Historical changes in marine communities uncovered in diverse data sources highlight impacts over half a century

Turnbull, JW; Booth, DJ; Clark, GF

Historical changes in marine communities uncovered in diverse data sources highlight impacts over half a century

Turnbull, JW Booth, DJ Clark, GF

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Publisher:: CSIRO Publishing
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Marine and Freshwater Research, 76, (8)

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Turnbull, JW
dc.contributor.author	Booth, DJ
dc.contributor.author	Clark, GF
dc.contributor.editor	Farjalla, V
dc.date.accessioned	2025-05-17T10:05:36Z
dc.date.available	2025-04-14
dc.date.available	2025-05-17T10:05:36Z
dc.identifier.citation	Marine and Freshwater Research, 76, (8)
dc.identifier.issn	1323-1650
dc.identifier.issn	1448-6059
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/187377
dc.description.abstract	<jats:p>Context Historical records and citizen scientist data are a useful resource for long-term ecological studies, yet their quality and validity have been challenged. Aims We aimed to investigate how traditional structured surveys and unstructured, opportunistic data sources can be used to understand historical ecological change over half a century. Methods We studied ~6000 records between 1965 and 2020 from the Shiprock site in the Sydney region, to understand ecological changes and insights that could be derived from these diverse data sources. Key results We report the local disappearance of some fish and invertebrate species, declines in the abundance of many taxa including kelp, potential impacts of the implementation of a marine reserve and range extensions consistent with climate change. Structured surveys provided broadly scientifically useful ecological information, whereas unstructured opportunistic data provided long-term retrospective community information and species presence information. Conclusions We have described scientifically and managerially relevant insights encompassing foundation, threatened, protected and invasive species, community shifts and the impacts of local and global processes over historical timescales. Implications Unstructured, opportunistic data sources can document long-term ecological changes arising from local and global processes, but are limited in the ability to provide population and community structure information.</jats:p>
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	CSIRO Publishing
dc.relation.ispartof	Marine and Freshwater Research
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1071/mf24259
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.classification	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology
dc.title	Historical changes in marine communities uncovered in diverse data sources highlight impacts over half a century
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	76
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2025-05-17T10:05:33Z
pubs.issue	8
pubs.publication-status	Published online
pubs.volume	76
utslib.citation.issue	8

Abstract:

Context Historical records and citizen scientist data are a useful resource for long-term ecological studies, yet their quality and validity have been challenged. Aims We aimed to investigate how traditional structured surveys and unstructured, opportunistic data sources can be used to understand historical ecological change over half a century. Methods We studied ~6000 records between 1965 and 2020 from the Shiprock site in the Sydney region, to understand ecological changes and insights that could be derived from these diverse data sources. Key results We report the local disappearance of some fish and invertebrate species, declines in the abundance of many taxa including kelp, potential impacts of the implementation of a marine reserve and range extensions consistent with climate change. Structured surveys provided broadly scientifically useful ecological information, whereas unstructured opportunistic data provided long-term retrospective community information and species presence information. Conclusions We have described scientifically and managerially relevant insights encompassing foundation, threatened, protected and invasive species, community shifts and the impacts of local and global processes over historical timescales. Implications Unstructured, opportunistic data sources can document long-term ecological changes arising from local and global processes, but are limited in the ability to provide population and community structure information.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/187377