People

Research Interests

• Fisheries on Coral Reefs

On the Great Barrier Reef, Australia my research interests involve studies of the biology and fisheries of species of reef fish of commercial and recreational fishing significance (mostly serranids, lutjanids and lethriids). Specific areas of research include age and growth, reproduction, mortality, movements, mark-release-recapture, use of fish traps as sampling devices, catch per unit effort and stock assessment. A major area of research now and in the future, is studies of age structures of reef fish of commercial/recreational significance on coral reefs opened and closed to fishing.

In south-east Asia, I am undertaking long-term (15 year) monitoring of reef fish populations inside and outside marine reserves. Work in the Philippines has been related to the use of marine reserves in reef fisheries management.

Member of: Australian Society for Fish Biology; Australian Marine Sciences Association; Australian Coral Reef Society; Asian Fisheries Society; Scientific Divers Association of Australia; International Bryozoology Association.

Recent and Currently Supervised PhD Topics

• Age determination, age structure, growth, mortality and reproduction of reef fishes of commercial and recreational fishing interest on the Great Barrier Reef.
• Use of fish traps as sampling devices for coral reef fishes.
• Use of conventional tags and ultrasonic telemetry to determine movement patterns of reef fishes within and between coral reefs, with particular emphasis on spawning migrations and movements across fished/unfished boundaries.

Future PhD Directions

• Reefal scale manipulations of fishing pressure and use of age structures as indicators of effects of fishing on reef fish.
• Computer modeling of reef fisheries at both the level of populations and communities.
• Use of marine reserves in fisheries management.
• Empirical and modelling studies of larvae dispersal with respect to marine reserves.

Selected Publications

Sparrow L, Momigliano P, Russ G and Heimann K (2017) Effects of temperature, salinity and composition of the dinoflagellate assemblage on the growth of Gambierdiscus carpenteri isolated from the Great Barrier Reef. Harmful Algae, 65. pp. 52-60

Leahy S, Russ G and Abesamis R (2016) Primacy of bottom-up effects on a butterflyfish assemblage. Marine and Freshwater Research, 67 (8). pp. 1175-1185

Abesamis R, Jadloc C and Russ G (2015) Varying annual patterns of reproduction in four species of coral reef fish in a monsoonal environment. Marine Biology, 162 (10). pp. 1993-2006

Bergseth B, Russ G and Cinner J (2015) Measuring and monitoring compliance in no-take marine reserves. Fish and Fisheries, 16 (2). pp. 240-258

Emslie M, Logan M, Williamson D, Ayling A, MacNeil M, Ceccarelli D, Cheal A, Evans R, Johns K, Jonker M, Miller I, Osborne K, Russ G and Sweatman H (2015) Expectations and outcomes of reserve network performance following re-zoning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Current Biology, 25 (8). pp. 983-992

Januchowski-Hartley F, Graham N, Cinner J and Russ G (2015) Local fishing influences coral reef fish behavior inside protected areas of the Indo-Pacific. Biological Conservation, 182. pp. 8-12

Lamb J, Williamson D, Russ G and Willis B (2015) Protected areas mitigate diseases of reef-building corals by reducing damage from fishing. Ecology, 96 (9). pp. 2555-2567

Leahy S, Russ G and Abesamis R (2015) Pelagic larval duration and settlement size of a reef fish are spatially consistent, but post-settlement growth varies at the reef scale. Coral Reefs, 34 (4). pp. 1283-1296

Russ G, Miller K, Rizzari J and Alcala A (2015) Long-term no-take marine reserve and benthic habitat effects on coral reef fishes. Marine Ecology – Progress Series, 529. pp. 233-248

Russ G, Bergseth B, Rizzari J and Alcala A (2015) Decadal-scale effects of benthic habitat and marine reserve protection on Philippine goatfish (F: Mullidae). Coral Reefs, 34 (3). pp. 773-787

Russ G, Questel S, Rizzari J and Alcala A (2015) The parrotfish-coral relationship: refuting the ubiquity of a prevailing paradigm. Marine Biology, 162 (10). pp. 2029-2045

Abesamis R, Green A, Russ G and Jadloc C (2014) The intrinsic vulnerability to fishing of coral reef fishes and their differential recovery in fishery closures. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 24 (4). pp. 1033-1063

Full list of publications