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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Hydrology and water temperature influence recruitment dynamics of the threatened silver perch Bidyanus bidyanus in a regulated lowland river

Zeb Tonkin A G , Ivor Stuart A , Adrian Kitchingman A , Jason D. Thiem B F , Brenton Zampatti C , Graeme Hackett A , Wayne Koster A , John Koehn A , John Morrongiello D , Martin Mallen-Cooper E F and Jarod Lyon A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, 123 Brown Street, Heidelberg, Vic. 3084, Australia.

B Department of Primary Industries, Narrandera Fisheries Centre, PO Box 182, Narrandera, NSW 2700, Australia.

C South Australian Research and Development Institute (Aquatic Sciences), PO Box 120, Henley Beach, SA 5022, Australia.

D School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic. 3010, Australia.

E Fishway Consulting Services, Saint Ives, NSW 2075, Australia.

F Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW 2640, Australia.

G Corresponding author. Email: zeb.tonkin@delwp.vic.gov.au

Marine and Freshwater Research 70(9) 1333-1344 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF18299
Submitted: 14 August 2018  Accepted: 7 March 2019   Published: 16 April 2019

Abstract

Understanding the influence of extrinsic factors such as hydrology and hydraulics on recruitment provides essential insight to inform management of fish populations. The critically endangered silver perch Bidyanus bidyanus is a long-lived, potamodromous pelagophil endemic to Australia’s Murray–Darling Basin. Declines of this species are often attributed to river regulation, although quantitative studies linking hydrology and hydraulics to key aspects of its life cycle are sparse. We used a multidecadal age-structured dataset collected from a locally abundant population of silver perch to quantify the relative importance of different abiotic drivers on year-class strength (recruitment). Silver perch recruited across highly variable hydrological conditions. The strongest year classes were associated with a combination of low to average river discharge (i.e. within channel) and high water temperatures over the peak spawning period, followed in the next year by extended high flows and widespread flooding that promoted survival of age-1+ juvenile fish. We suggest that conditions affecting the growth and dispersal of juvenile fish, in addition to the spawning period, are critical in governing recruitment dynamics. This highlights the need for multiyear flow plans for freshwater fish populations.

Additional keywords: age structure, Australian freshwater fish, environmental flows, Murray–Darling Basin, pelagophil, river regulation.


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