Managing Threats in Marine Systems

Question 1

marine systems are opposite to model systems

Answer 1

vast, interconnected

difficult and expensive to research

Question 2

Ashmore Reef

Answer 2

• ephemeral, herby vegetation that dies in dry season

- phosphate reserves exploited for fertiliser but now its a reserve

Question 3

threats to biodiversity

Answer 3

poaching, oil spills, invasive species

Question 4

species - citizen science

Answer 4

diverse families of birds
diverse breeding strategies (burrows, surface season)
diverse foraging strategies

Question 5

shipboard sightings - citizen scientists travelling

Answer 5

at sea distribution 
observe foraging 
bird areas
influence of climate 
population trends - increased with more enforcement, less poaching

Question 6

at-sea survey

Answer 6

transects
seabirds recorded with GPS location to create species distribution models
- bathymetric depth
- chlorophyll a (productivity)
- distance from land
- seabed slope angle (upwelling, productivity)
- sea surface temp

use all these overlays to create a probability of occurance model

look at population trends to determine impact of climate

Question 7

effect of oil spill

Answer 7

birds went to less oil affected areas

- used GPS, diet data and blood samples

Question 8

Frigatebird approach

Answer 8

• lots of overlap between Greater and Lessor Frigatebird - niche sharing?
• found slight variation in depth of hunting and SIA of what they hunt (overlap but don’t share a niche)
• prey availability affects nest success

Question 9

UAV

Answer 9

Ariel counting is more accurate than on the ground

Question 10

tropical fire ant impact

Answer 10

• morality of juvenile species

- damage to adults

Question 11

controls of fire ants

Answer 11

toxins - affective but harm other species

- insect growth regulator - reduces productivity and does not affect other species