Age and Growth of An Outbreaking Acanthaster cf. solaris Population within the Great Barrier Reef
Despite having been studied for more than 40 years, much about the basic life history of crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS; Acanthaster spp.) remains poorly understood. Size at age—a key metric of productivity for any animal population—has yet to be clearly defined, primarily due to difficulties in obt...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2017-03-01
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| Series: | Diversity |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/9/1/18 |
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| author | M. Aaron MacNeil Karen M. Chong-Seng Deborah J. Pratchett Casssandra A. Thompson Vanessa Messmer Morgan S. Pratchett |
| author_facet | M. Aaron MacNeil Karen M. Chong-Seng Deborah J. Pratchett Casssandra A. Thompson Vanessa Messmer Morgan S. Pratchett |
| author_sort | M. Aaron MacNeil |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite having been studied for more than 40 years, much about the basic life history of crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS; Acanthaster spp.) remains poorly understood. Size at age—a key metric of productivity for any animal population—has yet to be clearly defined, primarily due to difficulties in obtaining validated ages and potentially indeterminate growth due to factors such as starvation; within-population variability is entirely unknown. Here we develop age and growth estimates for an outbreaking CoTS population in Australian waters by integrating prior information with data from CoTS collected from multiple outbreaking reefs. Age estimates were made from un-validated band counts of 2038 individual starfish. Results from our three-parameter von Bertalanffy Bayesian hierarchical model show that, under 2013–2014 outbreak conditions, CoTS on the GBR grew to a 349 (326, 380) mm (posterior median (95% uncertainty interval)) total diameter at a 0.54 (0.43, 0.66) intrinsic rate of increase. However, we also found substantial evidence (ΔDIC > 200) for inter-reef variability in both maximum size (SD 38 (19, 76)) and intrinsic rate of increase (SD 0.32 (0.20, 0.49)) within the CoTS outbreak initiation area. These results suggest that CoTS demography can vary widely with reef-scale environmental conditions, supporting location-based mechanisms for CoTS outbreaks generally. These findings should help improve population and metapopulation models of CoTS dynamics and better predict the potential damage they may cause in the future. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:05:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dc809d99261e4e0b8932554f6ce37242 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-2818 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:05:45Z |
| publishDate | 2017-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Diversity |
| spelling | doaj.art-dc809d99261e4e0b8932554f6ce372422022-12-22T04:28:21ZengMDPI AGDiversity1424-28182017-03-01911810.3390/d9010018d9010018Age and Growth of An Outbreaking Acanthaster cf. solaris Population within the Great Barrier ReefM. Aaron MacNeil0Karen M. Chong-Seng1Deborah J. Pratchett2Casssandra A. Thompson3Vanessa Messmer4Morgan S. Pratchett5Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3 Townsville MC, Townsville, QLD 4810, AustraliaARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, AustraliaARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, AustraliaARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, AustraliaARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, AustraliaARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, AustraliaDespite having been studied for more than 40 years, much about the basic life history of crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS; Acanthaster spp.) remains poorly understood. Size at age—a key metric of productivity for any animal population—has yet to be clearly defined, primarily due to difficulties in obtaining validated ages and potentially indeterminate growth due to factors such as starvation; within-population variability is entirely unknown. Here we develop age and growth estimates for an outbreaking CoTS population in Australian waters by integrating prior information with data from CoTS collected from multiple outbreaking reefs. Age estimates were made from un-validated band counts of 2038 individual starfish. Results from our three-parameter von Bertalanffy Bayesian hierarchical model show that, under 2013–2014 outbreak conditions, CoTS on the GBR grew to a 349 (326, 380) mm (posterior median (95% uncertainty interval)) total diameter at a 0.54 (0.43, 0.66) intrinsic rate of increase. However, we also found substantial evidence (ΔDIC > 200) for inter-reef variability in both maximum size (SD 38 (19, 76)) and intrinsic rate of increase (SD 0.32 (0.20, 0.49)) within the CoTS outbreak initiation area. These results suggest that CoTS demography can vary widely with reef-scale environmental conditions, supporting location-based mechanisms for CoTS outbreaks generally. These findings should help improve population and metapopulation models of CoTS dynamics and better predict the potential damage they may cause in the future.http://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/9/1/18age estimationBayesian modelingGreat Barrier Reef |
| spellingShingle | M. Aaron MacNeil Karen M. Chong-Seng Deborah J. Pratchett Casssandra A. Thompson Vanessa Messmer Morgan S. Pratchett Age and Growth of An Outbreaking Acanthaster cf. solaris Population within the Great Barrier Reef Diversity age estimation Bayesian modeling Great Barrier Reef |
| title | Age and Growth of An Outbreaking Acanthaster cf. solaris Population within the Great Barrier Reef |
| title_full | Age and Growth of An Outbreaking Acanthaster cf. solaris Population within the Great Barrier Reef |
| title_fullStr | Age and Growth of An Outbreaking Acanthaster cf. solaris Population within the Great Barrier Reef |
| title_full_unstemmed | Age and Growth of An Outbreaking Acanthaster cf. solaris Population within the Great Barrier Reef |
| title_short | Age and Growth of An Outbreaking Acanthaster cf. solaris Population within the Great Barrier Reef |
| title_sort | age and growth of an outbreaking acanthaster cf solaris population within the great barrier reef |
| topic | age estimation Bayesian modeling Great Barrier Reef |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/9/1/18 |
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