Prof Geoff Jones is a well-established scientist in the fields of marine ecology and tropical marine conservation, with 30 years of experience in ecological research, undergraduate teaching and graduate supervision.  He has published a career total of ~200 refereed papers since 1980, mostly on the ecology, behaviour and conservation of marine fishes on tropical coral reefs and in temperate kelp forests. He supervised a career total of 113 research students to completion (including 50 BSc honours, 31 MSc and 32 PhD students) and hosted 13 post-doctoral research fellows.  His undergraduate teaching record includes over 1,000 students that have completed his 3rd year BSc “Marine Conservation Biology” class.

Over the past 10 years, he has focussed on two key aspects of the ecology of reef fishes that directly inform conservation strategies. In each of these fields, his teams have been responsible for developing new technologies that are changing our views on fundamental aspects reef fish ecology.

The first research topic centres on direct estimates of larval dispersal using genetic parentage analysis, and the significance of self-recruitment and connectivity for meta-population dynamics and the design of marine reserve networks. The second research topic focusses on population and community responses of reef fishes to changes in habitat structure, with particular reference to coral cover, coral diversity and habitat complexity.

His team's experimental work has exposed a high level of sophistication in the ability of reef fish to discriminate among habitats, a previously undiscovered level of species-specific interaction among fish and corals, and the extraordinary extinction risk associated with the declining health of coral reef habitats. 

Teaching

• MB3200: Marine Conservation Biology (Level 3; TSV)
• MB5004: Marine Conservation Biology (Level 5; TSV)
• MB5310: Marine Reserves as Fisheries Management Tools (Level 5; TSV)

Interests

Research

• Ecology and behaviour of coral reef fishes
• Marine conservation biology
• Ecology and behaviour of kelp forest fishes
• Human impacts on tropical ecosystems
• Management of tropical marine ecosystems

Experience

• 2006 to 2013 - Professor, James Cook University (Townsville)
• 1999 to 2005 - Reader, James Cook University (Townsville)
• 1994 to 1998 - Senior Lecturer, James Cook University (Townsville)
• 1992 to 1993 - Lecturer, James Cook University (Townsville)
• 1987 to 1991 - Lecturer, University of Auckland
• 1986 to 1987 - National Research Fellow, University of Sydney
• 1983 to 1986 - Queen's Fellow in Marine Science, University of Sydney
• 1981 to 1983 - Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Melbourne

Research Disciplines

• Ecology (3103)
• Environmental management (4104)

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Smallhorn-West P, Gordon S, Dempsey A, Purkis S, Malimali S, Halafihi T, Southgate P, Bridge T, Pressey R and Jones G (in press) Tongan socio-environmental spatial layers for marine ecosystem management. Pacific Conservation Biology, , DOI:10.1071/PC19032.
• Barbasch T, Rueger T, Srinivasan M, Wong M, Jones G and Buston P (2020) Substantial plasticity of reproduction and parental care in response to local resource availability in a wild clownfish population. Oikos, 129 (12), pp. 1844-1855, DOI:10.1111/oik.07674.
• Branconi R, Barbasch T, Francis R, Srinivasan M, Jones G and Buston P (2020) Ecological and social constraints combine to promote evolution of non-breeding strategies in clownfish. Communications Biology, 3, Article: 649, DOI:10.1038/s42003-020-01380-8.
• Coppock A, González-Murcia S, Srinivasan M, Gardiner N and Jones G (2020) Different responses of coral and rubble-dwelling coral reef damselfishes (Family: Pomacentridae) to chemosensory cues from coral reef microhabitats. Marine Biology, 167, Article: 74, DOI:10.1007/s00227-020-03687-w.
• Gainsford A, Jones G, Hobbs J, Heindler F and van Herwerden L (2020) Species integrity, introgression, and genetic variation across a coral reef fish hybrid zone. Ecology and Evolution, 10 (21), pp. 11998-12014, DOI:10.1002/ece3.6769.
• Gainsford A, Jones G, Gardner M and van Herwerden L (2020) Characterisation and cross-amplification of 42 microsatellite markers in two Amphiprion species (Pomacentridae) and a natural hybrid anemonefish to inform genetic structure within a hybrid zone. Molecular Biology Reports, 47 (2), pp. 1521-1525, DOI:10.1007/s11033-019-05190-y.
• Harrison H, Bode M, Williamson D, Berumen M and Jones G (2020) A Connectivity portfolio effect stabilizes marine reserve performance. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117 (41), pp. 25595-25600, DOI:10.1073/pnas.1920580117.
• Jones G, Barone G, Sambrook K and Bonin M (2020) Isolation promotes abundance and species richness of fishes recruiting to coral reef patches. Marine Biology, 167, Article: 167, DOI:10.1007/s00227-020-03772-0.
• Munday P, Dixson D, Welch M, Chivers D, Domenici P, Grosell M, Heuer R, Jones G, McCormick M, Meekan M, Nilsson G, Ravasi T and Watson S (2020) Methods matter in repeating ocean acidification studies. Nature, 586, pp. E20-E24, DOI:10.1038/s41586-020-2803-x.
• Rueger T, Harrison H, Buston P, Gardiner N, Berumen M and Jones G (2020) Natal philopatry increases relatedness within groups of coral reef cardinalfish: Natal philopatry increases relatedness. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological Sciences, 287 (1930), Article: 20201133, DOI:10.1098/rspb.2020.1133.
• Salles O, Almany G, Berumen M, Jones G, Saenz-Agudelo P, Srinivasan M, Thorrold S, Pujol B and Planes S (2020) Strong habitat and weak genetic effects shape the lifetime reproductive success in a wild clownfish population. Ecology Letters, 23 (2), pp. 265-273, DOI:10.1111/ele.13428.
• Smallhorn-West P, Gordon S, Stone K, Ceccarelli D, Malimali S, Halafihi T, Wyatt M, Bridge T, Pressey R and Jones G (2020) Biophysical and anthropogenic influences on the status of Tonga's coral reefs and reef fish fishery. PLoS One, 15 (11), Article: e0241146, DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0241146.

