Register      Login
Marine and Freshwater Research Marine and Freshwater Research Society
Advances in the aquatic sciences
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > MF > MF07140
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 59(2)

A field and experimental study on the tolerances of fish to Eucalyptus camaldulensis leachate and low dissolved oxygen concentrations

Damien McMaster A B and Nick Bond A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: damien.mcmaster@sci.monash.edu.au

Marine and Freshwater Research 59(2) 177-185 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF07140
Submitted: 3 August 2007  Accepted: 26 January 2008   Published: 27 February 2008

Abstract

In intermittent streams, deteriorating water quality during drying influences fish survival but the specific effects of individual variables and their interactions are poorly known. During summer 2002 and 2004, fish were surveyed in isolated pools of two lowland intermittent streams in south-east Australia. Despite a low dissolved oxygen (DO, range = 0.4–6.8 mg L–1) and high dissolved organic carbon (DOC, 16–50 mg L–1) concentrations, assemblage composition and abundance of native fish appeared unaffected. In subsequent laboratory experiments, concentrations of DO and DOC were independently manipulated to identify better the tolerance of these species to extremes in environmental conditions. At low DOC concentrations (20 mg L–1), no significant effects were observed. At high DOC concentrations (50, 70 and 80 mg L–1), an interaction was observed between DOC and DO, with significant reductions in resistance (decreased time to loss of buoyancy). At extreme DOC concentrations (99 mg L–1), the effect of DO appeared to have been overridden by a strong effect from DOC (rapid loss of equilibrium). The thresholds observed suggest these species have a high resistance to ‘blackwater events’ caused by leaching of DOC from terrestrial leaf litter. Our findings are consistent with the observed tolerances of fish occupying habitats, both in Australia and elsewhere in the world, where extreme physicochemical conditions are a regular and predictable occurrence.

Additional keywords: blackwater events, Galaxis olidus, Hypseleotris klunzingeri, intermittent streams, Nannoperca australis.


Acknowledgements

Many thanks go to Amanda Lee, Paul Reich, Mike Grace, Matthew Johnson, Sam Lake, Slobodanka Stojkovic-Tadic, Darren Baldwin and David Reid for help in the laboratory and comments on the manuscript. We also thank Andrew Boulton and four anonymous reviewers whose constructive comments significantly improved the manuscript. Nick Bond thanks the eWater CRC for funding support. This research was completed with the permission of the Monash University Animal Ethics Committee.


References

Balcombe, S. R. , and Closs, G. P. (2000). Variation in carp gudgeon (Hypseleotris spp.) catch rate in dense macrophytes. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 15(3), 389–395.
Chang R. (1977). ‘Physical Chemistry with Application to Biological Systems.’ (Macmillian: London.)

Conde, E. , Cadahía, E. , and García-Vallejo, M. C. (1997). Low molecular weight polyphenols in leaves of Eucalyptus camaldulensis, E. globulus and E. rudis. Phytochemical Analysis 8, 186–193.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | McNeil D. G. (2004). Ecophysiology and behaviour of Ovens River floodplain fish: Hypoxia tolerance and the role of the physicochemical environment in structuring Australian billabong fish communities. PhD Thesis, Latrobe University, Melbourne.

McNeil, D. G. , and Closs, G. P. (2007). Behavioural responses of a south-east Australian floodplain fish community to gradual hypoxia. Freshwater Biology 52, 412–420.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Poon W. L., Hung C. Y., Randall D. J. (2002) The effects of aquatic hypoxia on fish. In ‘Fish physiology, toxicology and water quality. Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium, La Paz, B.S.C., Mexico, 22–26 January 2001’. (Ed. R. Thurston.) pp. 31–150. (Ecosystems Research Division: Athens, GA, USA.)

Quinn G. P., and Keough M. J. (2002). ‘Experimental Design and Data Analysis for Biologists.’ (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.)

Reid D. (2007). Input, utilisation and breakdown of River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) detritus in lowland intermittent streams in an agricultural landscape. PhD Thesis, Monash University, Melbourne.

Robb, T. , and Abrahams, M. V. (2003). Variation in tolerance to hypoxia in a predator and prey species: an ecological advantage of being small? Journal of Fish Biology 62, 1067–1081.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Serrano, L. , and Boon, P. I. (1991). Effect of polyphenolic compounds on alkaline phosphate activity: Its implication for phosphorus regeneration in Australian freshwaters. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 123, 1–19.


Steinberg, C. E. W. , Kamara, S. , Prokhotskaya, V. Y. , Manusadžianas, L. , and Karasyova, T. A. , et al. (2006). Dissolved humic substances – ecological driving forces from the individual to the ecosystem level? Freshwater Biology 51, 1189–1210.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Temmink, J. H. M. , Field, J. A. , Van Haastrecht, J. C. , and Merkelbach, R. C. M. (1989). Acute and sub-acute toxicity of bark tannins in carp (Cyprinus carpio L). Water Research 23(3), 341–344.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Towns, D. R. (1985). Limnological characteristics of a South Australian intermittent stream brown-hill creek. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 36(6), 821–838.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Townsend, S. A. , and Edwards, C. A. (2003). A fish kill event, hypoxia and other limnological impacts associated with early wetseason flow into a lake on the Mary River floodplain, tropical northern Australia. Lakes and Reserviors: Research Management 8, 169–176.


Tramer, E. J. (1977). Catastrophic mortality of stream fishes trapped in shrinking pools. American Midland Naturalist 97, 469–478.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Woody, C. A. , Nelson, J. , and Ramstad, K. (2002). Clove oil as an anaesthetic for adult sockeye salmon: field trials. Journal of Fish Biology 60, 340–347.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Wu, R. S. S. (2002). Hypoxia: from molecular responses to ecosystem responses. Marine Pollution Bulletin 45, 35–45.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |

Zhou, B. S. , Wu, R. S. S. , Randall, D. J. , and Lam, P. K. S. (2001). Bioenergetics and RNA/DNA ratios in the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) under hypoxia. Journal of Comparative Physiology. B, Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology 171(1), 49–57.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |