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River flow and fish abundance in a South African estuary
Author(s) -
Whitfield A. K.,
Harrison T. D.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1046/j.1095-8649.2003.00125.x
Subject(s) - estuary , abundance (ecology) , fishery , biology , surface runoff , drainage basin , flooding (psychology) , oceanography , ecology , geography , geology , psychology , cartography , psychotherapist
The ichthyofauna of the Thukela Estuary, a small (55 ha), shallow (<1·5 m) system on the KwaZulu‐Natal coast (mean annual river runoff of 3865 × 10 6 m 3 , from a large catchment of 29 000 km 2 , is seasonal: peak inputs occurring between November and March), was dominated by the juveniles of marine taxa that used the estuary as a nursery area. A striking feature of the above community was the decline in fish abundance with increasing river input, with flow values >100 m 3 s −1 leading to increased loss of species from the system. This decline was linked to the lack of saline intrusion into the estuary and increased freshwater flooding through the system.