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Influence of Coastal Processes on Large Scale Patterns in Reef Fish Communities of Torres Strait 1995-1996

Australian Ocean Data Network
CSIRO O&A Data Centre (QLD), (Point of contact) CSIRO O&A, Information & Data Centre (Point of contact)
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ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2FANDS&rft_id=https://marlin.csiro.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/e408149e-98c0-722f-e043-08114f8c9a66&rft.title=Influence of Coastal Processes on Large Scale Patterns in Reef Fish Communities of Torres Strait 1995-1996&rft.identifier=Anzlic Identifier: ANZCW0306014320&rft.publisher=Australian Ocean Data Network&rft.description=The fish fauna of the edge of coral reefs in Torres Strait was investigated by underwater visual transects at 276 sites on 41 reefs between August 1995 and January 1996. The fish community contained most common families of tropical Indo-Pacific coral reefs. Acanthurids, Chaetodontids, Pomacentrids and Labrids were the most widespread and speciose families observed. The relative abundance of each species at each site was used to classify sites with multi-dimensional scaling (MDS). The species composition varied strongly across the region with sites classifying into four distinct groups. These represented groups of fish species most abundant on (1) the eastern outer ribbon reefs; (2) the mid- shelf reefs; (3) central Warrior reef complex and (4) the western reefs north of Moa Island. These patterns in fish community structure were related to changes in the relative proportions of the major benthic habitats in each area. Many species tended to be abundant either in areas of high coral cover (eastern outer ribbon reefs) or high algal cover (central and western reefs). Other factors that were correlated with fish species composition included the distance from sources of terrestrial runoff in Papua New Guinea and Cape York, northern Australia. This effect is likely to be indirect, through the influence of runoff of benthic habitats. These results show that fish communities in Torres Strait are strongly structured and influenced by the benthic habitats. The distribution of benthic habitats are in turn heavily influenced by the regional physical processes that occur because of the location of Torres Strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Refer to the published report: Milton DA and Long BG. (1997) Influence of Coastal Processes on Large Scale Patterns in Reef Fish Communities of Torres Strait, Australia. Final Report June 1997 (MR-GIS 97/6). CSIRO Marine Research, Cleveland. 14pp.Progress Code: completedMaintenance and Update Frequency: asNeededStatement: Metadata collated for the Torres Strait Inventory 2013 Project.&rft.creator=Anonymous&rft.date=2013&rft.coverage=westlimit=141.5; southlimit=-11; eastlimit=143; northlimit=-9&rft.coverage=westlimit=141.5; southlimit=-11; eastlimit=143; northlimit=-9&rft_rights=Data is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence, please see link. Data is supplied 'as is' without any warranty or guarantee except as required by law to be given to you. The data may not be free of error, comprehensive, current or appropriate for your particular purpose. You accept all risk and responsibility for its use. ATTRIBUTION STATEMENT: The dataset [Insert-dataset-name-here] downloaded on [Insert-DD-Mmm-YYYY-here] was provided by CSIRO.&rft_subject=biota&rft_subject=environment&rft_subject=oceans&rft_subject=Earth Science | Biological Classification | Animals/Vertebrates | Fish&rft_subject=Earth Science | Biosphere | Ecological Dynamics | Community Dynamics | Community Structure&rft_subject=Underwater Surveys (acquisition and/or analysis)&rft_subject=Marine Features (Australia) | Torres Strait, QLD&rft_subject=Torres Strait Research Repository 2013&rft.type=dataset&rft.language=English Access the data
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Data is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence, please see link. Data is supplied 'as is' without any warranty or guarantee except as required by law to be given to you. The data may not be free of error, comprehensive, current or appropriate for your particular purpose. You accept all risk and responsibility for its use. ATTRIBUTION STATEMENT: The dataset [Insert-dataset-name-here] downloaded on [Insert-DD-Mmm-YYYY-here] was provided by CSIRO.

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The fish fauna of the edge of coral reefs in Torres Strait was investigated by underwater visual transects at 276 sites on 41 reefs between August 1995 and January 1996. The fish community contained most common families of tropical Indo-Pacific coral reefs. Acanthurids, Chaetodontids, Pomacentrids and Labrids were the most widespread and speciose families observed. The relative abundance of each species at each site was used to classify sites with multi-dimensional scaling (MDS). The species composition varied strongly across the region with sites classifying into four distinct groups. These represented groups of fish species most abundant on (1) the eastern outer ribbon reefs; (2) the mid- shelf reefs; (3) central Warrior reef complex and (4) the western reefs north of Moa Island. These patterns in fish community structure were related to changes in the relative proportions of the major benthic habitats in each area. Many species tended to be abundant either in areas of high coral cover (eastern outer ribbon reefs) or high algal cover (central and western reefs). Other factors that were correlated with fish species composition included the distance from sources of terrestrial runoff in Papua New Guinea and Cape York, northern Australia. This effect is likely to be indirect, through the influence of runoff of benthic habitats. These results show that fish communities in Torres Strait are strongly structured and influenced by the benthic habitats. The distribution of benthic habitats are in turn heavily influenced by the regional physical processes that occur because of the location of Torres Strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Refer to the published report: Milton DA and Long BG. (1997) Influence of Coastal Processes on Large Scale Patterns in Reef Fish Communities of Torres Strait, Australia. Final Report June 1997 (MR-GIS 97/6). CSIRO Marine Research, Cleveland. 14pp.

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Progress Code: completed
Maintenance and Update Frequency: asNeeded
Statement: Metadata collated for the Torres Strait Inventory 2013 Project.

Notes

Credit
AFMA - Funding, AusAID - Funding
Credit
D.A. Milton
Credit
B.G. Long

Data time period: 1995-08 to 1996-01-02

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143,-9 143,-11 141.5,-11 141.5,-9 143,-9

142.25,-10

text: westlimit=141.5; southlimit=-11; eastlimit=143; northlimit=-9

Subjects
Earth Science | Biological Classification | Animals/Vertebrates | Fish | Earth Science | Biosphere | Ecological Dynamics | Community Dynamics | Community Structure | Marine Features (Australia) | Torres Strait, QLD | Torres Strait Research Repository 2013 | Underwater Surveys (acquisition and/or analysis) | biota | environment | oceans |

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (Documentation Link)

uri : https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Identifiers
  • Local : Anzlic Identifier: ANZCW0306014320
  • Local : Marlin Record Number: 14320
  • global : e408149e-98c0-722f-e043-08114f8c9a66