Spatio‐temporal assessment of nearshore fish communities in a temperate estuary using functional and community metrics for restoration and management

2025/08/07 by Zoe Morrall, George P. Balchin, Ian Hendy +5 · 1 voice
Environmental Science · #Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies #Marine Bivalve and Aquaculture Studies #Marine and fisheries research

paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/jfb.70171

openalex publication_date 2025/08/07 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21

Abstract

Understanding the structure and function of estuarine fish communities is essential for guiding ecosystem-based management and restoration. This study investigated long-term patterns in fish community composition, abundance, species richness and estuarine use across 15 nearshore sites within three estuaries and the Isle of Wight, located in the Solent, a large temperate estuarine system in southern England. Using a 12-year dataset (2007-2018) of biannual seine net surveys, we applied traditional community metrics alongside functional guild classifications and Fish Estuarine Association Scores (FEAS) to assess spatio-temporal variation and estuarine dependency. A total of 55 species were recorded, with six species (Atherina presbyter, Dicentrarchus labrax, Pomatoschistus microps and Chelon auratus and the family Clupeidae) accounting for 96% of individuals. Marine migrants and estuarine residents dominated the assemblage, indicating strong connectivity between estuarine and coastal habitats. While fish abundance declined significantly over time, species richness and community composition varied across seasons, tidal states and spatial scales. Sites and catchments differed markedly in FEAS, with some areas supporting species more dependent on estuarine habitats. These results highlight the importance of multisite, seasonal monitoring and the value of trait-based metrics in identifying nursery habitats and guiding restoration. The FEAS approach, applied retrospectively to historical data, offers a practical framework for setting ecological baselines and prioritising functionally important estuarine areas under real-world monitoring constraints.

Citations

• The Efficiency of a Seine Net
• Anecdotes and the shifting baseline syndrome of fisheries
• Do We Practice What We Preach? Goal Setting for Ecological Restoration
• The role of seagrass meadows, mangrove forests, salt marshes and reed beds as nursery areas and food sources for fishes in estuaries
• Consequences of Juvenile Fish Movement and Seascape Connectivity: Does the Concept of Nursery Habitat Need a Rethink?
• Environmental factors important to high-latitude nearshore estuarine fish community structure
• Long-term trends in the abundance of an estuarine fish and relationships with El Niño climatic impacts and seagrass meadows reduction
• Long-term datasets in biodiversity research and monitoring: assessing change in ecological communities through time
• Fish assemblages across the marine to low salinity transition zone of a temperate estuary

Discussions

• New study reveals 12 years of change in nearshore fish communities in the Solent Estuary. Functional metrics like #FEAS highlight key nursery habitats for restoration: doi.org/10.1111/jfb.... #Estuari [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]

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