Fish communities and habitat changes in the highly modified Goulburn Catchment, Victoria, Australia
Carmel A. Pollino A C , Pat Feehan B , Michael R. Grace A and Barry T. Hart AA Water Studies Centre, Monash University, Vic. 3800, Australia.
B Goulburn-Murray Water, PO Box 165, Tatura, Vic. 3616, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: carmel.pollino@sci.monash.edu.au
Marine and Freshwater Research 55(8) 769-780 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF03180
Submitted: 21 October 2003 Accepted: 10 September 2004 Published: 16 November 2004
Abstract
Evidence for the decline in native fish communities in the lowland Goulburn Catchment has been based primarily on studies investigating changes to environmental conditions as a result of river regulation. The present study aggregates historical fisheries data to spatially compare native fish communities in different parts of the catchment. Multivariate analyses demonstrate that distinctly different community compositions are found in different parts of the catchment. Eildon Dam, a deep release reservoir, has drastically altered the hydrology and water quality of the upper Goulburn River, and ordination analyses show that this has created both physical and artificial barriers to movement of native fish into the main channel. Concurrently, fisheries data from the upper main channel show the community is highly divergent compared to the remaining catchment. Further downstream, Goulburn Weir creates a barrier to fish movement between Lake Nagambie and the lower Goulburn Catchment, and alters the natural hydrological regime. Similarity Percentage analyses demonstrate that these stressors have facilitated the establishment of alien species, which dominate fish abundance in the upper and lower main channels. The current study emphasises the need to explore alternatives for improving management strategies to rehabilitate fish communities throughout the Goulburn Catchment.
Extra keywords: flow regime, regulated river, temperature, water quality.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge the Arthur Rylah Institute (DSE), the Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute (DPI), and the Nagambie Angling Club for providing the fisheries data. We also thank John Harris for his advice on data analyses and the two anonymous referees for their comments. The current study was funded by Goulburn-Murray Water and the National Program for Sustainable Irrigation, a programme of Land and Water Australia.
Arthington, A. H. , and Pusey, B. (2003). Flow restoration and protection in Australian rivers. River Research and Applications 19, 377–395.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Erskine, W. D. (1996). Downstream hydrogeomorphic impacts of Eildon reservoir on the mid-Goulburn River, Victoria. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 108, 1–15.
Humphries, P. , King, A. J. , and Koehn, J. D. (1999). Fish, flows and flood plains: links between freshwater fishes and their environment in the Murray-Darling River system, Australia. Environmental Biology of Fishes 56, 129–151.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Lohr, S. C. , and Fausch, K. D. (1997). Multiscale analysis of natural variability in stream fish assemblages of a western great plains watershed. Copeia 4, 706–724.
Meador, M. R. , Brown, L. R. , and Short, T. (2003). Relations between introduced fish and environmental conditions at large geographic scales. Ecological Indicators 3, 81–92.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Poff, L. N. , Allan, J. D. , Bain, M. B. , Karr, J. R. , Prestegaard, K. L. , Richter, B. D. , Sparks, R. E. , and Stromberg, J. C. (1997). The natural flow regime: A paradigm for river conservation and restoration. Bioscience 47, 769–784.
Stanford, J. A. , Ward, J. V. , Liss, W. J. , Frissell, C. A. , Williams, R. M. , Lichatowich, J. A. , and Coutant, C. C. (1996). A general protocol for restoration of regulated rivers. Regulated Rivers: Research Management 12, 391–413.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Weaver, M. J. , Magnuson, J. J. , and Clayton, M. K. (1993). Analyses for differentiating littoral fish assemblages with catch data from multiple sampling gears. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 122, 1111–1119.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | for definition of site symbols
![Click to zoom Click to zoom](/temp/MF03180_A1.gif)