Evaluating the influence of trophic connections between marine habitats on the effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas [ 2003-03-05 - 2006-03-04 ]

Research Grant

Researchers: Mr Mat Vanderklift (Postdoctoral Fellow) ,  Prof Ken Heck (Partner Investigator)

Brief description Evaluating the influence of trophic connections between marine habitats on the effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas. Marine ecosystems are characterized by trophic subsidies: consumers forage between habitats, and ungrazed primary production is exported as drift or detritus. However, the trophic relationships we see today may in a sense be unnatural, because intensive fishing of consumers may have fundamentally altered them.\r\nWe aim to evaluate the importance of the exchange of consumers and drift between seagrass and reef habitats in Australia and North America. We aim to find out whether fishing alters these processes by studying marine protected areas in both continents.\r\nThis work will come at a crucial time for the implementation of Australia's MPA system.\r\n

Funding Amount $235,000

Funding Scheme Discovery Projects

View this grant in the ARC Data Portal