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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 56(1)

Temporal dynamics of fish assemblages in small seasonal streams in the Queensland tropics

Colton Perna A B C and Richard G. Pearson A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia.

B Present address: Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: colton.perna@jcu.edu.au

Australian Journal of Zoology 56(1) 65-73 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO07040
Submitted: 4 July 2007  Accepted: 4 June 2008   Published: 14 August 2008

Abstract

The structure and dynamics of fish assemblages were studied in two small coastal streams in the seasonal tropics of northern Queensland. The study encompassed two consecutive wet seasons of contrasting flood magnitudes. Flooding had substantial effects on physical habitats by shifting sediments and removing aquatic macrophytes, and short-term changes in the fish assemblages reflected these habitat changes. Changes were of higher magnitude following a one-in-eighteen-year flood than a one-in-one-year flood; however, in both cases return to prior assemblage structure occurred as the dry season progressed, but with more rapid recovery after the smaller event. The stream fish assemblages showed high resilience to the flood disturbance at magnitudes seen in this study.


Acknowledgements

Dr Brad Pusey and Dr Andrew Sheldon kindly commented on a draft of this manuscript. Field assistance was provided by Kerry Greene, Tim Perry and Dr Con Lokkers. We thank land-owners Stan Hazelton and Ed Clements for providing access to the study sites.


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