James Cook University

About: James Cook University is a education organization based out in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Coral reef. The organization has 9101 authors who have published 27750 publications receiving 1032608 citations. The organization is also known as: JCU.

Reinventing residual reserves in the sea: are we favouring ease of establishment over need for protection?

Abstract: As systems of marine protected areas (MPAs) expand globally, there is a risk that new MPAs will be biased toward places that are remote or unpromising for extractive activities, and hence follow the trend of terrestrial protected areas in being ‘residual’ to commercial uses. Such locations typically provide little protection to the species and ecosystems that are most exposed to threatening processes. There are strong political motivations to establish residual reserves that minimize costs and conflicts with users of natural resources. These motivations will likely remain in place as long as success continues to be measured in terms of area (km2) protected. The global pattern of MPAs was reviewed and appears to be residual, supported by a rapid growth of large, remote MPAs. The extent to which MPAs in Australia are residual nationally and also regionally within the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) Marine Park was also examined. Nationally, the recently announced Australian Commonwealth marine reserves were found to be strongly residual, making almost no difference to ‘business as usual’ for most ocean uses. Underlying this result was the imperative to minimize costs, but without the spatial constraints of explicit quantitative objectives for representing bioregions or the range of ecological features in highly protected zones. In contrast, the 2004 rezoning of the GBR was exemplary, and the potential for residual protection was limited by applying a systematic set of planning principles, such as representing a minimum percentage of finely subdivided bioregions. Nonetheless, even at this scale, protection was uneven between bioregions. Within-bioregion heterogeneity might have led to no-take zones being established in areas unsuitable for trawling with a risk that species assemblages differ between areas protected and areas left available for trawling. A simple four-step framework of questions for planners and policy makers is proposed to help reverse the emerging residual tendency of MPAs and maximize their effectiveness for conservation. This involves checks on the least-cost approach to establishing MPAs in order to avoid perverse outcomes. © 2014 The Authors. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

True Value of Estuarine and Coastal Nurseries for Fish: Incorporating Complexity and Dynamics

Abstract: Coastal ecosystems, such as estuaries, salt marshes, mangroves and seagrass meadows, comprise some of the world's most productive and ecologically significant ecosystems. Cur- rently, the predominant factor considered in valuing coastal wetlands as fish habitats is the contribution they make to off- shore, adult fish stocks via ontogenetic migrations. However, the true value of coastal nurseries for fish is much more extensive, involving several additional, fundamentally important ecosystem processes. Overlooking these broader aspects when identifying and valuing habitats risks suboptimal conservation outcomes, especially given the intense competing human pressures on coastlines and the likelihood that protection will have to be focussed on specific locations rather than across broad sweeps of individual habitat types. We describe 10 key components of nursery habitat value grouped into three types: (1) connectivity and population dynamics (includes connectivity, ontogenetic migration and seascape migration), (2) ecological and ecophys- iological factors (includes ecotone effects, ecophysiological fac- tors, food/predation trade-offs and food webs) and (3) resource dynamics (includes resource availability, ontogenetic diet shifts and allochthonous inputs). By accounting for ecosystem com- plexities and spatial and temporal variation, these additional components offer a more comprehensive account of habitat value. We explicitly identify research needs and methods to support a broader assessment of nursery habitat value. We also explain how, by better synthesising results from existing re- search, some of the seemingly complex aspects of this broader view can be addressed efficiently.

Beyond buying time: The role of plasticity in phenotypic adaptation to rapid environmental change

Abstract: How populations and species respond to modified environmental conditions is critical to their persistence both now and into the future, particularly given the increasing pace of environmental chang...