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 245+ research outputs authored by Prof Geoff Jones from 1991 onwards.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Seascape connectivity and ecology in pinnacle reef fishes (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• The Role of Hybridisation in the Evolution of Coral Reef Fishes (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Non-reef habitats in a tropical seascape: The effects of the surrounding seascape on coral reef fishes (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• The effects of habitat degradation on live coral associated reef fishes (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Latitudinal Variations in Age-based Demography of Three Large Predatory Reef Fishes (Lutjanus sebae, Lutjanus malabaricus and Lutjanus erythropterus) in Queensland, Australia. (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• The Ecology of Fishes on Submerged Pinnacle Coral Reefs (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Gorgonian Sea Fans: Abundance, Distribution, Ecological Interactions with Fish Assemblages and Responses to their Decline in Health (Masters , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Importance of solitary, structurally complex, sponges as habitat and food for coral reef fishes (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Effects of vessel noise on the behaviour and physiology of coral reef fishes (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• The impact of parrotfishes on the coral new recruits (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• The Cave Dwellers: Distribution, Abundance, Ecological Partitioning and Social Organisation of the Genus Trimma on Coral Reefs (Masters , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)

Completed

• Social relationships in a small habitat-dependent coral reef fish: an ecological, behavioural and genetic analysis (2016, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• The effect of parental and embryonic predator environments on offspring (2016, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• The short- & long-term implications of marine reserves for fisheries on coral reefs (2016, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Habitat degradation and competition for resources in coral reef fishes (2016, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Effects of climate change-induced thermal stress and habitat degradation to the biodiversity and species composition of coral-associated invertebrates (2016, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Effects of temperature and food availability on the antipredator behaviour of juvenile coral reef fishes (2016, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Priority effects and the dynamics of coral reef fish assemblages (2016, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Competition and habitat selection in coral-dwelling fishes (2016, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Habitat preferences and associations of juvenile algal-associated fishes on coral reefs (2017, Masters , Primary Advisor)
• Controlling mesopredators: importance of behavioural interactions in trophic cascades (2017, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Coral reef mesopredator trophodynamics in response to reef condition (2017, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• A multi-disciplinary evaluation of the hybrid anemonefish Amphiprion leucokranos: behaviour shaping evolutionary outcomes of hybridization (2017, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Processes underlying the fine-scale partitioning and niche diversification in a guild of coral reef damselfishes (2018, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Small cryptic fishes on coral reefs: ecological effects of extreme life history traits (2016, Masters , Secondary Advisor)
• Depth as refuge: depth gradients in ecological pattern, process, and risk mitigation among coral reef fishes (2019, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Assessing the impact of coral reef community management in the Kingdom of Tonga (2020, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Ecological determinants of depth zonation in reef-building corals (2018, PhD , Secondary Advisor)

These are the most recent metadata records associated with this researcher. To see a detailed description of all dataset records, visit Research Data Australia.

• Gainsford, A. (2017) Data from: Hierarchical behaviour, habitat use and species size differences shape evolutionary outcomes of hybridization in a coral reef fish. James Cook University
• Brooker, R. (2017) Data from: You are what you eat: diet-induced chemical crypsis in a coral-feeding reef fish. James Cook University
• Harrison, H. (2017) Data from: Widespread hybridisation and bi-directional introgression in sympatric species of coral reef fish. James Cook University
• Bonin, M. (2017) Data from: The role of marine reserves in the replenishment of a locally-impacted population of anemonefish on the Great Barrier Reef. James Cook University
• Williamson, D. (2017) Data from: Large-scale, multi-directional larval connectivity among coral reef fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. James Cook University

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.