Scooter-assisted large area diver-based (SALAD) visual surveys to test for renewed outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster cf. solaris) in the northern Great Barrier Reef
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
Successive reef-wide population irruptions of CoTS on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) are purported to have started on reefs between Lizard Island (14.6oS) and Cairns (17oS). Accordingly, this area has come to be known as the initiation box, and much of the research on CoTS aimed at addressing the cause (s) of population irruptions is concentrated in this area. However, in some previous outbreaks there were detectable increases in the abundance of adult CoTS in the far northern GBR well ahead of similar reports for reefs (eg, Lizard Island) within the putative initiation box. This study uses relatively new and novel sampling methods to explore the current densities of CoTS in the northern GBR, and specifically test for elevated (albeit potentially very moderate) densities of CoTS that might represent the precursor of impending population irruptions. Effectively sampling low-density populations of crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS) necessitates surveying large areas of reef habitat, which has traditionally been achieved using manta-tow methods. However, manta-tow surveys have limited capacity to detect CoTS, which are mostly concealed beneath corals or within the reef matrix. Conversely, intensive visual surveys greatly increase the detection of CoTS, but are inherently limited in their spatial extent. In this study, we used underwater scooters to substantially increase the spatial extent of visual surveys undertaken by SCUBA divers, but without constraining the capacity to stop and search for CoTS within complex reef habitats, and whenever feedings scars are observed.
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32
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Australian Government
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