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AbstractSuccessional dynamics can vary because of a range of ecological and environmental factors, but our understanding of biogeographic variation in succession, and the processes contributing to community development across ecosystems, is limited. The pattern and rate of recruitment of dispersive propagules likely differs over large spatial scales and can be an important predictor of successional trajectory. Over a 20° tropical-temperate latitudinal gradient, we measured sessile invertebrates over 12 months of community development and successive 3-month recruitment windows to understand succession and how it is influenced by recruitment. Succession and recruitment patterns varied over latitude. In the tropics, fast temporal turnover, fluctuating abundances, and lack of successional progression suggest that the contribution of stochastic processes was high. As latitude increased, successional progression became more apparent, characterized by increasing species richness and community cover and a shift to more competitive taxa over time. At temperate locations, species identities were similar between older communities and recruiting assemblages; however, community composition became more variable across space over time. Such divergence suggests an important role of early colonizers and species interactions on community structure. These findings demonstrate differences in the processes contributing to community development and biodiversity patterns over latitude. Understanding such biogeographic variation in community dynamics and identifying the prevalence of different processes can provide insights into how communities assemble and persist in response to environmental variability.

Light availability and habitat complexity are two key drivers of community assembly. Urbanisation has been shown to affect both, with important consequences to ecological communities. On the intertidal, for instance, studies have shown that light intensity is greater on natural rocky shores than on less complex artificial habitats (seawalls), though different habitats can also experience similar light intensities, for example when shaded by urban structures. Understanding therefore how these factors individually, and combined, affect communities is important to understand the mechanisms driving changes in community structure, and consequently provide solutions to tackle the increasing homogenisation of habitats and lightscapes in urbanised spaces through smart infrastructure designs. Here, we assessed how different light levels affect the recruitment of communities in rock pools and on emergent rock on an intertidal rocky shore. We cleared 30 patches of emergent rock and 30 rock pools and manipulated light using shades with different light transmissions (full light, procedural control, 75%, 35%, and 15% light transmission, full shade) and assessed mobile and sessile communities monthly for 6 months. Effects of reducing light levels were generally stronger on rock than in pools. Fully shaded plots supported double the amount of mobile organisms than plots in full sunlight, in both habitats. Algal cover was higher in pools compared to rock, and at intermediate light levels, but effects varied with site. This study highlights the importance of variable light conditions and different habitats for rocky shore communities, which should be considered in future coastal developments to retain natural biodiversity., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Plastic pollution poses environmental and socio-economic risks, requiring policy and management interventions. The evidence-base for informing management and evaluation of their effectiveness is limited. Partnerships with citizen scientists provide opportunities to increase the spatio-temporal scale of monitoring programs, where training and standardised protocols provides opportunities for the use of data in addressing multiple hypotheses. Here, we provide a baseline of debris trends and infer debris drivers of abundance across 18° of latitude, using 168 surveys from 17 beaches across Queensland, Australia through the ReefClean project. Plastics were the dominant material (87% of total debris, with hard, soft and foam plastics aggregated), although linking recovered debris to sources was limited, as 67% of items were fragmented. We tested potential drivers of specific debris types (i.e., plastics, commercial fishing items, items dumped at-sea, and single-use items) and identified significant relationships between debris accumulation with distance from the nearest population centre and site characteristics (modal beach state, beach orientation and across-beach section). Management efforts should consider beach type and orientation within site selection, as an opportunity to maximise the amount recovered, alongside other criteria such as the risks posed by debris on environmental, economic, and social values. This study demonstrates the utility of citizen science to provide baselines and infer drivers of debris, through data gathered at scales that are infeasible to most formal monitoring programs. The identified drivers of debris may also differ from regional and global studies, where monitoring at relevant scales is needed for effective management., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Heidi Tait reports financial support was provided by Australian Government Department of Climate Change Energy the Environment and Water., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Stormwater drains act as a pathway for anthropogenic debris from land to sea, particularly in urbanised estuaries where impervious surfaces expedite the process. Debris type and abundance in stormwater drains may vary due to land use and human activity, and knowledge of this variation is necessary to manage the growing threat of debris. Surveys of stormwater debris can inform targeted reduction and remediation efforts by intercepting and identifying pollutants near their source. We surveyed replicate stormwater gross pollutant traps across four land use zones (city centre, shopping centre, transportation hub, industrial precinct) before and during COVID-19 measures to assess the effects of changing human activities. Gross