In order to determine the causes of kinematic asymmetry in the H \alpha gas in the SAMI Galaxy Survey sample , we investigate the comparative influences of environment and intrinsic properties of galaxies on perturbation .
We use spatially resolved H \alpha velocity fields from the SAMI Galaxy Survey to quantify kinematic asymmetry ( \overline { v _ { asym } } ) in nearby galaxies and environmental and stellar mass data from the GAMA survey .

We find that local environment , measured as distance to nearest neighbour , is inversely correlated with kinematic asymmetry for galaxies with \mathrm { \log ( M _ { * } / M _ { \odot } ) } > 10.0 , but there is no significant correlation for galaxies with \mathrm { \log ( M _ { * } / M _ { \odot } ) } < 10.0 .
Moreover , low mass galaxies ( \mathrm { \log ( M _ { * } / M _ { \odot } ) } < 9.0 ) have greater kinematic asymmetry at all separations , suggesting a different physical source of asymmetry is important in low mass galaxies .

We propose that secular effects derived from gas fraction and gas mass may be the primary causes of asymmetry in low mass galaxies .
High gas fraction is linked to high \frac { \sigma _ { m } } { V } ( where \sigma _ { m } is H \alpha velocity dispersion and V the rotation velocity ) , which is strongly correlated with \overline { v _ { asym } } , and galaxies with \log ( M _ { * } / M _ { \odot } ) < 9.0 have offset \overline { \frac { \sigma _ { m } } { V } } from the rest of the sample .
Further , asymmetry as a fraction of dispersion decreases for galaxies with \log ( M _ { * } / M _ { \odot } ) < 9.0 .
Gas mass and asymmetry are also inversely correlated in our sample .
We propose that low gas masses in dwarf galaxies may lead to asymmetric distribution of gas clouds , leading to increased relative turbulence .