International Research Fellowship Program: Marine Reserves and Local Fisheries Replenishment in Papua, New Guinea

国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。该计划的奖项将提供联合研究的机会，并利用国外独特或互补的设施、专业知识和实验条件。该奖项将支持Glenn R.Alany博士与澳大利亚汤斯维尔詹姆斯·库克大学的Geoffrey P.Jones博士以及巴布亚新几内亚Mahonia Na Dari保护和研究中心的Max Benjamin先生和Shannon Seeto先生合作的为期24个月的研究奖学金。大多数科学家和管理人员倡导建立海洋保护区网络，以帮助重建枯竭的渔业。保护区重建渔业的一个主要机制是“溢出效应”，即青少年和成年人从保护区移民到附近的捕鱼区。虽然有间接证据表明发生了溢出，但人们对这一现象的潜在机制知之甚少。如果我们了解生态和行为因素是如何影响溢出的，我们就可以在保护区建立之前预测哪些系统、生境和物种最有可能表现出溢出。只有有了这样详细的洞察力，我们才能有效地设计和管理为帮助重建渔业而建立的海洋保护区。该项目的目标是记录是否发生溢出以及在何种情况下发生溢出，确定哪些生态和行为因素与溢出有关，并记录重要食用鱼在短(天至月)和长(年)时间尺度和小(100米)和大(公里)空间尺度上的运动模式。PI将使用声学遥测技术来监测在四个完全保护的保护区内每个保护区内被标记的个体的活动情况，并使用外部标记来记录通过标记返回和实验性诱捕来记录鱼类的活动。国际捕鱼局预计，活动增加将与高鱼类密度、大型鱼类、高捕食者密度、高栖息地连通性、小珊瑚礁大小和繁殖季节相关。巴布亚新几内亚金贝湾的珊瑚礁和海洋保护区为研究溢出效应提供了一个理想的系统。

The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support an twenty-four month research fellowship by Dr. Glenn R. Almany to work with Dr. Geoffrey P. Jones at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, and with Mr. Max Benjamin and Mr. Shannon Seeto at Mahonia Na Dari Conservation and Research Centre in Papua, New Guinea.A majority of scientists and managers advocate a network of marine reserves to help rebuild depleted fisheries. One principal mechanism by which reserves can rebuild fisheries is the "spillover effect", whereby juveniles and adults emigrate from protected reserves to nearby fishing areas. Although there is indirect evidence that spillover occurs, little is known about the underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon. If we understand how ecological and behavioral factors influence spillover, we can predict which systems, habitats, and species are most likely to exhibit spillover before reserves are established. Only with such detailed insight can we effectively design and manage marine reserves established to help rebuild fisheries. The goals of this project are to document whether and under what circumstances spillover occurs, to determine which ecological and behavioral factors are correlated with spillover, and to document movement patterns of important food fishes over short (days to months) and long (years) time scales, and small (100 meters) and large (kilometers) spatial scales. The PI will use acoustic telemetry to monitor the movements of individuals tagged within each of four fully-protected reserves and external tagging to document fish movement via tag returns and experimental trapping. The PI expects that increased movement will correlate with high fish density, large fish size, high predator density, high habitat connectivity, small reef size, and the reproductive season.The coral reefs and marine reserves in Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea provide an ideal system in which to study spillover.