DOI: 10.5061/dryad.q9h64
title: Data from: A statistical framework to explore ontogenetic growth variation among individuals and populations: a marine fish example

description: Growth is a fundamental biological process, driven by a multitude of
 intrinsic (within-individual) and extrinsic (environmental) factors, that
 underpins individual fitness and population demographics. Focussing on the
 comprehensive information stored in aquatic and terrestrial organism hard
 parts, we develop a series of increasingly complex hierarchical models to
 explore spatial and temporal sources of growth variation, ranging in
 resolution from within individuals to across a species. We apply this
 modelling framework to an extensive data set of otolith increment
 measurements from tiger flathead (Platycephalus richardsoni), a demersal
 commercially exploited fish that inhabits the warming waters of south-east
 Australia. We recreated growth histories (biochronology) up to four
 decades in length from seven fishing areas spanning this species'
 range. The dominant pattern in annual growth was an age-dependent,
 allometric decline that varied amongst individuals, sexes, fishing areas,
 years and cohorts. We found evidence for among-area differences in growth
 rate selectivity whereby younger fish at capture were generally faster
 growers. Temporal growth variation was partitioned into two main sources:
 extrinsic year-to-year annual fluctuations in environmental conditions and
 persistent cohort-specific growth differences, reflecting density
 dependence and/or juvenile experience. Despite low levels of
 among-individual growth synchrony within areas, we detected a regionally
 coherent signal of increasing average growth rate through time, a trend
 related to oceanic warming. At the southerly (poleward) range limit,
 growth was only weakly related to temperature, but further north in warmer
 waters this relationship strengthened until at the species'
 equatorward range limit, growth declined with increasing temperatures. We
 partitioned these species-wide and area-specific phenotypic responses into
 within and among-individual components using a reaction norm approach.
 Individual tiger flathead likely possess sufficient growth plasticity to
 successfully adapt to warming waters across much of their range, but
 increased future warming in the north will continue to depress growth,
 affecting individual fitness and even population persistence. Our
 modelling framework is directly applicable to other long-term,
 individual-based, data sets such as those derived from tree rings, corals,
 and tag-recapture studies, and provides an unprecedented level of
 resolution into the drivers of growth variation and the ecological and
 evolutionary implications of environmental and climatic change.
description: environmental
 dataEnvironmental covariates
 used in the analysis of inter-annual growth variation. Year: 1 Jan – 31
 Dec. Area: fishing area (see figure 1). Centlat: central latitude of
 fishing area. Centlong: central longitude of fishing area. Bottomtemp:
 annual average bottom temperature (oC) for each fishing area based on
 SynTS and HadISST data sets. See appendix B for methodological details.
 CPUE: annual average catch per unit effort (CPUE) for each fishing area.
 See appendix B for methodological details.increment
 averagesTable of otolith
 increment measurements averaged by age and year for each fishing area.
 Area: fishing area. Year: 1 Jan – 31 Dec. Age1- Age18: fish
 ages.incrmement
 measurementsRaw increment
 measurements and biological data for 4318 (of 6143) fish from fishing
 areas EBS and ETAS. This subset represents ~74% of increment data used in
 analyses. The full data set has not been published as it underpins
 commercially sensitive stock assessments and is held by CSIRO in
 confidence on behalf of AFMA. Requests for the full data set will be
 considered on a case by case basis and must be directed to Dr David Smith,
 Research Director Marine Resources & Industries, CSIRO Oceans &
 Atmosphere Flagship. David(dot)C(dot)Smith(at)csiro(dot)au. Area: fishing
 area; FishID: unique identifier for each individual; Sex: M or F;
 Gear:otter trawl (OT), Danish seine (DS) or unknown; Capyear: capture
 year; Capmonth: capture month; Floorlength: fish length (cm) rounded down
 to the nearest whole number; AdjAge: adjusted fish age, based on increment
 count, otolith edge type, date of capture and the species’ nominal
 birthday (1 Jan). This is the age-at-capture variable in the paper, and is
 a fish’s age in whole years; DeciAge: decimal age based on date of capture
 in relation to birth date; Radius: otolith radius along measuring transect
 in mm; YOB: year of birth, or year class. Year: calendar year in which a
 given increment was deposited; Age: age in years corresponding to a given
 increment; Increment: width of otolith annuli in mmtiger flathead
 biochronologiesSheet 1: Estimated
 annual average growth tiger flathead for each fishing area (figure 4a-g
 & figure 5). Sheet 2: estimated cohort specific growth for each
 fishing area (figure 4h-n). Year: 1 Jan – 31 Dec. Area: fishing area (see
 figure 1). Bottomtemp: annual average bottom temperature (oC) for each
 fishing area. See appendix B for methodological details. annualgrowth:
 estimate of annual average growth (in mm) derived from model BLUPs.
 cohortgrowth: estimate of cohort-specific growth (in mm) derived from
 model BLUPs. SE: standard error.