A preliminary ichthyofaunal and physico-chemical survey of estuaries on the east coast South Africa from Mpande Estuary to Mtentwana was undertaken between November 1997 January 1998. Sixteen were surveyed along this stretch coastline these grouped into three estuary types: small (< 10 ha) predominantly closed estuaries, moderate large (> open estuaries. Multivariate analyses revealed sig...

We examined the population genetic structure of the diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin), within and among estuaries. Based on mark-recapture studies, these estuarine turtles have high site fidelity that is likely to make them vulnerable to local extinctions. We tested if observed site fidelity of adults would be reflected in intraestuarine population genetic structure of six highly poly...

Turnover (i.e., species substitution) and nestedness (i.e., subsets of species from more diverse locations), the two main mechanisms used to explain the beta diversity of biological communities, have different implications for biodiversity conservation. To better understand how these mechanisms contribute to beta diversity, we tested the following hypotheses: (i) greater dissimilarity in commun...

Quantification of key pathways sustaining ecosystem function is critical for underpinning informed decisions on development approvals, zoning and offsets, ecosystem restoration and for meaningful environmental assessments and monitoring. To develop a more quantitative understanding of the importance and variation in food webs and nutrient flows in tropical estuaries, we investigated the spatio-...

With marine protected areas being established worldwide there is a pressing need to understand how the physical setting in which these areas are placed influences patterns of dispersal and connectivity of important marine organisms. This is particularly critical for dynamic and complex nearshore marine environments where patterns of genetic structure of organisms are often chaotic and uncoupled...

Responses to moderate and extreme salinity change were investigated in White Sea Littorina saxatilis of different genetically determined shell colour morphs in order to test a hypothesis about physiological selection as a driving force of the change of phenotypic structure of this species along a salinity gradient in White Sea estuaries. Some of the studied physiological responses did not diffe...

Many estuaries in the world are ungauged. The International Association of Hydrological Sciences completed its science decade on Prediction in Ungauged Basins (PUB) in 2012 (Hrachowitz et al., 2013). Prediction on the basis of limited data is a challenge in hydrology, but not less so in estuaries, where data on fundamental processes are often lacking. In this paper, relatively simple, but scien...

There is a well-tested theory for the computation of salt intrusion in alluvial estuaries that is fully analytical and predictive. The theory uses analytical equations to predict the mixing behaviour of the estuary based on measurable quantities, such as channel topography, river discharge and tidal characteristics. It applies to single-channel topographies and estuaries that demonstrate modera...

Tropical estuaries are highly productive and support diverse benthic assemblages within mangroves and tidal flats habitats. Determining differences and similarities of benthic assemblages within estuarine habitats and between regional ecosystems may provide scientific support for management of those ecosystems. Here we studied three tropical estuaries in the Eastern Marine Ecoregion of Brazil t...