Connectivity of fish assemblages between shallow water environments
Mangroves and seagrass beds provide food and shelter to a diverse range of coral reef fish. They are well known as nursery grounds but also support their own unique assemblages. Fish communities migrate between these coastal fringe habitats and reefs under influence of the tide, season, daylight or the stage in their lifecycle. Understanding the movements of fish between these environments will assist in the sustainable management of local fisheries, which is of rapidly increasing concern since these environments are under threat from deforestation, overfishing and destructive aquaculture practices.
Molecular diversity & phylogeography of mangrove fish species
Understanding how gene flow moves through and between coastal fringe environments is crucial for determining the susceptibility of fish populations to negative impacts, such as disease or habitat loss. Genetic diversity, as result of geographical proximity or isolation of keystone fish (such as orbicular cardinalfish) and commercially important species (such as rabbitfish & barracuda) inhabiting mangrove forests are being assessed by the CRRU across wide spatial scales using molecular techniques.
Seagrass photophysiology
Seagrasses are land plants that have returned to a submerged marine existence. As such, many challenges exist for seagrasses to optimise productivity and growth as well as tolerate routine exposure to extremes of temperature, light and desiccation. With increasing anthropogenic pressure in the coastal zone, such ‘pressure’ is becomes detrimental to seagrass viability. The CRRU is currently involved with researching the photosynthetic mechanisms involved with seagrass acclimation to climate change, including coastal sedimentation, elevated nutrient (pollutant) inputs and ocean acidification.
