Incorporating Seascape Ecology Into the Design and Assessment of Marine Protected Areas
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University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+ University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2017 Incorporating seascape ecology into the design and assessment of marine protected areas Matthew John Rees University of Wollongong Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses1 University of Wollongong Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorise you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process, nor may any other exclusive right be exercised, without the permission of the author. 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For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] INCORPORATING SEASCAPE ECOLOGY INTO THE DESIGN AND ASSESSMENT OF MARINE PROTECTED AREAS A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY From UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG By Matthew John Rees BMarScAdv (Hons) SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES March 2017 i ii CERTIFICATION I, Matthew John Rees, declare that this thesis, submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the award of Doctor of Philosophy, in the School of Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong, is wholly my own work unless referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. _____________________________ Matthew John Rees 24th March 2017 iii STATEMENT OF CANDIDATE CONTRIBUTION The general introduction and four data chapters (i.e. Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5) presented in this thesis have been prepared as manuscripts in collaboration with my supervisors Prof. Andy Davis and Dr Nathan Knott. Chapter 5 has been written for the following journal article. ñ Rees, M.J., Knott, N.A., Fenech G.V. and Davis, A.R. (2015) Rules of attraction: enticing pelagic fish to mid-water remote underwater video systems (RUVS). Marine Ecology Progress Series, 529: 213-218. MJR, ARD and NAK developed the experimental approach; MJR collected the field data; MJR and GVF collected and processed the sound recordings; MJR performed the data analysis; MJR wrote the manuscript; MJR, ARD and NAK finalised the manuscript for submission. As the primary supervisor, I, Professor Andy Davis, declare that the greater part of the work in each article is attributed to the candidate, Matthew John Rees. In each of the above chapters, Matthew led conceptual development, study design and was primarily responsible for the data collection, data analysis and data interpretation. The first draft of each manuscript was written by the candidate and Matthew was then responsible for responding to the editing suggestions of his co- authors. The co-authors were responsible for assisting with the study design, data collection, interpreting data and editing manuscripts where necessary. Matthew has been solely responsible for submitting the manuscript (Chapter 5) for publication in Marine Ecology Progress Series, and has been in charge of responding to the reviewers’ comments. _________________________ _________________________ Matthew John Rees Professor Andy Davis PhD Candidate Principal Supervisor 24th March 2017 24th March 2017 iv PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS In addition to the published manuscript listed above, during the course of my PhD I have published three journal articles and presented data from my thesis at national and international conferences. I have also co-organised and chaired a symposium on the application of remote video technology to study fish ecology. A summary of this activity is provided below. Publications Rees, M.J., Jordan, A., Price, O.F., Coleman, M.A. and Davis, A.R. (2014) Abiotic surrogates for temperate rocky reef biodiversity: implications for marine protected areas. Diversity and Distributions, 20, 284-296. Kelaher, B.P., Coleman, M.A., Broad, A., Rees, M.J., Jordan, A. and Davis, A.R. (2014) Changes in fish assemblages following the establishment of a network of no-take marine reserves and partially-protected areas. PloS one, 9(1), p.e85825. Ferguson, A.M., Harvey, E.S., Rees, M.J. and Knott, N.A. (2015) Does the abundance of girellids and kyphosids correlate with cover of the palatable green algae, Ulva spp.? A test on temperate rocky intertidal reefs. Journal of Fish Biology, 86(1), 375-384. Conference presentations Rees, M.J., Davis, A.R., Jordan, A., Linklater, M. and Knott, N.A. (2016) Accounting for habitat structural complexity in the assessment of Marine Protected Area effectiveness. Australian Society of Fish Biology, 4th-7th September, Hobart, Australia. Rees, M.J., Davis, A.R., Jordan, A., Linklater, M. and Knott, N.A. (2015) Seascape ecology and conservation: using habitat mapping to improve Marine Protected Area design. GeoHab Conference, 3rd-8th May, Salvador, Brazil. v Rees, M.J., Fenech, G.V., Knott, N.A. and Davis, A.R. (2015) Rules of attraction: enticing pelagic fish to mid-water remote underwater videos. Australian Society of Fish Biology, 12th-14th October, Sydney, Australia. Rees, M.J., Fenech, G.V., Knott, N.A. and Davis, A.R. (2015) Rules of attraction: enticing pelagic fish to mid-water remote underwater videos. AMSA, 6th-10th July, Canberra, Australia. Rees, M.J., Jordan, A., Price, O.F., Coleman, M.A. and Davis, A.R. (2014) Abiotic surrogates for temperate rocky reef biodiversity: implications for Marine Protected Areas. GeoHab Conference, 6th-8th May, Lorne, Australia. Rees, M.J., Fenech, G.V., Knott, N.A. and Davis, A.R. (2013) Rules of attraction: enticing pelagic fish to mid-water remote underwater videos. EcoTas – 5th joint conference of the Ecological Society of Australia and New Zealand Ecological Society 24th-29th November, Auckland, New Zealand. Symposia Becker, A., and Rees, M.J. (2014) Application of video technology to the understanding of fish ecology and behaviour. Australian Society of Fish Biology conference, 12th-14th October, Sydney, Australia. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATION ..................................................................................................... iii STATEMENT OF CANDIDATE CONTRIBUTION ............................................... iv PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS .................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... x LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................. xiii LIST OF PLATES .................................................................................................... xvi LIST OF APPENDICES .......................................................................................... xvii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... xviii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... xxi Chapter 1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 1 1.1 From landscapes to seascapes ...................................................................... 1 1.2 Practicing seascape ecology ......................................................................... 5 1.3 Statistical issues ........................................................................................... 8 1.4 Seascape patterns in marine fishes ............................................................... 8 1.5 Seascape ecology and pelagic fishes .......................................................... 12 1.6 Temporal scaling in seascape studies ......................................................... 14 1.7 Incorporating seascape ecology into Marine Protected Area design ......... 14 1.8 Incorporating seascape ecology into Marine Protected Area assessment .. 17 1.9 Important knowledge gaps ......................................................................... 18 1.10 Thesis structure .......................................................................................... 19 Chapter 2: SEASCAPE PATTERNS AND HABITAT DIFFERENCES EXPLAIN SPATIAL VARIABILITY IN COASTAL FISH ASSEMBLAGES WITHIN A TEMPERATE MARINE PROTECTED AREA ....................................................... 22 2.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................