ORCID Profile
0000-0002-5604-6273
Current Organisation
James Cook University
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-07-2005
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-06-2014
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-014-2992-9
Abstract: The global decline in bio ersity is causing increasing concern about the effects of bio ersity loss on ecosystem services such as productivity. Bio ersity has been hypothesised to be important in maintaining productivity of biological assemblages because niche complementarity and facilitation among the constituent species can result in more efficient use of resources. However, these conclusions are primarily based on studies with plant communities, and the relationship between ersity and productivity at higher trophic levels is largely unknown, especially in the marine environment. Here, we used a manipulative field experiment to test the effects of species richness and species identity on biomass accumulation in coral reef fish assemblages at Lizard Island. Small patch reefs were stocked with a total of 30 juveniles belonging to three planktivorous damselfish (genus Pomacentrus) according to three different levels of fish species richness (one, two and three species) and seven different combinations of fish species. Species richness had no effect on the relative growth in this assemblage after 18 days, but relative growth differed among in idual fish species and the different combinations of species. Patterns of increase in biomass were best explained by species-specific differences and variable effects of intra- and interspecific competition on growth. These results suggest that niche complementarity and facilitation are not the most influential drivers of total productivity within this guild of planktivorous fishes. Total productivity may be resilient to declining reef fish bio ersity, but this will depend on which species are lost and on the life-history traits of remaining species.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-2010
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-05-2021
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 12-08-2011
DOI: 10.3390/D3030424
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-11-2014
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.12452
Abstract: Large-bodied fish are critical for sustaining coral reef fisheries, but little is known about the vulnerability of these fish to global warming. This study examined the effects of elevated temperatures on the movement and activity patterns of the common coral trout Plectropomus leopardus (Serranidae), which is an important fishery species in tropical Australia and throughout the Indo West-Pacific. Adult fish were collected from two locations on Australia's Great Barrier Reef (23°S and 14°S) and maintained at one of four temperatures (24, 27, 30, 33 °C). Following >4 weeks acclimation, the spontaneous swimming speeds and activity patterns of in iduals were recorded over a period of 12 days. At 24-27 °C, spontaneous swimming speeds of common coral trout were 0.43-0.45 body lengths per second (bls(-1)), but dropped sharply to 0.29 bls(-1) at 30 °C and 0.25 bls(-1) at 33 °C. Concurrently, in iduals spent 9.3-10.6% of their time resting motionless on the bottom at 24-27 °C, but this behaviour increased to 14.0% at 30 °C and 20.0% of the time at 33 °C (mean ± SE). The impact of temperature was greatest for smaller in iduals ( 55 cm TL) were first affected by 30 °C and 33 °C, respectively. Importantly, there was some indication that populations can adapt to elevated temperature if presented with adequate time, as the high-latitude population decreased significantly in swimming speeds at both 30 °C and 33 °C, while the low-latitude population only showed significant reductions at 33 °C. Given that movement and activity patterns of large mobile species are directly related to prey encounter rates, ability to capture prey and avoid predators, any reductions in activity patterns are likely to reduce overall foraging and energy intake, limit the energy available for growth and reproduction, and affect the fitness and survival of in iduals and populations.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-01-2022
DOI: 10.1002/AQC.3762
Abstract: Spatial and temporal stochasticity in the abundance and population dynamics of crown‐of‐thorns starfish (COTS Acanthaster spp.) highlight the critical need for improved knowledge of demographic variability within and among populations. This study compared the prevalence (proportion of in iduals) and severity (extent of damage) of injuries in adult COTS between contrasting fisheries management zones in Australia's Great Barrier Reef, explicitly testing whether injuries are more prevalent or severe on reefs where fishing is not permitted. Prevalence of sublethal injuries was significantly higher for COTS collected from reefs within Marine National Park Zones, where fishing is effectively prohibited, versus Conservation Park Zones or Habitat Protection Zones, where fishing is permitted, but regulated. This finding is consistent with the notion that predation rates on COTS are higher within reef habitats