Jordan K Matley

Flinders University

Prey selection can influence interactions among species, the composition and abundance of prey, and ultimately the movement of energy within the ecosystem. Different species of the exploited coral trout (Plectropomus spp.) often co-occur in reef environments, but their foraging behaviour and ecological niches are largely unknown. To explore niche o...

Understanding spatial distribution and temporal variation in movement patterns of closely related species is relevant for deciphering how resources are selected and whether interactions between species affect resource use patterns. The horizontal space use and vertical space use of two exploited reef fish, Plectropomus leopardus and P. laevis (all...

Investigating niche overlap in exploited fish species can reveal behavioural information necessary to improve conservation and fisheries management at a species level. The present study examined spatial and dietary overlap between two co-occurring reef fish, namely Plectropomus leopardus and P. maculatus, at an inshore reef in the Great Barrier Ree...

Rationale: Stable isotope ratios (δ(13) C and δ(15) N values) provide a unique perspective into the ecology of animals because the isotope ratio values of consumers reflect the values in food. Despite the value of stable isotopes in ecological studies, the lack of species-specific experimentally derived diet-tissue discrimination factors (DTDFs) a...

Understanding fish movements can help define the seasonal importance of different habitats and isolate spatial and temporal vulnerability to exploitation. Leopard coralgrouper Plectropomus leopardus is one of the main targeted fishery species in the Great Barrier Reef; however, there is no information on long-term movement patterns based on continu...

Tagging fishes with internal or external electronic tracking devices (acoustic, radio, satellite, or archival tags) is invaluable to behavioural, ecological, and welfare research, but may have adverse effects on the animals studied. While short‐term responses to tagging (e.g., days to weeks) have often been investigated, less information is availab...

Data on the movement and space use of aquatic animals are crucial to understand complex interactions among biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems and facilitate effective conservation and management. Acoustic telemetry (AT) is a leading method for studying the movement ecology of aquatic animals worldwide, yet the ability to efficiently access...

There has recently been great interest in the use of accelerometers onboard electronic transmitters to characterise various aspects of the ecology of wild animals. We review use cases and outline how these tools can provide opportunities for studying activity and survival, exercise physiology of wild animals, the response to stressors, energy lands...

Each year, thousands of fishes are tagged with electronic devices to study their biology and inform fisheries management. Such research assumes that the process of capturing, tagging, and then holding fish to allow them to recover before release (i.e., the “tagging process”) does not alter the physiology, behavior, and survival of these fish. Howev...

Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus, Serranidae) were one of the most important fishery species in the Caribbean, but are now listed as critically endangered. Population collapse in most places occurred primarily by fishers targeting their spawning aggregation sites, where thousands of fish gathered during full moon periods from December to April....

methods used, as well as the outcome or objectives targeted for each method. In addition to summarizing the use of complementary methods and their outcomes, we discuss how they supplement acoustic telemetry and other tracking approaches. Our review shows that using additional methods to support telem-etry data helps expand the breadth of research q...

Unifying models have shown that the amount of space used by animals (e.g., activity space, home range) scales allometrically with body mass for terrestrial taxa; however, such relationships are far less clear for marine species. We compiled movement data from 1,596 individuals across 79 taxa collected using a continental passive acoustic telemetry...

Movement of fishes in the aquatic realm is fundamental to their ecology and survival. Movement can be driven by a variety of biological, physiological and environmental factors occurring across all spatial and temporal scales. The intrinsic capacity of movement to impact fish individually (e.g., foraging) with potential knock‐on effects throughout...

High-frequency (>175 kHz) acoustic telemetry transmitters are increasingly being used to track the movements of small fishes and other aquatic organisms. These transmitters, which are often smaller than conventional types, have primarily been used in freshwater, yet limited information is available on their efficacy in estuarine or marine environme...

Nursery areas are crucial for many elasmobranch species, providing advantages such as increased access to prey and reduced predation risk. This study investigated the trophic interactions of two juvenile stingray species within a coastal communal nursery using stable isotope analysis. Muscle, plasma and red blood cells samples were taken from the m...