pollutant traps were installed in 120 drains in Greater Melbourne, Australia, and citizen scientists trained by Tangaroa Blue Foundation weighed and classified debris at 6-week intervals between October 2019 and October 2020. Four survey cycles were conducted before lockdowns were implemented, then another four during lockdowns. COVID-19 lockdowns and patterns of debris type and abundance across land use revealed how changes in human activity might impact the flow of debris. Cigarette butts were the most abundant macro debris (>5 mm) item in every survey cycle, regardless of lockdowns. Industrial land use zones had the lowest macro debris counts but contained over 90 % of the micro debris (1-5 mm). The amount of total macro debris decreased during lockdowns, however the most abundant and problematic debris items such as cigarettes and single-use plastics did not decrease as much as might be expected from the concomitant reductions in human activity. Occupational health and safety items, such as masks and gloves, increased (144 %) during COVID-19 lockdowns. Micro debris counts did not change in industrial zones during lockdowns, suggesting that workplace interventions may be necessary to reduce this debris leakage. Tracing the pathway of debris from source to sea can inform reduction and long-term management strategies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Records of anthropogenic marine debris and the threats it poses are increasing worldwide, yet we know relatively little about the distribution of benthic debris. The seafloor is the final destination for a large proportion of debris due to the degradation and sinking of items. A more detailed understanding of debris distributions in hotspots such as urbanised estuaries can help decision makers target management and remediation activities. We selected sites frequented by fishers and boaters in Sydney Harbour, an urbanised estuary, to investigate the impacts of recreational activities on debris abundance. The aim of this study was to examine variation in macro debris (>5mm in diameter) type and abundance at two habitat types (piers and non-piers). We chose five locations at various distances from the estuary mouth. In each location SCUBA teams performed fixed transects at two sites, one under a pier and one over nearby soft-sediment habitat. Debris was recovered by the divers and brought to the surface for classification and disposal. Surveys were repeated multiple times at each location between November 2019 and February 2020, recording a total of 2803 debris items over 36 survey events. Overall, piers had more than ten times the debris abundance of soft-sediment sites, and much higher proportion of debris types related to recreational fishing. Over half of the debris items in this study were plastic (65%), and approximately 70% of the total debris was classified as related to recreational fishing. This trait was most prominent in debris at sites closest to the estuary mouth, likely reflecting increased fishing activity in this area. This study indicates that policy makers and community groups in urbanised estuaries should focus monitoring, reduction, and remediation efforts near artificial structures such as piers, and that public awareness campaigns should target the behaviour of recreational users of these structures., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2022 Sherow et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The perceived and real threat of shark bites have significant direct health and indirect economic impacts. Here we assess the changing odds of surviving an unprovoked shark bite using 200 years of Australian records. Bite survivability rates for bull (Carcharhinus leucas), tiger (Galeocerdo cuvier) and white (Carcharodon carcharias) sharks were assessed relative to environmental and anthropogenic factors. Survivability of unprovoked bull, tiger and white shark bites were 62, 75 and 53% respectively. Bull shark survivability increased over time between 1807 and 2018. Survivability decreased for both tiger and white sharks when the person was doing an in water activity, such as swimming or diving. Not unsurprisingly, a watercraft for protection/floatation increased survivability to 92% from 30%, and 88% from 45%, for tiger and white sharks respectively. We speculate that survival may be related to time between injury and treatment, indicating the importance of rapid and appropriate medical care. Understanding the predictors of unprovoked bites, as well as survivability (year and water activity), may be useful for developing strategies that reduce the number of serious or fatal human-shark interactions without impacting sharks and other marine wildlife., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Large-scale desalination is used increasingly to address growing freshwater demands and climate uncertainty. Discharge of hypersaline brine from desalination operations has the potential to impact marine ecosystems. Here, we used a 7-year Multiple-Before-After-Control-Impact experiment to test the hypothesis that hypersaline discharge from reverse osmosis desalination alters temperate reef communities. Using replicated, video-based, timed searches at eight sites, we sampled fish and invertebrate assemblages before, during, and after the discharge of hypersaline brine. We found that the composition of fish assemblages was significantly altered out to 55 m while the composition of invertebrate assemblages was altered out to 125 m from the outlet during hypersaline discharge. Fish richness and functional diversity increased around the outlet, while the invertebrate assemblages were no less diverse than those on reference reefs. Differences in faunal assemblages between outlet and reference sites during discharging included changes in the frequency of occurrence of both common and rare reef biota. Overall, we found the influence of hypersaline discharge on temperate reef biota to be spatially localized, with the reefs around the outlet continuing to support rich and diverse faunal communities. In some cases, therefore, the marine environmental consequences of large-scale, well-designed, desalination operations may be appropriately balanced against the positive benefits of improved water security.

