Dr David Feary

Burt, J.A., Bartholomew, A. & Feary, D.A. 2012, 'Man-made structures as artificial reefs in the gulf' in Bernhard M. Riegl, Sam J. Purkis (eds), Coral Reefs of the Gulf, Springer, Netherlands, pp. 171-186.
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Chapter 10 (Burt et al.) acknowledges the fact that the spectacular economic development in the Gulf region has created miles of arti fi cial reef habitat and explores the dynamics, and conservation value, of man-made habitats. The following section reviews the systematics and taxonomy of some major animal and plant groups found on coral reefs.

Feary, D.A., Burt, J.A., Cavalcante, G.H. & Bauman, A.G. 2012, 'Extreme physical factors and the structure of gulf fish and reef communities' in Bernhard M. Riegl, Sam J. Purkis (eds), Coral Reefs of the Gulf, Springer, Netherlands, pp. 163-170.

Bauman, A.G., Pratchett, S., Baird, A.H., Riegl, B., Heron, S.F. & Feary, D.A. 2013, 'Variation in the size structure of corals is related to environmental extremes in the Persian Gulf', Marine Environmental Research, vol. 84, pp. 43-50.
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Cavalcante, G.H., Kjerfve, B. & Feary, D.A. 2012, 'Examination of residence time and its relevance to water quality within a coastal mega-structure: The Palm Jumeirah Lagoon', Journal Of Hydrology, vol. 468-469, pp. 111-119.
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A numerical modeling study was carried out to compute average residence time in the semi-enclosed lagoon formed by the man-made island Palm Jumeirah (Dubai, United Arab Emirates), termed Palm Jumeirah Lagoon (PJL). The PJL encompasses a main island axis with 17 `fronds+ radiating from this axis, all encapsulated within a semi-circular breakwater system. A coupled hydrodynamic and solute transport model was developed for the waters of the PJL, based on depth-integrated conservation equations. Numerical model predictions were then verified against a set of field-measured hydrodynamic data. Model-predicted water elevations and velocities were in good agreement with field measurements. Residence times for this tidal dominated system were investigated through numerical experiments using a conservative tracer as a surrogate. The results indicated that average residence time varied spatially throughout the PJL depending on tidal flushing. Average residence time was unequally distributed throughout the PJL, with the eastern side showing higher flushing times than the western side. In addition, there were also differences between sections of the PJL in average residence time of a tracer: between frond tips and the surrounding breakwater the tracer was reduced to 30+40% of its original value after approximately 1 week, while a tracer placed between the fronds was reduced to 30+40% of its value after 20 days. The findings of this research provide vital information for understanding the water transport process in this man-made lagoon, and will be important in assessing the potential impact on coastal water quality conditions in coastal developments within the Middle East.

Cinner, J., McClanahan, T., Macneil, M., Graham, N., Daw, T., Mukminin, A., Feary, D.A., Rabearisoa, A., Wamukota, A., Jiddawi, N., Campbell, S.J., Baird, A.H., Januchowski-Hartley, F.A., Hamed, S., Lahari, R., Morove, T. & Kuange, J. 2012, 'Comanagement Of Coral Reef Social-Ecological Systems', Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America, vol. 109, no. 14, pp. 5219-5222.
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In an effort to deliver better outcomes for people and the ecosystems they depend on, many governments and civil society groups are engaging natural resource users in collaborative management arrangements (frequently called comanagement). However, there

Burt, J.A., Feary, D.A., Bauman, A.G., Usseglio, P., Cavalcante, G.H. & Sale, P.F. 2011, 'Biogeographic patterns of reef fish community structure in the northeastern Arabian Peninsula', ICES Journal of Marine Science, vol. 68, no. 9, pp. 1875-1883.
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This study provides the first large-scale comparison of reef-associated fish communities in the northeastern Arabian Peninsula, with 24 sites spanning >3000 km of coastline in the southern Persian Gulf, the western Gulf of Oman, and the northwestern Arabian Sea, each with its own unique environmental conditions. Multivariate analyses revealed three distinct community types that were represented mainly by sites within each major water body, with >70% dissimilarity in community structure between each. Persian Gulf communities had low species richness, abundance, and biomass of reef fish compared with the other subregions, with communities dominated by herbivores and generalist predators that had little association with live coral. Reef fish biomass in the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea was comparable, and communities were dominated by fish with moderate coral association. However, there were relatively more herbivores and larger fish in the Arabian Sea than in the Gulf of Oman, where communities were dominated by planktivores. Species richness was highest in the Arabian Sea when differences in abundance among regions were accounted for. The influence of distinct environmental and oceanographic conditions on reef fish community structure in each of these areas is discussed.