Tracking studies for invasive lionfish ( Pterois volitans and P. miles ) in the Western Atlantic can provide key information on habitat use to inform population control, but to date have likely underestimated home range size and movement due to constrained spatial and temporal scales. We tracked 35 acoustically tagged lionfish for >1 yr (March 2018...

Acoustic telemetry (AT) is a rapidly evolving technique used to track the movements of aquatic animals. As the capacity of AT research expands it is important to optimize its relevance to management while still pursuing key ecological questions. A global review of AT literature revealed region-specific research priorities underscoring the breadth o...

Understanding how aquatic animals select and partition resources provides relevant information about community dynamics that can be used to help manage conservation efforts. The critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) spends an extended part of its juvenile development in coastal waters. A strong proclivity to remain res...

Understanding the space use of fishes in early life stages provides information that can contribute to effective fisheries management; however, it can be difficult to track fish in shallow, densely vegetated areas. Using acoustic telemetry, 60 subadult yellow perch (Perca flavescens) were tagged and monitored in a vegetated area of the Detroit Rive...

Acoustic telemetry is a powerful tool for learning about the movements and ecology of aquatic animals, but proper use requires evaluation of its performance in different environments. Nearshore freshwater habitats are important to many fishes; however, submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in these areas influences the performance of acoustic telemetr...

Abstract Background Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) are a highly migratory species ranging along continental and insular coastlines of the Atlantic Ocean. Due to their importance to regional recreational and sport fisheries, research has been focused on large-scale movement patterns of reproductively active adults in areas where they are of h...

Winter is a challenging period for aquatic research—weather is uncomfortable, ice is hazardous, equipment fails, and daylength is short. Consequently, until recently relatively little research on freshwater fishes has included winter. Telemetry methods for tracking fish and observing movement behavior are an obvious solution to working in harsh con...

Understanding predator–prey interactions and food web dynamics is important for ecosystem‐based management in aquatic environments, as they experience increasing rates of human‐induced changes, such as the addition and removal of fishes. To quantify the post‐stocking survival and predation of a prey fish in Lake Ontario, 48 bloater Coregonus hoyi w...

Space-use by aquatic ectotherms is closely linked to environmental factors such as temperature due to thermal-mediated metabolism and energy requirements. These factors are important, as they may alter an animal’s exposure to food/predators, hinder physiological function, increase competitive interactions, or even prompt population or biodiversity...

Neglecting to account for the mortality of study animals in ecological research has the potential to lead to biased interpretation of behaviour. Considering the widespread use of acoustic telemetry to track the presence and movements of aquatic animals, if mortality is not appropriately addressed, conservation or management decisions affecting impo...

Background Acoustic telemetry is a commonly used tool to gain knowledge about aquatic animal ecology through the study of their movements. In telemetry studies researchers must make inferences regarding the movements and the fates of tagged animals. Until recently, predation has been inferred in telemetry data using a variety of methods including a...

Background Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) are highly migratory species ranging along continental and insular coastlines of the Atlantic Ocean. Despite broad geographic distribution and importance as recreational fisheries, little is known about space-use patterns of tarpon within the Eastern Caribbean. Acoustic telemetry was used to track ta...

Background Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) are a highly migratory species ranging along continental and insular coastlines of the Atlantic Ocean. Due to their importance to regional recreational and sport fisheries, research has been focused on large-scale movement patterns of reproductively active adults in areas where they are of high econo...

Understanding the spatial ecology and habitat-use of Lake Erie’s commercially important walleye (Sander vitreus) population is imperative due to their large-scale seasonal migrations (>400 km) exposing them to five different jurisdictions in the USA and Canada. The objective of this study was to determine the habitat selected by walleye throughout...

• Determining the movement and fate of fishes post‐stocking is challenging due to the difficulty in monitoring them, particularly immediately after release. Bloater (Coregonus hoyi; Salmonidae) is a deepwater cisco that has been extirpated from Lake Ontario for several decades and is presently the focus of binational restoration stocking efforts; h...

