Emslie, Mike, Bierwagen, Stacy, Carter, Alex, Ceccarelli, Dani, Henderson, Chris, Olds, Andrew, Sinclair-taylor, Tane, Smith, Tim, Srinivasan, Maya, and Stowar, Marcus (2023) Integrated Reef Fish Monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef. In: [Presented at the Australian Society for Fish Biology Conference 2023]. 366. From: ASFB 2023: Australian Society for Fish Biology Conference 2023, 20-24 November 2023, Auckland, New Zealand.

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Abstract

Monitoring of natural ecosystems provides fundamental knowledge to assess the status and trends in biological communities, changes in environmental conditions, and the responses of ecosystems to extrinsic and intrinsic stressors. In 2021 several knowledge gaps were identified for reef fish monitoring on the Great Barrier Reef, including lack of knowledge of deep-water inter-reef fishes, fish assemblages in coastal nursery seascape and fringing reefs around continental islands. These knowledge gaps were addressed by establishing an Integrated Reef Fish Monitoring Program across much of the GBR for fish species of recreational, commercial, biocultural, and ecological significance. A collaborative multi-institutional project team has provided new insights into important fishery species such as tropical snapper, red emperor and coral trout. The project has also worked closely with Traditional Owners to co-develop the sample design in the Nursery Seascape component, as well as provide hands on training for Traditional Owner Sea Rangers. Preliminary analyses have revealed a holistic view of spatial distributions of reef fish assemblages, but also have drawn ontogenetic linkages between coastal nursery seascapes and adult populations further offshore, as revealed by the habitat use of rarely observed juveniles of important target species and large aggregations of adults offshore in deep inter-reef waters. This project is providing the first characterisations of reef fish assemblages of previously unexplored coastal nursery and deep-water inter-reef habitats.

Item ID:	88516
Item Type:	Conference Item (Abstract / Summary)
Related URLs:	Organisation https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5...
Date Deposited:	08 Sep 2025 02:31
FoR Codes:	31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3103 Ecology > 310305 Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) @ 50% 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410401 Conservation and biodiversity @ 50%
SEO Codes:	18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1802 Coastal and estuarine systems and management > 180299 Coastal and estuarine systems and management not elsewhere classified @ 100%
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