.


The subsurface sediments of stream ecosystems should provide refuge for invertebrates during extreme flows, but evidence for refuge use is equivocal. This review considers whether invertebrates respond to flow extremes by digging deeper, and concludes that they might – but only if certain criteria are met. The subsurface sediments therefore require careful management to maximise their natural capacity to provide refuge.


Methodological and analytical issues surrounding acoustic tracking, a common technique for studying movements of marine organisms, were assessed in this paper. Detection rates varied temporally, depending on a range of environmental conditions as well as transmitter power. These results were then utilised to provide a modified position estimate technique that provided good levels of accuracy when trialled.


Aquatic ecosystems in inland Australia are hot spots for tourism and recreation. We surveyed land managers and tour operators and found that visitor use of inland waterbodies is critical both environmentally, because visitors can have impacts, and economically, as tourism and recreation activities support many inland settlements. Tourism and recreation needs to be incorporated into future water planning in inland Australia.


This study utilises a novel data-processing technique to define temporal patterns within the movements of acoustically tagged freshwater whiprays detected by static underwater receivers. The technique is effectual in identifying and quantifying the relationship between temporal patterns in animal movement and abiotic processes, and is effective even when gaps exist within the animal location data.

MF11190 Use of aquatic plants to create fluctuating hypoxia in an experimental environment

Nicole Flint, Richard G. Pearson and Michael R. Crossland
pp. 351-360

Hypoxia is a major cause of fish kills and reduced fish diversity worldwide, and has multiple effects on fish health and behaviour, which are traditionally studied in laboratory environments. This paper presents a novel approach to creating fluctuating hypoxia in laboratory aquaria, using aquatic plants as nocturnal oxygen consumers. The method simulates field conditions in waterways with high plant biomass, allowing for realistic and interpretable experiments.

MF11213 The proteomes of Sydney rock oysters vary spatially according to exposure to acid sulfate runoff

Valter Amaral, Emma L. Thompson, Melanie J. Bishop and David A. Raftos
pp. 361-369

Acidic runoff from acid sulfate soils causes major environmental and economic impacts on estuarine ecosystems around the world. We used wild oysters to understand the molecular underpinnings of responses to acidic runoff and document for the first time differentially expressed proteins associated with it. Such proteins may help to unveil short-term inducible responses or genetic resistance acquired through recurrent exposure of populations to environmental stressors.

MF11208 A foraminiferal proxy record of 20th century sea-level rise in the Manukau Harbour, New Zealand

Hugh R. Grenfell, Bruce W. Hayward, Ritsuo Nomura and Ashwaq T. Sabaa
pp. 370-384

The sea-level history from New Zealand salt-marsh sediments was investigated using a foraminiferal proxy, Transect sample faunas were used as a training set to generate a transfer function for estimating past tidal elevations in two short cores nearby. The first proxy-based 20th century rates of sea-level rise from New Zealand’s North Island at ~0.3 cm year–1 are estimated.

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