Publication:
Spatial Ecology of Great Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) around Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix, U.S.V.I.

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorAdrian Jordaan
dc.contributor.advisorAndy Danylchuk
dc.contributor.advisorJohn Finn
dc.contributor.authorBecker, Sarah L
dc.contributor.departmentUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst
dc.contributor.departmentMarine Sciences and Technology
dc.date2024-03-28T19:34:54.000
dc.date.accessioned2024-04-26T18:19:37Z
dc.date.available2024-04-26T18:19:37Z
dc.date.submittedMay
dc.date.submitted2016
dc.description.abstractMarine protected areas (MPAs) are increasing in popularity as a tool to manage fish stocks through conservation of entire habitats and fish assemblages. Quantifying the habitat use, site fidelity, and movement patterns of marine species is vital to this method of marine spatial planning. The success of these protected areas requires that sufficient habitat is guarded against fishing pressure. For large animals, which often have correspondingly large home range areas, protecting an entire home range can be logistically challenging. For MPAs to successfully protect large top predator species, it is important to understand what areas of a home range are especially important, such as breeding and feeding grounds. New technologies, such as acoustic telemetry, have made it possible to track marine animal movements at finer spatial and temporal scales than previously possible, better illuminating these spatial use patterns. This study focused on the movement patterns of great barracuda (n=35), an ecologically important top predator, around Buck Island Reef National Monument, a no-take MPA in St. Croix, U.S.V.I. managed by the National Park Service. As developing standardized methods for acoustic telemetry is still a work in progress, the first half of this study focuses on determining appropriate tools for generating home range size estimates for great barracuda and analyzing ecological parameters driving these results. The second half of this study focused on the use of network analysis to look at spatial divisions within individual home ranges and to compare individual to population level spatial patterns, as well as to generate a relative estimate of population density within the park. Barracuda within the park demonstrated high site fidelity to individual territories, but at the population level they consistently used all habitats within the array. Core use areas within home ranges were evenly distributed throughout all habitats monitored by the acoustic array, although movement corridors were detected along high rugosity reef structures. Greater population densities within the park indicate that density dependent behaviors may be influencing habitat use within the park, and suggest that barracuda are contributing high levels of top down pressure through predation within the park boundaries.
dc.description.degreeMaster of Science (M.S.)
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.7275/8427394
dc.identifier.orcidN/A
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14394/33405
dc.relation.urlhttps://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1378&context=masters_theses_2&unstamped=1
dc.source.statuspublished
dc.subjectGreat barracuda
dc.subjectacoustic telemetry
dc.subjecthome range
dc.subjectmarine protected areas
dc.subjectnetwork analysis
dc.subjecthabitat use
dc.subjectMarine Biology
dc.subjectOther Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
dc.titleSpatial Ecology of Great Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) around Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix, U.S.V.I.
dc.typeopenaccess
dc.typearticle
dc.typethesis
digcom.contributor.authorisAuthorOfPublication|email:sbecker@eco.umass.edu|institution:University of Massachusetts Amherst|Becker, Sarah L
digcom.identifiermasters_theses_2/396
digcom.identifier.contextkey8427394
digcom.identifier.submissionpathmasters_theses_2/396
dspace.entity.typePublication
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
Becker_Sarah_MSThesis_Revised61616.pdf
Size:
3.89 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Name: Becker_Sarah_MSThesis_Revised61616.pdf
Size: 3.89 MB
Kind: Adobe PDF
Collections
Masters Theses