Antarctic sea-ice forms a complex and dynamic system that drives many ecological processes in the Southern Ocean. Sea-ice microalgae and their associated microbial communities are understood to influence nutrient flow and allocation in marine polar environments. Sea-ice microalgae and their microbiota can have high seasonal and regional (>1000 km 2 ) compositional and abundance variation, driven by factors modulating their growth, symbiotic interactions and function. In contrast, our knowledge of small-scale variation in these communities is limited. Understanding variation across multiple scales and its potential drivers is critical for informing on how multiple stressors impact sea-ice communities and the functions they provide. Here, we characterized bacterial communities associated with sea-ice microalgae and the potential drivers that influence their variation across a range of spatial scales (metres to >10 kms) in a previously understudied area in Commonwealth Bay, East Antarctica where anomalous events have substantially and rapidly expanded local sea-ice coverage. We found a higher abundance and different composition of bacterial communities living in sea-ice microalgae closer to the shore compared to those further from the coast. Variation in community structure increased linearly with distance between samples. Ice thickness and depth to the seabed were found to be poor predictors of these communities. Further research on the small-scale environmental drivers influencing these communities is needed to fully understand how large-scale regional events can affect local function and ecosystem processes.

Anthropogenic marine debris is a persistent threat to oceans, imposing risks to ecosystems and the communities they support. Whilst an understanding of marine debris risks is steadily advancing, monitoring at spatial and temporal scales relevant to management remains limited. Citizen science projects address this shortcoming but are often critiqued on data accuracy and potential bias in sampling efforts. Here we present 10-years of Australia's largest marine debris database - the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI), in which we perform systematic data filtering, test for differences between collecting groups, and report patterns in marine debris. We defined five stages of data filtering to address issues in data quality and to limit inference to ocean-facing sandy beaches. Significant differences were observed in the average accumulation of items between filtered and remaining data. Further, differences in sampling were compared between collecting groups at the same site (e.g., government, NGOs, and schools), where no significant differences were observed. The filtering process removed 21% of events due to data quality issues and a further 42% of events to restrict analyses to ocean-facing sandy beaches. The remaining 7275 events across 852 sites allowed for an assessment of debris patterns at an unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. Hard plastics were the most common material found on beaches both nationally and regionally, consisting of up to 75% of total debris. Nationally, land and sea-sourced items accounted for 48% and 7% of debris, respectively, with most debris found on the east coast of Australia. This study demonstrates the value of citizen science datasets with broad spatial and temporal coverage, and the importance of data filtering to improve data quality. The citizen science presented provides an understanding of debris patterns on Australia's ocean beaches and can serve as a foundation for future source reduction plans., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The authors would like to acknowledge that Heidi Tait and Wally Smith are responsible for the coordination of the database used within this study., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a primary tool for the stewardship, conservation, and restoration of marine ecosystems, yet 69% of global MPAs are only partially protected (i.e., are open to some form of fishing). Although fully protected areas have well-documented outcomes, including increased fish diversity and biomass, the effectiveness of partially protected areas is contested. Partially protected areas may provide benefits in some contexts and may be warranted for social reasons, yet social outcomes often depend on MPAs achieving their ecological goals to distinguish them from open areas and justify the cost of protection. We assessed the social perceptions and ecological effectiveness of 18 partially protected areas and 19 fully protected areas compared with 19 open areas along 7000 km of coast of southern Australia. We used mixed methods, gathering data via semistructured interviews, site surveys, and Reef Life (underwater visual census) surveys. We analyzed qualitative data in accordance with grounded theory and quantitative data with multivariate and univariate linear mixed-effects models. We found no social or ecological benefits for partially protected areas relative to open areas in our study. Partially protected areas had no more fish, invertebrates, or algae than open areas; were poorly understood by coastal users; were not more attractive than open areas; and were not perceived to have better marine life than open areas. These findings provide an important counterpoint to some large-scale meta-analyses that conclude partially protected areas can be ecologically effective but that draw this conclusion based on narrower measures. We argue that partially protected areas act as red herrings in marine conservation because they create an illusion of protection and consume scarce conservation resources yet provide little or no social or ecological gain over open areas. Fully protected areas, by contrast, have more fish species and biomass and are well understood, supported, and valued by the public. They are perceived to have better marine life and be improving over time in keeping with actual ecological results. Conservation outcomes can be improved by upgrading partially protected areas to higher levels of protection including conversion to fully protected areas., (© 2021 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.)

