Marcus Sheaves is a Distinguished Professor in the College of Science and Engineering, where he is Director of Special Projects. Marcus also leads JCU’s Estuary and Coastal Wetland Ecology Research Group, and, JCU’s Marine Data Technology Hub.

Marcus has researched ecosystem and fisheries ecology of tropical coastal systems, estuaries, coastal wetlands and mangroves since the early 1990s. His research has focussed particularly on nursery ground utilisation and values, the role of connected habitat mosaics in ecosystem functioning, functional mapping of marine habitats, the use of developing technology (e.g., artificial intelligence) in environmental problem-solving, and critical thinking in environmental decision-making. He has published widely with over 75 peer reviewed publications over the last 5 years. Marcus leads a number of substantial research projects within Australia and across the Asia-Pacific region. He has extensive collaborations with research and management organisations both within Australia and internationally.

 

Teaching

• MB3270: Coastal, Estuarine and Mangrove Ecosystems (Level 3; TSV)
• MB5270: Coastal, Estuarine and Mangrove Ecosystems (Level 5; TSV)
• MB5610: Fishing Gear and Technologies (Level 5; TSV)
• MB5620: Grand Challenges in Fisheries (Level 5; TSV)

Interests

Research

• The ecology of estuaries and coastal wetland ecosystems, in particular in: nursery ground function, animal habitat relationships, the role of ecosystem mosaics and connectivity
• Ecosystem repair and rejuvenation, contributions to food security and the effects of climate change
• Fisheries, food web, seascape and spatial ecology

Research Disciplines

• Ecology (3103)
• Environmental management (4104)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Coastal and estuarine systems and management (1802)
• Marine systems and management (1805)

Awards

• 2006 - Best Paper of the Year; 'Coral Reefs' - Journal of the International Society of Reef Studies

Fellowships

• 2009 - Australian Academy of Sciences Study Fellowship

Other

• 2012 - Primary Postgraduate Advisor of the Year, James Cook University

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

• Borland H, Gilby B, Henderson C, Connolly R, Gorissen B, Ortodossi N, Rummell A, Nagelkerken I, Pittman S, Sheaves M and Olds A (2023) Seafloor Terrain Shapes the Three-dimensional Nursery Value of Mangrove and Seagrass Habitats. Ecosystems, 26. pp. 442-456
• Bradley M, Sheaves M and Waltham N (2023) Urban-industrial seascapes can be abundant and dynamic fish habitat. Frontiers in Marine Science, 9.
• Lubitz N, Daly R, Filmalter J, Sheaves M, Cowley P, Naesje T and Barnett A (2023) Context drives movement patterns in a mobile marine predator. Movement Ecology, 11.
• Sheaves M, Mattone C, Barnett A, Abrantes K, Bradley M, Sheaves A, Sheaves J and Waltham N (in press) Whale sharks as oceanic nurseries for Golden Trevally. Pacific Conservation Biology, 23004.
• Vulliet C, Koci J, Jarihani B, Sheaves M and Waltham N (in press) Assessing Tidal Hydrodynamics in a Tropical Seascape Using Structure-from?Motion Photogrammetry and 2D Flow Modelling. Estuaries and Coasts,
• Walker S, Sheaves M and Waltham N (2023) Barriers to Using UAVs in Conservation and Environmental Management: A Systematic Review. Environmental Management, 71. pp. 1052-1064
• Barnett A, Fitzpatrick R, Bradley M, Miller I, Sheaves M, Chin A, Smith B, Diedrich A, Yick J, Lubitz N, Crook K, Mattone C, Bennett M, Wojtach L and Abrantes K (2022) Scientific response to a cluster of shark bites. People and Nature, 4 (4). pp. 963-982
• Borland H, Gilby B, Henderson C, Connolly R, Gorissen B, Ortodossi N, Rummell A, Pittman S, Sheaves M and Olds A (2022) Dredging transforms the seafloor and enhances functional diversity in urban seascapes. Science of the Total Environment, 831.
• Borland H, Gilby B, Henderson C, Connolly R, Gorissen B, Ortodossi N, Rummell A, Pittman S, Sheaves M and Olds A (2022) Dredging fundamentally reshapes the ecological significance of 3D terrain features for fish in estuarine seascapes. Landscape Ecology, 37. pp. 1385-1400
• Bradley M, Nagelkerken I, Baker R, Travers M and Sheaves M (2022) Local Environmental Context Structures Animal-Habitat Associations Across Biogeographic Regions. Ecosystems, 25. pp. 237-251
• Crook K, Sheaves M and Barnett A (2022) Species-specific foraging behaviors define the functional roles of sympatric stingrays. Limnology and Oceanography, 67 (1). pp. 219-230

