Fish Ecology Lab, School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Fisheries Research, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Port Stephens Fisheries Institute, Taylors Beach, New South Wales, Australia.
J Fish Biol. 2022 Apr;100(4):935-943. doi: 10.1111/jfb.15025. Epub 2022 Mar 13.
Habitat associations can be critical predictors of larger-scale organism distributions and range shifts. Here the authors consider how a critical habitat, kelp (Ecklonia radiata) and prey (mysid crustacean swarms), can influence small- and large-scale distribution on the iconic common (weedy) seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus:Syngnathidae). P. taeniolatus are charismatic fish endemic to the temperate reefs of southern Australia, reported to range from Geraldton, Western Australia (28.7667°S, 114.6167°E) around southern Australia to Port Stephens, New South Wales (32.614369°S, 152.325676°E). The authors test a previously developed model of seadragon habitat preferences to predict P. taeniolatus occurrence within four sites from Sydney to the northern limit of their range in eastern Australia. They determined that P. taeniolatus associations with Ecklonia and mysid shrimp can be extrapolated across multiple sites to predict the occurrence of individual P. taeniolatus within a location/site. For instance, the authors demonstrated a significant positive relationship between the density of mysid swarms and the density of P. taeniolatus, evident across all sites despite large differences in the density of mysid swarms among sites. The findings are the first to model P. taeniolatus habitat associations across multiple sites to the northern limit of their range and have applications in protecting P. taeniolatus populations and how they may respond under climate change scenarios, such as poleward kelp retractions.
生境关联可以成为预测生物更大尺度分布和范围变化的关键因素。本文作者探讨了关键生境（巨藻和糠虾）如何影响小型和大型标志性普通（杂草）海龙（叶海龙：海龙科）的分布。叶海龙是澳大利亚南部温带珊瑚礁特有的魅力鱼类，据报道，其分布范围从西澳大利亚州杰拉尔顿（28.7667°S，114.6167°E）到新南威尔士州斯蒂芬斯港（32.614369°S，152.325676°E）。作者根据先前开发的叶海龙生境偏好模型，对悉尼到澳大利亚东部其分布范围最北的四个地点的叶海龙出现情况进行了预测。结果表明，叶海龙与巨藻和糠虾的关联可以在多个地点进行推断，以预测单个叶海龙在特定地点的出现情况。例如，作者证明了糠虾群密度与叶海龙密度之间存在显著的正相关关系，这在所有地点都很明显，尽管各地点的糠虾群密度存在很大差异。这是首次在其分布范围最北的多个地点对叶海龙生境关联进行建模，并在保护叶海龙种群及其在气候变化情景下的反应方面具有应用价值，例如极地巨藻退缩。
