Purpose The aim of this study was to confirm the impact of heat acclimation on aerobic performance in hot conditions and elucidate the transfer of heat adaptations to cool and hypoxic environments. Methods Ten males (VO 2peak : 4.50 ± 0.50 L/min) completed two three-week interventions consisting of heat acclimation (HA: 36°C and 59% RH) and temperate training (TEMP: 18°C and 60% RH) in a counter-balanced crossover design. Trai...

Tropical mangroves are known to support fish production, but natural variability in the link between mangrove habitats and fish populations undermines our ability to manage, conserve and restore this ecological relationship. This is largely due to undefined context‐dependence in the use of mangroves by fish. We collected a spatially extensive dataset of 494 mangrove fish assemblages using standardised Remote Underwater Video s...

Nutria ( Myocastor coypus ) were introduced to the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay, USA in the 1940s. They reached peak densities in the late 1990s, causing massive wetland loss. Beginning in 2002, a systematic plan to eradicate nutria from the 1.7M ha Delmarva Peninsula was implemented. Since that time the nutria population has been effectively reduced, and no nutria have been detected since May 2015. A lack of detection does...

Marine fisheries in coastal ecosystems in many areas of the world have historically removed large‐bodied individuals, potentially impairing ecosystem functioning and the long‐term sustainability of fish populations. Reporting on size‐based indicators that link to food‐web structure can contribute to ecosystem‐based management, but the application of these indicators over large (cross‐ecosystem) geographical scales has been lim...

Marine reserves are a key tool for the conservation of marine biodiversity, yet only ~2.5% of the world's oceans are protected. The integration of marine reserves into connected networks representing all habitats has been encouraged by international agreements, yet the benefits of this design has not been tested empirically. Australia has one of the largest systems of marine reserves, providing a rare opportunity to assess how...

Globally, collapse of ecosystems—potentially irreversible change to ecosystem structure, composition and function—imperils biodiversity, human health and well‐being. We examine the current state and recent trajectories of 19 ecosystems, spanning 58° of latitude across 7.7 M km 2 , from Australia's coral reefs to terrestrial Antarctica. Pressures from global climate change and regional human impacts, occurring as chronic ‘press...

Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding, a technique for retrieving multispecies DNA from environmental samples, can detect a diverse array of marine species from filtered seawater samples. There is a growing potential to integrate eDNA alongside existing monitoring methods in order to establish or improve the assessment of species diversity. Remote island reefs are increasingly vulnerable to climate‐related threats and as such...

Dredging can have significant impacts on aquatic environments, but the direct effects on fish have not been critically evaluated. Here, a meta‐analysis following a conservative approach is used to understand how dredging‐related stressors, including suspended sediment, contaminated sediment, hydraulic entrainment and underwater noise, directly influence the effect size and the response elicited in fish across all aquatic ecosy...

The distribution, abundance and composition of marine fish assemblages are influenced by changes in behaviour and movement associated with the diel cycle. The majority of studies exploring day–night differences have demonstrated that there is a greater abundance and diversity of fishes during diurnal compared with nocturnal hours, and that fish assemblage composition varies with time of day or night. We investigated fine‐scale...

Earlier spring phenology observed in many plant species in recent decades provides compelling evidence that species are already responding to the rising global temperatures associated with anthropogenic climate change. There is great variability among species, however, in their phenological sensitivity to temperature. Species that do not phenologically “track” climate change may be at a disadvantage if their growth becomes lim...

Aim To test the following hypotheses regarding ichthyofaunal compositions along an extensive tropical coastline. The compositions over soft substrates and reefs: (1) consistently differ markedly; (2) change progressively with latitude and temperature through sequential changes in the abundances of certain species; and (3) vary among bioregions, as those regions differ markedly in their environmental characteristics. Location T...

Trap sampling over reefs in deep (mean = 20 m) and shallow (mean = 10 m) waters along c . 1500 km of coastline in tropical north‐western Australia during both day and night and in wet and dry periods yielded 23 377 fishes, representing 32 families, 58 genera and 119 species. Individuals of the Serranidae, Lutjanidae, Lethrinidae and Carangidae contributed 88·9% to the total catch. The ichthyofaunal compositions of the Kimberle...