Cavalcante, G.H., Kjerfve, B., Feary, D.A., Bauman, A.G. & Usseglio, P. 2011, 'Water currents and water budget in a coastal megastructure, Palm Jumeirah Lagoon, Dubai, UAE', Journal of Coastal Research, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 384-393.

Feary, D.A., Burt, J.A. & Bartholomew, A. 2011, 'Artificial marine habitats in the Arabian Gulf: Review of current use, benefits and management implications', Ocean & Coastal Management, vol. 54, pp. 742-749.
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The use of artificial reefs in the Arabian Gulf have a history extending back over a century, when date palm trunks, stones, pottery and other materials were sunk in coastal areas to enhance fish catch. Historically, such artificial reefs formed an important component of the socio-economic development of coastal fisheries. In comparison, modern artificial reefs have taken on a variety of forms. The most widely recognized are purpose-build modular artificial reefs designed for the enhancement of fisheries yield, diving, and various other benefits. However, far more common within the Gulf are the large-scale unplanned artificial reefs that have been formed as a result of human activities in the marine system, such as large-scale coastal breakwaters, seawalls, jetties, pipelines, and oil and gas infrastructure. Although there is limited information on the role of these constructions in structuring Gulf marine communities, increasing evidence suggests that abundant and diverse communities of reef fish, coral and other benthos can develop on these structures, with important ecological implications in urbanized coastal areas in the Gulf. However, due to a variety of unintended consequences of artificial reef development such structures may also pose challenges to coastal marine management. We review the current published literature on artificial reefs in the Gulf in order to improve our understanding of the role that these structures play in Gulf coastal ecosystems, and to further develop regional management of artificial reefs. We explore the various types of artificial reef that exist in the Gulf and examine the benefits and challenges that these structures represent for coastal ecology and economics. Such information is essential for our improved understanding and management of these increasingly important ecosystems in the Gulf.

Feary, D.A., Cinner, J.E., Cinner, J.E., Graham, N.A. & Januchowski-Hartley, F.A. 2011, 'Effects of customary marine closures on fish behavior, spear-fishing success, and underwater visual surveys', Conservation Biology, vol. 25, no. 2.
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Customary management systems (i.e., management systems that limit the use of marine resources), such as rotational fisheries closures, can limit harvest of resources. Nevertheless, the explicit goals of customary management are often to influence fish behavior (in particular flight distance, i.e., distance at which an organism begins to flee an approaching threat), rather than fish abundance. We explored whether the flight distance of reef fishes targeted by local artisanal fishers differed between a customary closure and fished reefs. We also examined whether flight distance of these species affected fishing success and accuracy of underwater visual census (UVC) between customary closed areas and areas open to fishing. Several species demonstrated significant differences in flight distance between areas, indicating that fishing activity may increase flight distance. These relatively long flight distances mean that in fished areas most target species may stay out of the range of spear fishers. In addition, mean flight distances for all species both inside and outside the customary-closure area were substantially smaller than the observation distance of an observer conducting a belt-transect UVC (mean [SE]= 8.8 m [0.48]). For targeted species that showed little ability to evade spear fishers, customary closures may be a vital management technique. Our results show that customary closures can have a substantial, positive effect on resource availability and that conventional UVC techniques may be insensitive to changes in flight behavior of fishes associated with fishing. We argue that short, periodic openings of customary closures may allow the health of the fish community to be maintained and local fishers to effectively harvest fishes.

Januchowski-Hartley, F.A., Graham, N.A., Feary, D.A., Morove, T. & Cinner, J.E. 2011, 'Fear of fishers: Human predation explains behavioral changes in coral reef fishes', PLoS ONE, vol. 6, no. 8, pp. 1-10.
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Prey flight decisions in response to predation risk are increasingly being considered in conservation and management decisions in the terrestrial realm, but are rarely considered in marine systems. This field-based study investigated how the behavioral response of coral reef fish families varied along a gradient of subsistence fishing pressure in Papua New Guinea. Specifically, we examined how fishing pressure was related to pre-flight behavior and flight initiation distance (FID), and whether FID was influenced by body size (centimeters total length), group size (including both con- and hetero-specific individuals), or life-history phase. Fishing pressure was positively associated with higher FID, but only in families that were primarily targeted by spear guns. Among these families, there were variable responses in FID; some families showed increased FID monotonically with fishing pressure, while others showed increased FID only at the highest levels of fishing pressure. Body size was more significant in varying FID at higher levels of fishing pressure. Although family-level differences in pre-flight behavior were reported, such behavior showed low concordance with fishing pressure. FID shows promise as a tool by which compliance and effectiveness of management of reef fisheries can be assessed.