This method develops a local environmental stewardship indicator (LESI), which represents the level of stewardship action of a person at a place. The goal of the indicator is to quantify stewardship activity and allow it to be compared and modelled. LESI requires a brief interview to ascertain an individual's past and current stewardship activities, which are scored on a frequency scale for each of seven action categories. Scores are then combined using the LESI equation to: • Quantify reported stewardship behaviour (as opposed to attitudes or intentions) as a single number. • Enable comparisons of stewardship between individuals and places. • Allow development of models to understand the predictors of stewardship, and • Inform evidence-based strategies for stewardship improvement., Competing Interests: The Authors confirm that there are no conflicts of interest., (© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Evidence Connection articles provide a clinical application of systematic reviews developed in conjunction with the American Occupational Therapy Association's (AOTA's) Evidence-Based Practice Project. This article presents a case example of a young child with autism spectrum disorder who receives occupational therapy evaluation and intervention in natural environments (home and child care center). Systematic review findings supporting enhancement of key life occupations through interventions to develop cognitive, motor, social-emotional, and self-care skills for young children were published in AOTA's Occupational Therapy Practice Guidelines for Early Childhood: Birth-5 Years (Frolek Clark & Kingsley, 2020) and the March/April 2020 issue of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy (Gronski & Doherty, 2020; Kingsley et al., 2020; Tanner et al., 2020). Each article in the Evidence Connection series applies evidence from the published reviews on a topic to a related case. These articles are designed to promote application of the evidence to practice., (Copyright © 2020 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.)

Importance: This Practice Guideline provides stakeholders with a condensed summary of a large number of effectiveness studies. It is a valuable tool for facilitating decision making related to occupational therapy interventions for children ages birth-5 yr., Objective: Early childhood (birth-5 yr) is a critical period in which the foundation of key life occupations is developed (e.g., eating, dressing, play, learning, social participation, rest and sleep, and chores). The development of cognitive, motor, social-emotional, and self-care skills is important to support these occupations. This Practice Guideline synthesizes recent systematic reviews (SRs) on these areas of development to promote decision making for and high-quality interventions with this population., Method: Four SRs related to cognition, mental health, motor function, and ADLs analyzed studies published from 2010 to 2017 retrieved from six electronic databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, ERIC, OTseeker, and Cochrane)., Results: A total of 196 articles were included in the SRs, which served as a guide to final clinical recommendations. Case studies describe translation and application to practice., Conclusion: and Recommendations: A variety of interventions within the domain of occupational therapy were found to support the development of cognitive, social-emotional, motor, and self-care skills. Although some of these interventions are typically implemented by occupational therapy practitioners, others can be implemented by parents after training or by teams working in preschool settings. These findings should be used to inform evidence-based practice provided by occupational therapy practitioners working in various early childhood settings., What This Article Adds: This Practice Guideline gives occupational therapy practitioners clear information about which interventions will be effective for specific outcomes. Better intervention choices mean better outcomes for young children and their families., (Copyright © 2020 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.)

Here, we provide baseline information about the relative abundance and group size of the Australian cownose ray Rhinoptera neglecta on the central east coast of Australia. Using drone monitoring over 2 years, we completed 293 transects, each 2 km in length, at four locations distributed along c.100 km of coast. In total, 5979 R. neglecta were observed with overall relative abundance (±SE) of, 20.4 (±3.3) individuals per transect. The numbers of R. neglecta varied among locations, with the highest density found off the beach adjacent to the river mouth at Evans Head. The number of rays observed also decreased with increasing wind speed. While some of this relationship was probably associated with visibility, R. neglecta may also move offshore during strong winds. We found no evidence that R. neglecta was under significant threat. Additionally, our cost-effective surveys demonstrate the utility of aerial drones in fisheries conservation biology., (© 2019 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.)

