NESP TWQ Round 4 - Project 4.1 - Crown-of-thorns starfish: surveillance and life history

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This project supports the implementation of the NESP Crown-of-Thorns Starfish Integrated Pest Management Project’s management and research strategy by:

  1. describing ecological parameters key to parameterising the tools underpinning the management strategy;
  2. analysing existing data sets to assess management performance and describe the interaction between CoTS and bleaching; and
  3. scoping new technologies and surveillance strategies for detecting and monitoring primary and secondary outbreaks.

The work will involve a combination of field ecological research, statistical analysis of existing data, technology and strategy development (the latter through workshops) and inform decision making through incorporation into decision support tools and recommendations.

NESP TWQ Project Page

Videos

Datasets

Prevalence and severity of sub-lethal injuries in COTS across different management zones from 2012 - 2020 (NESP TWQ 4.1, ARC COE, JCU)
14 April 2021

This dataset collected variation in the demography of Pacific crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster cf. solaris) during the latest period of elevated starfish densities (active population irruptions) in the central section of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

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