DOC Science Internal Series is a published record of scientific research carried out, or advice given, by Department of Conservation staff or external contractors funded by DOC. It comprises reports and short communications that are peer-reviewed. Individual contributions to the series are first released on the departmental website in pdf form. Hardcopy is printed, bound, and distributed at reg...

Key components include support for extension of the data integration and management approach from West Hawaii to other islands in the MHI where DAR does coral reef monitoring (Oahu, Maui). The ultimate aim being to enhance DAR’s capacity to make better use of its own data together with external information (e.g. GIS layers for Hawaii). Research elements included assessing decadal-scale change a...

Marine life forms studied in recent years have yielded a variety of organic compounds possessing known or novel pharmacologic and toxicologic activities in mammalian species. Evidence available to date suggests that the sea offers a rich reserve of novel organic molecules which, as such or in structurally modified form, may be useful to mankind either as new drugs to combat disease or as bioche...

Eight species of Brachyura and two species of Anomura were registered for the first time on the Santa Catarina coast, in the waters around the Arvoredo Marine Biological Reserve. The animals were collected by scuba divers, between 3 and 22 meters depth, from September 2001 to February 2003. A total of 31 decapod species were collected, and most of the new occurrences had already been registered...

Seabed mapping can quantify the extent of benthic habitats that comprise marine ecosystems, and assess the impact of fisheries on an ecosystem. In this study, the distribution of seabed habitats in a proposed no-take Marine Reserve along the northeast coast of Great Barrier Island, New Zealand, was mapped using underwater video combined with bathymetry and substratum data. As a result of the bo...

The appropriate configuration of marine reserves for maximizing harvests or ensuring species persistence when there is uncertainty or variability in larval dispersal patterns is not completely understood. This is particularly true in environments with large alongshore advection rates, as the success of a system of marine reserves depends on connectivity through larval and/or adult dispersal bet...

Identifying which factors shape the distribution of intraspecific genetic diversity is central in evolutionary and conservation biology. In the marine realm, the absence of obvious barriers to dispersal can make this task more difficult. Nevertheless, recent studies have provided valuable insights into which factors may be shaping genetic structure in the world's oceans. These studies were, how...

Understanding the scale of marine population connectivity is critical for the conservation and sustainable management of marine resources. For many marine species adults are benthic and relatively immobile, so patterns of larval dispersal and recruitment provide the key to understanding marine population connectivity. Contrary to previous expectations, recent studies have often detected unexpec...

OF THE THESIS The Effects of Predators and Habitat on Sea Urchin Density and Behavior in Southern California Kelp Forests by Kathryn D. Nichols Master of Science in Biology San Diego State University, 2009 It is well documented that sea urchins can have vast impacts on kelp forest community structure as a result of kelp grazing. Despite the ecological importance of sea urchins, direct field stu...

Population density can affect rates of mortality and individual growth. We measured these for the nonexploited bluehead wrasse, Thalassoma bifasciatum, at three sites around St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. Previous work demonstrated that differences in the degree of larval retention in these sites results in very large differences in recruitment intensity. Post-settlement mortality differed among...