Dear Colleague,
DO YOU HAVE ANY UNPUBLISHED DIET DATA FOR AUSTRALIAN FRESHWATER FISH SPECIES?? If so, read on.
We are currently undertaking a review of the diets of freshwater fishes in Australia (native and introduced species). The major aims of the project are to:
1) Summarise available information on the diets of native and introduced freshwater fish in Australia (for those species for which quantitative dietary data is available). Particular emphasis will be given to assessing the relative importance of allochthonous versus autochthonous food sources. 2) Examine the extent of regional variation in fish diets. Comparisons will be made between regions defined at a range of hierarchical spatial scales but encompassing the major drainage divisions of Australia. 3) Examine the extent of taxonomic or phylogenetic influence on fish diets. 4) Examine the degree of variation in trophic composition at various spatial scales (i.e. between river and within-river) and assess relationships with habitat (defined at macro and meso-scales). 5) Provide a quantitative classification of the trophic structure of freshwater fish species with the aim of assessing the degree of trophic specialisation and the ecological relevance of defining trophic guilds (e.g. detritvores, planktivores, insectivores, piscivores, omnivores, etc) that may be of use in assessments of river health (e.g. IBI).
We intend to publish in journal form, the results of this review and expect that the review would be most useful to ecologists and fisheries biologists. Australian freshwater fish ecology currently suffers from a lack of regional perspective and hence, it is often difficult to place Australian studies in a wider context. Reviews of this nature may help to overcome this.
We have been trawling the published literature and are confident we have obtained most (if not all) published dietary data. We have also obtained a large amount of information from unpublished reports and other "grey" literature, however this type of information is often difficult to obtain. We have also noted a dearth of information for species from certain regions in Australia (particularly, species from the Murray-Darling basin and north-western Australia).
DO YOU HAVE ANY UNPUBLISHED DATA ON FISH DIETS (Australian native & or introduced species) THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO MAKE AVAILABLE FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS REVIEW?
Please note that we are interested only in quantitative data, no anecdotal information will be used in our analyses. All unpublished material will be duly acknowledged and very much appreciated.
If you can help, we'd be delighted to hear from you. Please respond directly to Mark Kennard (not this email list!!!).
Thanks in advance, Mark kennard Brad Pusey Angela Arthington
Centre for Catchment and In-Stream Research Faculty of Environmental Sciences Griffith University Kessels Rd, Nathan, 4111 Queensland, Australia. Ph. 61 7 3875 7401 Fax. 61 7 3875 7615 email: [log in to unmask]
P.S. apologies for cross-postings
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