Joint estimation of crown of thorns ( Acanthaster planci ) densities on the Great Barrier Reef

PeerJ

article

M. Aaron MacNeil¹  Camille Mellin¹  Morgan S. Pratchett²  Jessica Hoey⁵  Kenneth R.N. Anthony¹  Alistair J. Cheal¹  Ian Miller¹  Hugh Sweatman¹  Zara L. Cowan²  Sascha Taylor⁶  Steven Moon⁷  Chris J. Fonnesbeck⁸ 

[1] Australian Institute of Marine Science;ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University;Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Dalhousie University;The Environment Institute and School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide;Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority;Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service ,(Marine Parks), Queensland Deptartment of National Parks;Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators;Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

关键词: CoTS;    Bayesian analysis;    Monitoring;    Mark-recapture;    Data integration;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.2310

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS; Acanthaster spp.) are an outbreaking pest among many Indo-Pacific coral reefs that cause substantial ecological and economic damage. Despite ongoing CoTS research, there remain critical gaps in observing CoTS populations and accurately estimating their numbers, greatly limiting understanding of the causes and sources of CoTS outbreaks. Here we address two of these gaps by (1) estimating the detectability of adult CoTS on typical underwater visual count (UVC) surveys using covariates and (2) inter-calibrating multiple data sources to estimate CoTS densities within the Cairns sector of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). We find that, on average, CoTS detectability is high at 0.82 [0.77, 0.87] (median highest posterior density (HPD) and [95% uncertainty intervals]), with CoTS disc width having the greatest influence on detection. Integrating this information with coincident surveys from alternative sampling programs, we estimate CoTS densities in the Cairns sector of the GBR averaged 44 [41, 48] adults per hectare in 2014.

【 授权许可】

CC BY