Global growth in desalination industries has increased the need for an evidence-based understanding of associated environmental impacts. We completed a seven-year assessment of the responses of fish assemblages to hypersaline discharge from the large Sydney Desalination Plant. At 12 times before, eight times during, and four times following the cessation of discharging hypersaline brine, we sampled reef fishes at two outlet sites and two close reference sites, as well as four reference sites that were located from 2-8 km from the outlet. At each site and each time of sampling, five 50 m video transects were used to sample reef fish assemblages. Following the commencement of discharging, there was a 279% increase in the abundance of fish around the outlet, which included substantially greater abundances of pelagic and demersal fish, as well as fishes targeted by recreational and commercial fishers. Following the cessation of discharge, abundances of fishes mostly returned to levels such that there was no longer a significant effect compared to the period prior to the commencement of the desalination plant's operations. Overall, our results demonstrate that well-designed marine infrastructure and processes used to support the growing demand for potable water can also enhance local fish abundances and species richness.

Evidence Connection articles provide case examples of how practice decisions may be informed by findings of systematic reviews sponsored by the American Occupational Therapy Association Evidence-Based Practice Project. This Evidence Connection article is the second article in a two-part series. The first article described a case report of occupational therapy provided to a child with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and challenges in sensory integration in a clinic setting (Parham et al., 2019). This article describes the same child's occupational therapy service delivery by the occupational therapist working in the school setting., (Copyright © 2019 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.)

Evidence Connection articles provide case examples of how practice decisions may be informed by findings of systematic reviews sponsored by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) Project. This Evidence Connection article describes a case report of a child with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder who has difficulties in function and participation related to challenges in sensory integration. This article is the first in a two-part series, and it focuses on occupational therapy provided to the child by a clinic-based therapist in collaboration with the child's school-based occupational therapist. Part 2 in this series will describe the same child's intervention by the school-based therapist. Intervention decisions are informed by findings of systematic reviews of intervention effectiveness that were part of an AOTA EBP Project addressing occupational therapy interventions for children and youth with challenges in sensory integration and sensory processing., (Copyright © 2019 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.)

Anthropogenic contaminants, including nutrient enrichment, frequently alter environmental conditions in marine systems and affect the development of communities on hard-substrata. Biofilms can influence the settlement of marine invertebrates and hence impact on the structure of fouling communities. Few studies have examined bacteria, invertebrates and nutrient-rich contaminants in concert, with none yet to examine the effects of nutrient-rich contaminants on both biofilms and the recruitment of sessile invertebrate communities in-situ to ascertain the mechanistic basis behind observed impacts. Biofilm treatments were allowed to develop under manipulated environmental conditions of either ambient or enriched nutrient levels. Enrichment conditions were elevated via slow-release fertiliser and invertebrate recruitment was prevented during initial biofilm development. Biofilm treatments (including a no film control) were then subject to either ambient or enriched water-borne nutrients (in a fully-factorial design) during a period of invertebrate colonisation in the field. Effects of nutrient-rich contaminants on invertebrate recruitment were observed as changes to community composition and the abundances of taxonomic groups. Communities on no biofilm control treatments differed from those with pre-developed biofilms. Naturally developed biofilms promoted recruitment by all organisms, except barnacles, which preferred nutrient-enriched biofilms. Water-borne nutrients increased the recruitment of ascidians and barnacles, but suppressed bryozoan, serpulid polychaete and sponge recruitment. The direct and indirect impacts observed on biofilm and invertebrate communities suggest that increasing nutrient levels via nutrient-rich contaminants will result in structural community shifts that may ultimately impact ecosystem functioning within estuaries., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Desalination is an increasingly common method of meeting potable water demands, but the associated ecological risks are not well understood. Seawater desalination plants discharge large volumes of hypersaline brine directly into the ocean, raising concerns about potential impacts to marine life. In order to reduce impacts of brine, newer desalination outfalls are often fitted with high-pressure diffusers that discharge brine at high velocity into the water column, increasing the mixing and dilution of brine with ocean water. However, there are few published studies of marine impacts of desalination brine, and no well replicated before-after designs. Here we report a six-year study testing for impacts and subsequent recovery of sessile marine invertebrate recruitment near a desalination outfall with high-pressure diffusers. We used a Multiple Before-After-Control-Impact (MBACI) design to test for impacts and recovery at two distances (30 m and 100 m) from a 250 ML/day plant outfall, as well as a gradient design to test the strength of impacts relative to distance from the outfall. The diffusers achieved the target of less than 1 psμ salinity difference to surrounding ambient waters within 100 m of the discharge outfall, but sessile invertebrates were nonetheless impacted. Polychaetes, bryozoans and sponges reduced in cover as far as 100 m from the outfall, while barnacles showed the opposite pattern and were more abundant near the discharging outfall. Ecological impacts were disproportionate to the relatively minor change in salinity (∼1 psμ), suggesting a mechanism other than salinity. We propose that impacts were primarily driven by changes in hydrodynamics caused by the diffusers, such as higher near-bed flow away from the outfall. This is consistent with flow preferences of various taxonomic groups, which differ due to differences in settlement and feeding abilities. High-pressure diffusers designed to reduce impacts of hypersalinity may inadvertently cause impacts through hydrodynamics, leading to a trade-off in minimizing combined salinity and hydrodynamic stress. This study provides the first before-after test of ecological impacts of desalination brine on sessile marine communities, and rare insight into mechanisms behind impacts of a growing form of human disturbance., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Habitat complexity is accepted as a general mechanism for increasing the abundance and diversity of communities. However, the circumstances under which complexity has the strongest effects are not clear. Over 20 degrees of Australia's east coast, we tested whether the effects of within-site structural habitat complexity on the diversity and community structure of sessile marine invertebrates was consistent over a latitudinal gradient where environmental conditions and species composition vary. We used experimental arrays with varied structural treatments to detect whether community cover, species richness, diversity and community composition (β-diversity) changed with increasing complexity. Community response to complexity varied over latitude due to differences in species richness and community development. Increased complexity had the greatest positive effects on community cover and species richness at higher latitudes where recruitment and growth were low. At lower latitudes, community cover and species richness were higher overall and did not vary substantially between complexity treatments. Latitudinal variation in within-treatment β-diversity relative to complexity further suggest divergent community responses. At higher latitudes, increased similarity in more complex treatments suggests community dominance of successful taxonomic groups. Despite limited effects on species richness and community cover at lower latitudes, β-diversity was higher in more complex treatments, signifying potential positive effects of increased complexity at these sites. These results demonstrate the context-dependency of complexity effects in response to variation in species richness and community development and should be taken into consideration to help direct conservation and restoration efforts., (© 2018 by the Ecological Society of America.)

