Microhabitat preferences and post-settlement demography for juvenile crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) (Old ID 23243)

Australian Museum
Role

Principal Investigator

Description

We will document fine-scale (within reef) variation in the abundance of juvenile (0+ year old) CoTS and relate patterns of abundance to specific features of the local habitat (e.g., depth and aspect) and micro-habitat (eg., cover of different coralline algae and corals) to further refine where to find newly settled CoTS. In areas with high settlement of CoTS, we will also quantify early post-settlement growth and mortality for a single cohort of CoTS, by measuring the local abundance and size structure of juvenile CoTS at selected locations through the course of 1 year.

Date

13 Mar 2017 - 17 Apr 2018

Project Type

GRANT

Keywords

Acanthaster;Demography;Settlement;Disturbance;Coral Reefs

Funding Body

Australian Museum

Amount

35717

Project Team

Jennifer Wilmes;Andrew Hoey;Vanessa Messmer