Mora, C., Aburto-Oropeza, O., Bocos, A.A., Ayotte, P.M., Banks, S., Bauman, A.G., Beger, M., Bessudo, S., Booth, D.J., Brokovich, E., Brooks, A., Chabanet, P., Cinner, J.E., Cortes, J., Cruz-Motta, J.J., Magana, A.C., DeMartini, E.E., Edgar, G.J., Feary, D.A., Ferse, S.C., Friedlander, A.M., Gaston, K.J., Gough, C., Graham, N.A., Green, A., Guzman, H., Hardt, M., Kulbicki, M., Letourneur, Y., Perez, A.L., Loreau, M., Loya, Y., Martinez, C., Mascarenas-Osorio, I., Morove, T., Nadon, M., Nakamura, Y., Paredes, G., Polunin, N.V., Pratchett, M.S., Bonilla, H.R., Rivera, F., Sala, E., Sandin, S.A., Soler, G., Smith, R.S., Tessier, E., Tittensor, D.P., Tupper, M., Usseglio, P., Vigliola, L., Wantiez, L., Williams, I., Wilson, S.K. & Zapata, F.A. 2011, 'Global human footprint on the linkage between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in reef fishes', Plos Biology, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 1-9.
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Difficulties in scaling up theoretical and experimental results have raised controversy over the consequences of biodiversity loss for the functioning of natural ecosystems. Using a global survey of reef fish assemblages, we show that in contrast to previous theoretical and experimental studies, ecosystem functioning (as measured by standing biomass) scales in a nonsaturating manner with biodiversity (as measured by species and functional richness) in this ecosystem. Our field study also shows a significant and negative interaction between human population density and biodiversity on ecosystem functioning (i.e., for the same human density there were larger reductions in standing biomass at more diverse reefs). Human effects were found to be related to fishing, coastal development, and land use stressors, and currently affect over 75% of the world+s coral reefs. Our results indicate that the consequences of biodiversity loss in coral reefs have been considerably underestimated based on existing knowledge and that reef fish assemblages, particularly the most diverse, are greatly vulnerable to the expansion and intensity of anthropogenic stressors in coastal areas.

Sale, P.F., Feary, D.A., Burt, J.A., Bauman, A.G., Cavalcante, G.H., Drouillard, K.G., Kjerfve, B., Marquis, E., Trick, C.G., Usseglio, P. & Van Lavieren, H. 2011, 'The growing need for sustainable ecological management of marine communities of the Persian Gulf', Ambio, vol. 40, pp. 4-17.
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The Persian Gulf is a semi-enclosed marine system surrounded by eight countries, many of which are experiencing substantial development. It is also a major center for the oil industry. The increasing array of anthropogenic disturbances may have substantial negative impacts on marine ecosystems, but this has received little attention until recently. We review the available literature on the Gulf+s marine environment and detail our recent experience in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) to evaluate the role of anthropogenic disturbance in this marine ecosystem. Extensive coastal development may now be the single most important anthropogenic stressor.

Bauman, A., Burt, J., Feary, D.A., Marquis, E. & Usseglio, P. 2010, 'Tropical harmful algal blooms: An emerging threat to coral reef communities?', Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 60, no. 11, pp. 2117-2122.
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Tropical harmful algal blooms (HABs) are increasing in frequency and intensity and are substantially affecting marine communities. In October/November 2008 a large-scale HAB event (> 500 km(2), dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides) in the Gulf of Om

Burt, J., Feary, D.A., Usseglio, P., Bauman, A.G. & Sale, P.F. 2010, 'The influence of wave exposure on coral community development on man-made breakwater reefs, with a comparison to a natural reef', Bulletin of Marine Science, vol. 86, no. 4, pp. 839-859.
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Breakwaters dominate shorelines in many coastal urban areas, providing substantial hard-bottom habitat upon which diverse and abundant reef communities develop. In recognition of their potential ecological and economic importance, there is increasing interest in understanding how design features can influence community development. We investigated the influence of wave exposure on breakwater coral communities in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Coral community composition, cover, size structure, recruitment, mortality, and growth rates were compared quarterly between two windward and two leeward breakwater sites for 1 yr to explore the influence of wave exposure on coral community development. Comparisons also were made with a natural coral reef to gain an understanding of how community structure and dynamics compare between these habitats. Benthic and water column sediment particle sizes were also analyzed. Leeward breakwaters contained a low-cover coral community dominated by small colonies with high mortality compared with windward breakwaters and the natural reef. Windward breakwater coral communities had comparable recruitment, mortality, and growth rates as the natural reef. Fine sediments (< 63 Ám) dominated the benthos and water column on leeward breakwaters, while windward breakwaters and the natural reef were dominated by sediments with larger size classes (> 125 Ám), likely as a result of differences in wave action among reef types.

