Optimising crown-of-thorns starfish control effort on the Great Barrier Reef
Kanupriya Agarwal, Michael Bode, Kate J. Helmstedt
TL;DR
This paper studies how to best control crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks to protect coral on the Great Barrier Reef.
Contribution
The study introduces a metapopulation model to evaluate spatial control strategies for COTS management.
Findings
Targeting COTS at outbreak sources yields the best coral protection outcomes.
Wider control spread protects more area but reduces overall coral cover.
Efficient COTS management requires considering larval connectivity patterns.
Abstract
Outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci (COTS), a disruptive coral-eating predator, are responsible for almost half of total coral cover loss on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. As the pressures of climate change continue to intensify the frequency and severity of disturbance events such as cyclones and coral bleaching, efficiently managing COTS outbreaks is essential for reef protection. We aim to understand how the spatial distribution and intensity of crown-of-thorns starfish control – specifically manual culling of COTS by human divers – can impact coral cover on the GBR. We construct a metapopulation model based on a predator-prey model with larval dispersal and removal of crown-of-thorns starfish to simulate and compare spatial control strategies. When outbreaks begin on reefs between Cairns and Cooktown, we found the best strategy is to target those reefs at the…
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Taxonomy
TopicsCoral and Marine Ecosystems Studies · Marine and fisheries research · Marine and coastal plant biology