Michael Williamson Bsc.

Coral reef systems provide valuable habitats for shark and ray species but are facing unprecedented man-made pressures. These important marine predators play a vital role in the functioning of coral reef ecosystems and so a better understanding of habitat use, and how this alters with changing environmental conditions, is important for the conservation of both shark species and reefs themselves.

Plotting networks of animal movements is an innovative tool that is revealing important insights into ecological connectivity and wildlife behaviour. Because climate change is predicted to cause increased fluctuations in environmental conditions, by integrating environmental data into movement analysis techniques, and investigating how environmental factors can influence the movement dynamics and spatial networks of species, is important for future shark conservation and management.

Powerful, remotely-sensed satellite data are increasingly available to researchers. However so far, very little of this valuable data has been integrated with environmental data into wildlife movement analysis. I am also investigating new methods for monitoring coral reef health to provide insights into how animal movement and social patterns are influenced by environmental change (for example, the El Niño–Southern Oscillation event during 2015-2016). These valuable data can help policy makers with their management decisions for the conservation of BIOT’s highly mobile marine animals.