Cavalcante, G., Kjerfve, B., Knoppers, B. & Feary, D.A. 2010, 'Coastal currents adjacent to the Caete Estuary, Para Region, North Brazil', Estuarine Coastal And Shelf Science, vol. 88, no. 1, pp. 84-90.
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We examined and compared tidal currents and water column structure between a near-shore station (12 km from the coast) and an offshore station (32 km from the coast) adjacent to the Caete River, Para Region, Brazil. Although the coastal system of Para is

Feary, D.A., Burt, J., Bauman, A., Usseglio, P., Sale, P. & Cavalcante, G. 2010, 'Fish communities on the world's warmest reefs: what can they tell us about the effects of climate change in the future?', Journal Of Fish Biology, vol. 77, no. 8, pp. 1931-1947.
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To examine the role of climatic extremes in structuring reef fish communities in the Arabian region, reef fish communities were visually surveyed at four sites within the southern Persian Gulf (also known as the Arabian Gulf and The Gulf), where sea-surf

Wilson, S., Adjeroud, M., Bellwood, D., Berumen, M., Booth, D.J., Bozec, Y., Chabanet, P., Cheal, A., Cinner, J., Depczynski, M., Feary, D.A., Gagliano, M., Graham, N., Halford, A., Halpern, B., Harborne, A., Hoey, A., Holbrook, S., Jones, G., Kulbiki, M., Letoourneur, Y., de Loma, T.L., McClanahan, T., Mccormick, M.I., Meekan, M., Mumby, P.J., Munday, P.L., Ohman, M.C., Pratchett, M., Riegl, B., Sano, M., Schmitt, R.J. & Syms, C. 2010, 'Crucial knowledge gaps in current understanding of climate change impacts on coral reef fishes', Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 213, no. 6, pp. 894-900.
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Expert opinion was canvassed to identify crucial knowledge gaps in current understanding of climate change impacts on coral reef fishes. Scientists that had published three or more papers on the effects of climate and environmental factors on reef fishes

Feary, D.A., Mccormick, M.I. & Jones, G. 2009, 'Growth of reef fishes in response to live coral cover', Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, vol. 373, no. 1, pp. 45-49.
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Although the global decline in coral reef health is likely to have profound effects on reef associated fishes, these effects are poorly understood. While declining coral cover can reduce the abundance of reef fishes through direct effects on recruitment

Feary, D.A., Wellenreuther, M. & Clements, K. 2009, 'Trophic ecology of New Zealand triplefin fishes (Family Tripterygiidae)', Marine Biology, vol. 156, no. 8, pp. 1703-1714.
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In many vertebrate radiations, food partitioning among closely related taxa is a key factor in both the maintenance of species diversity and the process of diversification. We compared diet composition and jaw morphology of 18 New Zealand triplefin speci

Feary, D.A., Almany, G., Jones, G. & Mccormick, M.I. 2007, 'Coral degradation and the structure of tropical reef fish communities', Marine Ecology Progress Series, vol. 333, no. 1, pp. 243-248.
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Coral reefs can be degraded by a variety of perturbations, including bleaching and predation by crown-of-thorns starfish. The combination of these disturbances has contributed to a global decline of live coral cover on reefs. While the effects of bleachi

Feary, D.A., Almany, G., Mccormick, M.I. & Jones, G. 2007, 'Habitat choice, recruitment and the response of coral reef fishes to coral degradation', Oecologia, vol. 153, no. 3, pp. 727-737.
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The global degradation of coral reefs is having profound effects on the structure and species richness of associated reef fish assemblages. Historically, variation in the composition of fish communities has largely been attributed to factors affecting se

Feary, D.A. 2007, 'The influence of resource specialization on the response of reef fish to coral disturbance', Marine Biology, vol. 153, no. 2, pp. 153-161.
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Ecological theory predicts that habitat generalists are less prone to decline or extinction in response to habitat disturbance than habitat specialists. One mechanism that may afford habitat generalists greater persistence is their ability to successfull

Feary, D.A. & Clements, K. 2006, 'Habitat use by triplefin species (Tripterygiidae) on rocky reefs in New Zealand', Journal Of Fish Biology, vol. 69, no. 4, pp. 1031-1046.
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Habitat use and nesting sites of 12 triplefin species (Tripterygiidae) were investigated at 26 coastal and offshore rocky reef locations in north-eastern New Zealand. Within these locations, 17 broad-scale habitats and 14 fine-scale habitats were surveye

Anderson, M., Ford, R., Feary, D.A., Honeywill, C. 2004, 'Quantitative measures of sedimentation in an estuarine system and its relationship with intertidal soft-sediment infauna', Marine Ecology Progress Series, vol. 272, no. 1, pp. 33-48.
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Increased sedimentation from changes in land use in coastal areas is a potentially important impact of human urbanisation. The potential impact of sedimentation on benthic infauna was quantitatively investigated in the Okura estuary, which is at the nort