Journal article
Urbanisation and Fishing Alter the Body Size and Functional Traits of a Key Fisheries Species
Estuaries and Coasts, Vol.43(8), pp.2170-2181
2020
Abstract
Human pressures on ecosystems from landscape transformation and harvesting can result in changes to body size and functional traits of affected species. However, these effects remain very poorly understood in many settings. Here we examine whether and how fishing and the attributes of coastal seascapes can operate in concert to change the body size and functional traits of the giant mud crab, Scylla serrata; a prized fisheries species. We captured 65 legal sized (> 15 cm carapace width) male giant mud crabs from 13 estuaries in southeast Queensland, Australia. These estuaries span a wide range of fishing and catchment landscape transformation intensity. We made a total of 9000 external morphometric measurements in the study. There was a distinct effect of estuarine landscape context on body size, with the largest individuals captured from systems with bigger inlets and lower extent of intertidal flats. Variation in functional traits was most often associated with variation in fishing pressure and human population size in the catchment. Crabs from areas with less commercial fishing pressure and lower human populations in the catchment had the largest chelipeds. We also found effects of urbanisation (negative correlations), intertidal flats (inconsistent effects) and mangrove extent (positive correlations) on the size of some functional traits. Our results show that human pressures can have sublethal effects on animals in estuaries that alter body size and functional traits. These phenotypic responses might have consequences for the fitness and ecological roles of targeted species, and the yields of fisheries catches.
Details
- Title
- Urbanisation and Fishing Alter the Body Size and Functional Traits of a Key Fisheries Species
- Authors
- Ben L Gilby (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science and Engineering - LegacyAndrew D Olds (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science and Engineering - LegacyFelicity E Hardcastle (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science and Engineering - LegacyChristopher J Henderson (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science and Engineering - LegacyRod M Connolly (Author) - Griffith UniversityTyson S. H Martin (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science and Engineering - LegacyTyson R Jones (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science and Engineering - LegacyPaul S Maxwell (Author) - Healthy Land and WaterThomas A Schlacher (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science and Engineering - Legacy
- Publication details
- Estuaries and Coasts, Vol.43(8), pp.2170-2181
- Publisher
- Springer New York LLC
- DOI
- 10.1007/s12237-020-00753-w
- ISSN
- 1559-2731
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99482306602621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Environmental Sciences
- Marine & Freshwater Biology
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