Dr Hugh Sweatman - CV - Australian Institute of Marine Science

Role

Senior Research Scientist, Leader of AIMS Long-term Monitoring Program for coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef

Background

I trained as a behavioural ecologist working on reef fishes and have worked on the GBR and in the Caribbean (Panama). My research interests have broadened to processes of disturbance and recovery on reefs, particularly as applied to the GBR. After graduating, I worked briefly at University of Sydney, then spent three years as a post-doc at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. From 1990 I was a post-doc at James Cook University, initially studying fish predators of Acanthaster planci, then the effects of feeding fishes around Tourist pontoons (Reef CRC). In 1995 I came to AIMS to lead the Long-term Monitoring Program.

Education

1985 PhD Macquarie University, Sydney
1975 BA Zoology, Oxford University, UK

Current Research Activities

Through my involvement with a large monitoring program on GBR reefs, I am interested in the status of GBR reefs and in coral reef ecology generally, especially:

the effects of disturbances on reef communities and processes of subsequent recovery.
the ecology of Acanthaster planci, the crown-of-thorns starfish, which has been the major cause of losses of living coral on the GBR in recent decades
"ecosystem health" particularly as applied to coral reefs
the effects of marine reserves.

Publications

Sweatman HPA, Delean S and Syms C (2011) Assessing loss of coral cover on Australias Great Barrier Reef over two decades with implications for longer-term trends. Coral Reefs 30: 521-531.

Cheal AJ, MacNeil MA, Cripps E, Emslie MJ, Jonker M, Schaffelke B and Sweatman HPA (2010) Coral-macroalgal phase shifts or reef resilience: links with diversity and functional roles of herbivorous fishes on the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 29: 1005-1015.

McCook LJ, Ayling AM, Cappo MC, Choat JH, Evans RD, de Freitas DM, Heupel M, Hughes TP, Jones GP, Mapstone BD, Marsh H, Mills M, Molloy F, Pitcher CR, Pressey RL, Russ GR, Sutton S, Sweatman HPA, Tobin R, Wachenfeld D and Williamson DH (2010) Adaptive management of the Great Barrier Reef: a globally significant demonstration of the benefits of networks of marine reserves. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107: 18278-18285.

Bruno JF, Sweatman HPA, Precht WF, Selig ER and Schutte VGW (2009) Assessing evidence of phase shifts from coral to macroalgal dominance on coral reefs. Ecology 90(6): 1478-1484.

Wilson SK, Dolman A, Cheal AJ, Emslie MJ, Pratchett Ms and Sweatman HPA (2009) Maintenance of fish diversity on disturbed coral reefs. Coral Reefs 28: 3-14.

Cheal AJ, Wilson SK, Emslie MJ, Dolman A and Sweatman HPA (2008) Responses of reef fish communities to coral declines on the Great Barrier Reef. Marine Ecology Progress Series 372: 211-223.

Emslie MJ, Cheal AJ, Sweatman HPA and Delean S (2008) Recovery from disturbance of coral and reef fish communities on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Marine Ecology Progress Series 371: 177-190.

Russ GR, Cheal AJ, Dolman A, Emslie MJ, Evans RD, Miller IR, Sweatman HPA and Williamson DH (2008) Rapid increase in fish numbers follows creation of world's largest marine reserve network. Current Biology 18: R514-R515.

Sweatman HPA (2008) No-take reserves protect coral reefs from predatory starfish. Current Biology 18: R598-R599.

Wilson SK, Burgess S, Cheal AJ, Emslie MJ, Fisher R, Miller IR, Polunin NVC and Sweatman HPA (2008) Habitat utilisation by coral reef fish: implications for specialists vs. generalists in a changing environment. Journal of Animal Ecology 77(2): 220-228.