A compendium of ecological knowledge for restoration of freshwater fishes in Australia

John D Koehn,Pam Clunie,Brett A Ingram,Jordi Ryall,Brenton P Zampatti,Clayton Sharpe,Zeb Tonkin,Iain Ellis,Matthew Mclellan,Jason D Thiem,Christopher M Bice,Charles R Todd,Qifeng Ye,Kate Burndred,Mark Lintermans,Michael Hutchison,Heleena Bamford,Luke Pearce,Scott Raymond ,Martin Mallen‐Cooper ,Jamin Forbes ,Gavin L Butler ,Stephen Richard Balcombe ,Wayne Koster ,Daniel Stoessel ,Ivor G Stuart ,Jarod Lyon ,Anthony M Townsend ,Lee J Baumgartner

doi:10.1071/mf20127

Abstract

Many freshwater fishes are imperilled globally, and there is a need for easily accessible, contemporary ecological knowledge to guide management. This compendium contains knowledge collated from over 600 publications and 27 expert workshops to support the restoration of 9 priority native freshwater fish species, representative of the range of life-history strategies and values in south-eastern Australia’s Murray–Darling Basin. To help prioritise future research investment and restoration actions, ecological knowledge and threats were assessed for each species and life stage. There is considerable new knowledge (80% of publications used were from the past 20 years), but this varied among species and life stages, with most known about adults, then egg, juvenile and larval stages (in that order). The biggest knowledge gaps concerned early life stage requirements, survival, recruitment, growth rates, condition and movements. Key threats include reduced longitudinal and lateral connectivity, altered flows, loss of refugia, reductions in both flowing (lotic) and slackwater riverine habitats, degradation of wetland habitats, alien species interactions and loss of aquatic vegetation. Examples and case studies illustrating the application of this knowledge to underpin effective restoration management are provided. This extensive ecological evidence base for multiple species is presented in a tabular format to assist a range of readers.

Highlights

Freshwater biota and their ecosystems are under severe threat and in need of conservation and restoration (Dudgeon et al 2006; Flitcroft et al 2019)
Given the poor and declining status of native fish populations in the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB), there is an urgent need for restoration policy, management and community actions; we cannot just manage for the status quo
This paper offers direction and scientific support to maximise restoration outcomes by providing an accessible compendium of up-to-date ecological knowledge

Summary

Introduction

Freshwater biota and their ecosystems are under severe threat and in need of conservation and restoration (Dudgeon et al 2006; Flitcroft et al 2019). Natural resource management should be guided by cohesive, contemporary science (Ryder et al 2010), but incorporating ecological knowledge into practical management strategies, and investment and action plans, remains a challenge. This can be due to several factors, including scientific knowledge quickly being superseded (Stoffels et al 2018) and managers considering scientific literature time consuming to read and complex to interpret (Pullin et al 2004). Much research is confined to a single species or site, resulting in disparate knowledge sources with findings that may not be transferable system wide, or applicable to multispecies or multisite management efforts. There is a need to consolidate the outcomes of research (Cooke et al 2017) and to improve knowledge transfer between researchers and managers (Cvitanovic et al 2015)

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