Half of coral species that occur on Caribbean reefs have also been reported living in mangroves. Given the vulnerability of corals living on reefs to environmental change, populations of the same species living in mangroves may prove critical to longterm survival of these coral species and the resilience of nearby reefs. To date, few studies have addressed the health and viability of mangrove coral populations, which is necessary if we are to understand their role in the broader meta-community.Here we present the first longitudinal study of the distribution, survival, growth, and recruitment of a mangrove coral population over multiple years. From 2014 to 2018, we fully censused a population of Porites divaricata along 640 meters of a mangrovelined channel at Calabash Caye, Belize, and beginning in 2015, we tagged individual colonies for longitudinal monitoring. Year-to-year survivorship averaged 66.6% (±3.9 SE), and of the surviving colonies, on average, 72.7% (±2.5 SE) experienced net growth. The number of colonies, their spatial distribution, and population size-structure were essentially unchanged, except for an unusually high loss of larger colonies from 2016 to 2017, possibly the result of a local disturbance. However, each annual census revealed substantial turnover. For example, from 2016 to 2017, the loss or death of 72 colonies was offset by the addition of 89 recruits. Integral projection models (IPM) for two consecutive one-year intervals implicated recruitment and the persistence of large colonies as having the largest impacts on population growth. This 5-year study suggests that the P. divaricata population in the mangroves is viable, but may be routinely impacted by disturbances that cause the mortality of larger colonies. As many corals occur across a mosaic of habitat types, understanding the population dynamics and life-history variability of corals across habitats, and quantifying genetic exchange between habitats, will be critical to forecasting the fate of individual coral species and to maximizing the efficacy of coral restoration efforts.

From 1979 to 1982 in north-eastern Victoria, interactions between the European tree-killing wood wasp Sirex noctilio, the parasitic nematode Deladenus siricidicola, and the parasitoids lbalia leucospoides and Megarhyssa nortoni nortoni were studied within the sapwood of Pinus radiata trap trees treated with 200Jo dicamba herbicide. The level of biological control over time in such trees was assessed.Populations of the nematode did not affect the activity or survival of the parasitoids, nor restrict the fungal food supply to immature S. noctilio. Of the three biological control agents, the nematode was the most effective, inducing almost lOOOJo sterility in adultS. noctilio females (and a similar infection level among males), whereas parasitoids altogether caused only a maximum of 340Jo mortality of immature S. noctilio, in the second generation of trap trees. Among the four species of parasitoid released since 1976 near Myrtleford (Rhyssa persuasoria and R. hoferi were also liberated), only/. leucospoides showed any promise as an agent capable of contributing to Sirex control.Thus, biological control of S. noctilio in north-eastern Victoria mainly depends on the suppression of the pest's reproductive capacity by the parasitic nematode D. siricidicola. In highly susceptible unthinned plantations of intermediate age, this can best be achieved by maintaining for a minimum of two years a system of strategically placed trap trees injected with herbicide, along with populations of D. siricidicola and /. leucospoides.

Morey. J. and Hollis, G.. 1997. Australia's most diverse crayfish habitat? Memoirs of the Museum of Victoria 56(2): 667-669. Labertouche Creek, a tributary of the Tarago River in West Gippsland, arguably has the most diverse freshwater crayfish assemblage in Australia. Six crayfish species are known from the creek, including the rare and vulnerable Warragul Burrowing Crayfish, Engaeus stemalis. the only known location of this species in Australia (Horwitz, 1990(Horwitz, , 1992. Other species of burrowing crayfish found are E. hemieirratulus, E. eunieularius, and E. quadrimanus. Two species of Euastaeus (Spiny Freshwater Crayfish) are also known from these waters, Euastaeus yarraensis and E. kershawi (Gippsland Spiny Crayfish). A third species, E. woiwuru. is possibly present, as the creek is shown to be within this species* range.

Coral reefs are increasingly ecologically destabilized across the globe due to climate change. Behavioural plasticity in corallivore behaviour and short-term trophic ecology in response to bleaching events may influence the extent and severity of coral bleaching and subsequent recovery potential, yet our understanding of these interactions in situ remains unclear. Here, we investigated interactions between corallivory and coral bleaching during a severe high thermal event (10.3-degree heating weeks) in Belize. We found that parrotfish changed their grazing behaviour in response to bleaching by selectively avoiding bleached Orbicella spp. colonies regardless of bleaching severity or coral size. For bleached corals, we hypothesize that this short-term respite from corallivory may temporarily buffer coral energy budgets by not redirecting energetic resources to wound healing, and may therefore enable compensatory nutrient acquisition. However, colonies that had previously been heavily grazed were also more susceptible to bleaching, which is likely to increase mortality risk. Thus, short-term respite from corallivory during bleaching may not be sufficient to functionally rescue corals during prolonged bleaching. Such pairwise interactions and behavioural shifts in response to disturbance may appear small scale and short term, but have the potential to fundamentally alter ecological outcomes, especially in already-degraded ecosystems that are vulnerable and sensitive to change.

No abstract