Bloater Coregonus hoyi (n = 48) were implanted with V9DT‐2x predation transmitters and monitored on 105 acoustic receivers in eastern Lake Ontario for >6 months. Twenty‐three predation events were observed, with predator retention of tags ranging from ≤1 to ≥194 days and 30% of retentions lasting >150 days. Long tag retention times raise concerns f...

Extreme weather events (e.g., cyclones, floods, droughts) are capable of changing ecosystems and altering how animals obtain resources. Understanding the behavioural responses of animals being impacted by these natural events can help initiate and ameliorate conservation or management programs. This study investigated short- and long-term space-use...

Background Acoustic telemetry is an increasingly common method used to address ecological questions about the movement, behaviour, and survival of freshwater and marine organisms. The variable performance of acoustic telemetry equipment and ability of receivers to detect signals from transmitters have been well studied in marine and coral reef envi...

Defining the role of reef predators is particularly important given the rapid rate at which some species are declining, yet knowledge of trophic relationships is often lacking, particularly for large wide-ranging species that may use coral reefs seasonally or opportunistically. We used a multi-tissue stable isotope approach to investigate the troph...

Temperature directly affects the metabolic rate and resource requirements of ectothermic animals, which is likely to influence their movement and habitat use. Space use is a fundamental component of an animal’s ecology, and the extent of an animal’s home range has consequences for individual distributions, community structure and ecosystem function...

Investigating the niche overlap of ecologically similar species can reveal the mechanisms that drive spatial partitioning in high-diversity systems. Understanding how food resources are used and whether the diets of neighboring species are different are particularly important when considering the coexistence and functional role of species. Territor...

Developing efficient, reliable, cost‐effective ways to identify diet is required to understand trophic ecology in complex ecosystems and improve food web models. A combination of techniques, each varying in their ability to provide robust, spatially and temporally explicit information can be applied to clarify diet data for ecological research. Thi...

Macroalgae are the major habitat-forming organisms in many coastal temperate and subtropical marine systems. Although climate change has been identified as a major threat to the persistence of macroalgal beds, the combined effects of ocean warming and ocean acidification on algal performance are poorly understood. Here we investigate the effects of...

Tropical reefs are highly diverse ecosystems, and reliable biomonitoring, through diet metabarcoding, is needed to understand present and future trophic relationships in this changing habitat. Several studies have assessed the reliability and effectiveness of single molecular markers; however, a cross-marker validation has rarely been performed. Th...

Stomach content and stable isotope analysis (d13C and d15N from liver and muscle) were used to identify habitat and seasonal prey selection by ringed seals (Pusa hispida; n=21), beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas; n=13) and narwhals (Monodon monoceros; n=3) in the eastern Canadian Arctic. Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) was the main prey item of al...

Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) is a schooling fish providing a critical link between lower and upper trophic levels in the Arctic. This study examined foraging of Arctic cod collected from Allen Bay, Cornwallis Island, Canada (~75 N 95 W), during summer 2010 using temporal indicators of diet including stomach content, and carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen...

Productive areas in the Canadian Arctic seasonally provide top predators with accessible and often predictable sources of energy. Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) aggregate in shallow bays during the summer and are exploited by seabirds and marine mammals. Information concerning how prey is presented to predatory seabirds, and the cues seabirds use to...

The common raven (Corvus corax) is one of the most intelligent avian species, known for its ability to scavenge from humans and other animals. This adaptive nature is critical in habitats where food can be scarce. The Arctic is such an environment, and optimizing associations with sources of prey is important. Large aggregations of Arctic cod (Bore...

Seabirds feed heavily on Arctic cod Boreogadus saida during the summer in the Canadian Arctic but little is known of the interactions among birds while foraging and the factors that drive feeding behaviour. The objective of this study was to describe the relationship between seabirds and Arctic cod in a productive feeding area distant from breeding...

Seabirds feed heavily on Arctic cod Boreogadus saida during the summer in the Canadian Arctic but little is known of the interactions among birds while foraging and the factors that drive feeding behaviour. The objective of this study was to describe the relationship between seabirds and Arctic cod in a productive feeding area distant from breeding...