People

Biography:

April is a post-doctoral research fellow; her research activities explore fundamental concepts of coral reef fish ecology, with a particular focus on marine parks management and conservation of coral reef fish communities. April’s current research activities are focussed around evaluating the value of conservation park (yellow) zones to biodiversity conservation in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. April holds an Advance Queensland Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship, and works in collaboration with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, as well as the Reef and Ocean Ecology Laboratory. April’s PhD research focused on the importance of predatory fishes on reefs, and the trophic impacts of predator removals on coral reef fish communities. This project provided valuable information on how fishing of predators affects trophic dynamics on the Great Barrier Reef, and demonstrated the utility of no-take marine reserves in protecting ecosystem processes on reefs. Other research projects include investigation of the demographics, reproduction and habitat associations of nemipterid fishes, as well as collaborative projects examining spatial and temporal trends in coral trout abundance in the Capricorn Bunkers. April co-supervises post-graduate students and has held several roles as a course demonstrator in the College of Marine and Environmental Sciences.

Research Interests:

April’s research activities explore fundamental concepts of coral reef fish ecology, with a particular focus on trophic relationships in coral reef fish communities. Her PhD research focused on the importance of predatory fishes on reefs, and the trophic impacts of predator removals on coral reef fish communities. This project provided valuable information on how fishing of predators affects trophic dynamics on the Great Barrier Reef, and demonstrated the utility of no-take marine reserves in protecting ecosystem processes on reefs. Other research projects include investigation of the demographics, reproduction and habitat associations of nemipterid fishes, as well as collaborative projects examining spatial and temporal trends in coral trout abundance in the Capricorn Bunkers. April currently co-supervises a masters student, and is a casual course demonstrator in the College of Marine and Environmental Sciences at James Cook University.

Dr April Hall CV

Collaborators

Professor Michael Kingsford

Dr Timothy Clark

Darren Cameron and David Wachenfeld (GBRMPA)

Supervision Roles

Co-supervisor (with Prof. Michael Kingsford) for Honours Student (first class) Stephanie Garra

Project: Inter-relationships between reef fishes and soft corals

Co-supervisor (with Prof. Michael Kingsford) for Masters Student: Lisa Vitale.

Project: Early Life History Traits of Scolopsis bilineatus

Publications:

Hall AE, Vitale L, Kingsford MJ (2019) Planktonic larval duration, early growth, and the influence of dietary input on the otolith microstructure of Scolopsis bilineatus (Nemipteridae) Environmental Biology of Fishes 102:541-552 doi:10.1007/s10641-019-00852-z Link to full text

Hall, A.E. and Kingsford, M.J. (2016). Variation in the population demographics of Scolopsis bilineatus in response to predators. Coral Reefs. doi:10.1007/s00338-016-1486-0 Link to full text

Hall, A.E. and Clark, T.D. (2016). Seeing is believing: visual rather than chemosensory predator cues elicit a metabolic response in a prey species of coral reef fish. Animal Behaviour. 115:117-126. Link to full text

Hall, A.E. and Kingsford, M.J. (2016). Predators exacerbate competitive interactions and dominance hierarchies between two coral reef fishes. PLoS ONE. Link to full text

*Boaden, A. E. and Kingsford, M. J. (2015). Predators drive community structure in coral reef fish assemblages. Ecosphere DOI: 10.1890/ES14-00292.1. Link to full text

*Boaden, A. E. and Kingsford, M. J. (2013). Distributions and Habitat Associations of the Bridled Monocle Bream (Scolopsis bilineatus : Nemipteridae): a Demographic Approach. Journal of Fish Biology, 83: 618-641. Link to full text.

*Boaden, A.E., and Kingsford, M.J. (2012)  Diel behaviour and trophic ecology of Scolopsis bilineatus (Nemipteridae). Coral Reefs 31: 817-883. Link to full text.

* Published in maiden name of April Boaden. Name change to April Hall as of November 2015.

Media Releases:

Advance Queensland Fellowship announcement- ‘Centre scientists assess fishing zones’

JCU media release ‘Mix of marine zones matters most for prey fish’

CoE Media release- ‘Fishing impacts on the Great Barrier Reef‘

Science Daily article: ‘Fishing impacts on the Great Barrier Reef‘

The Age: ‘Fishing damaging Great Barrier Reef’s Food Chain’

Conference Presentations:

• Australian Society for Fish Biology conference, Townsville 2001, and Melbourne, 2018
• Indo-Pacific Fish Conference, Japan 2013, and Tahiti, 2018
• Australian Coral Reefs Society conference 2013, 2014 and 2015, 2017, 2019 (oral presentation prize).
• Society for Conservation Biology conference, Suva Fiji, 2013.
• Science in the Tropics Conference, Townsville Australia 2013 (oral presentation prize)
• International Coral Reefs Symposium, Cairns Australia 2012
• Australian Network in Marine Science conference, Perth Australia 2011.