Book Chapters

• Able K, Simenstad C, Strydom N, Bradley M and Sheaves M (2022) Habitat Use and Connectivity. In: Fish and Fisheries in Estuaries: A Global Perspective. Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 188-254

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 200+ research outputs authored by Prof Marcus Sheaves from 1992 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

• Enabling accessible technology for more effective conservations of coastal systems (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Saltmarsh Connectivity in Tropical Seascapes: An Eco-hydrological Perspective (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Habitat Use, Movement Patterns and Trophic Ecology of Sharks and rays within Mangrove Forests (PhD , Advisor Mentor)
• Ecological and Environmental Characteristics of Nurseries of Fisheries Species, and Implications for the Management of Critical Fish Habitats (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Assessing the potential for recreational fishing to contribute to conservation of coastal marine species and habitats (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Checking the pulse: Dynamic prey resources and trophic relationships in coastal ecosystems. (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Marine megafauna movement ecology in a changing environment (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• The implications of climate changes on the ecology of small pelagic fish (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Investigating the challenges and needs of small island developing states to develop improved processes for the monitoring of fouling marine invasive species (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Understanding the influence of propagule transport in the dispersal and connectivity of marine macrophytes (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Context-dependent movement behaviour in marine predators: The causes and consequences of behavioural variability (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Mangrove restoration trajectories: trends & lessons from Guyana (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• How are stingray communities distributed across tropical intertidal sandflats and which environmental factors influence their habit use? (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)

Completed

• Context dependence in the habitat relationships of coastal and marine fishes (2019, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• The effects of a changing marine environment on the bioeroding sponge Cliona orientalis (2018, PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Dissolved oxygen as a constraint for the structure of mangrove fish assemblages and their patterns of mangrove utilisation: a comparison between natural and disturbed mangrove ecosystems through the Austra (2019, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Novel approach for the classification of habitats in tropical estuaries exposed to urban and industrial development (2019, PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Measuring productivity of Australian tropical estuaries using standing stock analysis (2020, Masters , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• A transdisciplinary evaluation of forest retention policies and practices in the Australian context (2020, PhD , Advisor Mentor)
• Assessing the functional roles of rays in coastal sandflats (2020, PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Viruses in coral reef sponges (2020, PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Understanding the social dimensions of small-scale tilapia aquaculture in rural Solomon Islands (2021, PhD , Advisor Mentor)
• The role of herbivores as ecosystem engineers in Great Barrier Reef seagrass meadows (2021, PhD , Advisor Mentor)
• Biodiversity beyond species census: assessing organisms' traits and functional attributes using computer vision (2021, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Multi-scale patterns in movement and space use of sharks on inshore reefs (2021, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Population structure and connectivity of demersal sharks in isolation (2021, PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Integrated assessment of ecosystem connectivity and functioning: coastal forest avifauna of northeast Australia (2018, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Novel Deep Learning Architectures for Marine and Aquaculture Applications (2023, PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Mitigating and Adapting to Change in the Tropics: Livelihood Sustainability of North Queensland Commercial Fishers (2023, 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.

• Saleh, A. (2020) DeepFish: A realistic fish-habitat dataset to evaluate algorithms for underwater visual analysis. James Cook University
• Dubuc, A. (2019) Dataset: fish assemblages and environmental parameters in Bourake. James Cook University
• Bradley, M. (2019) Data from: Context is more important than habitat type in determining use by juvenile fish. 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.