Complexity in physical habitats may modify predation pressure by allowing differential access of predators to prey. Rocky subtidal environments are inherently complex with many cryptic micro habitats, such as overhangs and crevices. Here, we examine the influence of habitat complexity in mediating predation on sessile assemblage structure by experimentally manipulating fish access to a range of crevice orientations and sizes. Nine fish species/families were recorded actively feeding within crevices, but australian mado, eastern stripey, wrasses and sawtail surgeon accounted for almost 70% of all entries. Sessile assemblages were influenced by crevice width, fish predation and surface orientation, with more predation activity in larger crevices. Assemblage similarity on upward facing surfaces decreased as crevice width increased. While assemblage structure on downward and vertical surfaces was influenced by crevice width and caging separately. Thus, crevice size and orientation are important habitat complexity features that act to partition predation pressure. This may allow distinct sessile assemblages to persist, even when predation can be intense., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Historical ecology can teach us valuable lessons on the processes and drivers of environmental change that can inform future monitoring priorities and management strategies. Environmental data to study environmental history, however, is often absent or of low quality. Even when studying changes occurring during the last few decades, monitoring efforts are scarce due to logistical and cost limitations, leaving large areas unassessed. The aim of this study is to evaluate the use of estuarine water colour as an indicator of historical environmental change in catchments. Water colour change was assessed in estuaries in Australia from 1987 to 2015 using satellite remote sensing. Random points were selected for each estuary and applied to the Australian Geoscience Data Cube (based on Landsat images) to obtain reflectance data through time. We propose a framework where (i) water colour is used to detect historical changes in catchments using generalised additive models, (ii) possible stressors and pressures driving those changes are evaluated using other available historical data, and (iii) lessons learned inform appropriate monitoring and management actions. This framework represents a novel approach to generate historical data for large-scale assessments of environmental change at catchment level, even in poorly studied areas., (Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

This systematic review examines the evidence for the effectiveness of cognitive and occupation-based interventions to improve self-regulation in children and youth who have challenges in processing and integrating sensory information. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guided the methodology. Five studies identified through a comprehensive database search met the inclusion criteria and were separated into categories of cognitive and occupation-based interventions. Articles that did not specifically measure sensory integration (SI) or processing challenges were omitted. Synthesis of the articles suggests that self-regulation (e.g., sensory processing, emotional regulation, executive functioning, social function) improved with cognitive and occupation-based interventions. Because the number of studies that measured sensory processing or SI challenges was limited, researchers are encouraged to include these measures in future research to understand the impact of a broader range of cognitive and occupation-based interventions., (Copyright © 2018 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.)