where fishing is prohibited, presumably due to the bigger size or higher abundance of predatory fishes. Severity was predominantly low among the injured starfish and there was no significant difference between management zones. Nevertheless, there was a higher frequency of in iduals with between one and three injured arms in no‐take reefs compared to those from reefs that were open to fishing. Prevalence and severity of sublethal injuries was higher in medium‐sized COTS (11–30 cm diameter) compared to larger COTS ( cm diameter). This study adds to existing evidence that established networks of marine reserves can have benefits beyond conservation and fisheries management, including potential reductions in the likelihood of devastating population irruptions of COTS and mitigation of further coral loss.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-08-2012
DOI: 10.1111/J.1558-5646.2012.01725.X
Abstract: The relationship between genetic ersity and species ersity provides insights into biogeography and historic patterns of evolution and is critical for developing contemporary strategies for bio ersity conservation. Although concordant large-scale clines in genetic and species ersity have been described for terrestrial organisms, whether these parameters co-vary in marine species remains largely unknown. We examined patterns of genetic ersity for 11 coral reef fish species s led at three locations across the Pacific Ocean species ersity gradient (Australia: ∼1600 species New Caledonia: ∼1400 species French Polynesia: ∼800 species). Combined genetic ersity for all 11 species paralleled the decline in species ersity from West to East, with French Polynesia exhibiting lowest total haplotype and nucleotide ersities. Haplotype ersity consistently declined toward French Polynesia in all and nucleotide ersity in the majority of species. The French Polynesian population of most species also exhibited significant genetic differentiation from populations in the West Pacific. A number of factors may have contributed to the general positive correlation between genetic and species ersity, including location and time of species origin, vicariance events, reduced gene flow with increasing isolation, and decreasing habitat area from West to East. However, isolation and habitat area, resulting in reduced population size, are likely to be the most influential.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 2014
DOI: 10.1086/671166
Abstract: Fisheries and marine park management strategies for large predatory reef fish can mean that a large proportion of captured fish are released. Despite being released, these fish may experience high mortality while they traverse the water column to locate suitable refuge to avoid predators, all the while recovering from the stress of capture. The predatory reef fish Spanish flag snapper (Lutjanus carponotatus) is frequently released because of a minimum-size or bag limit or by fishers targeting more desirable species. Using L. carponotatus as a model, we tested whether simulated fishing stress (exercise and air exposure) resulted in impairments in reflexes (e.g., response to stimuli) and the ability to identify and use refuge in a laboratory arena and whether any impairments were associated with blood physiology or metabolic recovery. Control fish were consistently responsive to reflex tests and rapidly located and entered refugia in the arena within seconds. Conversely, treatment fish (exhausted and air exposed) were unresponsive to stimuli, took longer to search for refugia, and were more apprehensive to enter the refuge once it was located. Consequently, treatment fish took more than 70 times longer than control fish to enter the coral refuge (26.12 vs. 0.36 min, respectively). The finding that fish exposed to stress were hesitant to use refugia suggests that there was likely cognitive, visual, and/or physiological impairment. Blood lactate, glucose, and hematocrit measures were perturbed at 15 and 30 min after the stressor, relative to controls. However, measurements of oxygen consumption rate revealed that about 50% of metabolic recovery occurred within 30 min after the stressor, coinciding with apparent cognitive/visual hysiological recovery. Recovering the treatment fish in aerated, flow-through chambers for 30 min before introduction to the behavioral arena restored reflexes, and "recovered" fish behaved more similarly to controls. Therefore, we suggest that temporarily holding coral reef fish that have undergone an exhaustive fishing interaction and an air exposure episode should enable significant recovery of cognitive and metabolic attributes that would enable fish to more rapidly locate and utilize refugia to avoid postrelease predation. However, after nonexhaustive fishing interactions (i.e., minimal reflex impairment), it is likely that immediate release would be most beneficial.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-02-2013
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-2011
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2021
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-2005
No related grants have been discovered for Vanessa Messmer.