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Jerald S. Ault

Jerald S. Ault

Professor, Marine Biology & Fisheries

RSMAS/MBF
University of Miami
4600 Rickenbacker Causeway
Miami, FL 33149

Tel: 305.421.4884
jault@rsmas.miami.edu

Lab Website

Google Scholar Profile

My research centers on theoretical and applied population and community dynamics, and statistical assessment and management of tropical marine fishery ecosystems.  A particularly unique aspect is the development of large-scale spatial coupled biophysical ecosystem simulation models to assess the response of multispecies fisheries to exploitation and environmental changes.  Requirements for fishery management have fundamentally changed so that fruitful areas of research now transcend the bounds of traditional assessment theory and new approaches must be explored. The fishery management system is a new approach to integrate quantitative techniques in population dynamics, sampling design, fish stock assessment, operations research, biometrics, numerical modeling, scientific visualization, and management science in a computer- based expert decision support system to provide cost-effective high-precision fish stock assessments and short-term fishery forecasts. In support of my analytical approach, I conduct regional fishery-independent field assessment studies on multispecies coral reef fish communities, pink shrimp, bonefish, tarpon, billfishes and tunas that are focused on the biophysical linkages reflected in fish ontogenetic migratory behaviors to better quantify optimal sampling surveys and define underlying empirical mechanisms in population dynamics and spatial grouping. I am also interested in exploring means of taking structure into account in population and community models and building spatially-explicit coupled biological-physical models of coastal ocean ecosystems both to understand the forces driving recruitment variability and to improve resource prediction and the prospects for sustainability.

Hammerschlag, N., Gallagher, A., Wester, J., Luo, J., & Ault, J.S. 2012. Don’t bite the hand that feeds: Assessing ecological impacts of provisioning ecotourism on an apex marine predator. Functional Ecology, in press

Smith, S.G., Swanson, D.W., Chiappone, M., Miller, S.L., & Ault, J.S. 2011. Probability sampling of stony coral populations in the Florida Keys. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 183(1-4): 121-138.

Farmer, N.A., and J.S. Ault. 2011. Grouper and snapper movements and habitat use in Dry Tortugas, Florida. Marine Ecology Progress Series 433: 169-184.

Smith, S.G., J.S. Ault, J.A. Bohnsack, D.E. Harper, J. Luo, and D.B. McClellan. 2011. Multispecies survey design for assessing reef-fish stocks, spatially-explicit management performance, and ecosystem condition. Fisheries Research 109(1): 25-41.

Larkin, M.F., J.S. Ault, R. Humston and J. Luo. 2010. A mail survey to estimate the fishery dynamics of southern Florida’s bonefish charter fleet. Fisheries Management and Ecology 17(2): 254-261.

Ault, J.S., S.G. Smith and J.T. Tilmant. 2009. Are the coral reef finfish fisheries of south Florida sustainable? Proceedings International Coral Reef Symposium 11: 989-993.

Ault, J.S., S.G. Smith, J. Luo, M.E. Monaco and R.S. Appeldoorn. 2008. Length-based assessment of sustainability benchmarks for coral reef fishes in Puerto Rico. Environmental Conservation 35(3): 221-231.

Luo, J., J.S. Ault, M.F. Larkin, and L.R. Barbieri. 2008. Salinity measurements from pop-up archival transmitting (PAT) tags and application to geolocation estimation for Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus). Marine Ecology Progress Series 357: 101-109.

Bartholomew, A., J.A. Bohnsack, S.G. Smith, J.S. Ault, D.E. Harper, and D.B. McClellan. 2008. Influence of marine reserve size and boundary length on the initial response of exploited reef fishes in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, USA. Landscape Ecology 23(Suppl. 1): 55-65.

Ault, J.S., R. Humston, M.F. Larkin, E. Perusquia, N.A. Farmer, J. Luo, N. Zurcher, S.G. Smith, L. Barbieri, and J. Posada. 2008. Population dynamics and resource ecology of Atlantic tarpon and bonefish. CRC Series on Marine Biology 9: 217-258.

Feeley, M.W., D.D. Benetti, and J.S. Ault. 2007. Elevated oxygen uptake and high rates of nitrogen excretion in early life stages of the cobia, Rachycentron canadum, a fast growing subtropical fish. Journal of Fish Biology 71: 1662-1678.

Ault, J.S., S.G. Smith, J.A. Bohnsack, J. Luo, D.E. Harper, and D.B. McClellan. (2006). Building sustainable fisheries in Florida's coral reef ecosystem: positive signs in the Dry Tortugas. Bulletin of Marine Science 78(3): 633-654. PDF

Bartholomew, A., J.A. Bohnsack, S.G. Smith, J.S. Ault, D.E. Harper, and D.B. McClellan. (2006). Influence of marine reserve size and boundary length on the initial response of exploited reef fishes in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, USA. Landscape Ecology.

Ault, J.S., S.G. Smith, and J.A. Bohnsack. (2005). Evaluation of average length as an estimator of exploitation status for the Florida coral reef fish community. ICES Journal of Marine Science 62:  417-423. PDF

Ault, J.S., J.A. Bohnsack, S.G. Smith, and J. Luo. (2005). Towards sustainable multispecies fisheries in the Florida USA coral reef ecosystem. Bulletin of Marine Science 76(2): 595-622. PDF

Humston, R., J.S. Ault, M.F. Larkin, and J. Luo. (2005). Movements and site fidelity of bonefish (Albula vulpes) in the northern Florida Keys determined by acoustic telemetry. Marine Ecology Progress Series 291: 237-248. PDF

Humston, R., D.B. