Climate change hits southeast Australia fish species
ScienceDaily (Sep. 27, 2010) — Scientists are reporting significant changes in the distribution of coastal fish species in southeast Australia which they say are partly due to climate change. CSIRO’s Climate Adaptation and Wealth from Oceans Flagships have identified 43 species, representing about 30 per cent of the inshore fish families occurring in the region, that exhibited shifts thought to be climate-related. These include warm temperate surf-zone species such as Silver Drummer and Rock Blackfish that are breeding and have become more abundant, and range increases in Snapper and Rock Flathead. There is also a greater abundance of warm water tunas and billfishes and occasional visits from Queensland Groper and Tiger Sharks. “Furthermore, up to 19 species, or 5 per cent, of Tasmanian coastal fish fauna have undergone serious declines or are possibly extinct locally,” says the Curator of the Australian National Fish Collection, Dr Peter Last. “At the same time many warm temperate species have moved in and colonised the cool temperate Tasmanian region. “Shifts in the distribution of marine animals in response to climate change can be detrimental to some species. The problem is that in southern Tasmania, shallow cold water species have nowhere to escape warmer conditions in the sea,” Dr Last says. Particularly at risk are species such as the Maugean Skate, which is now confined to Port Davey and Macquarie Harbour in Tasmania’s southwest. Dr Last and his colleagues from CSIRO and the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute outline the changes in a research paper published in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography. …
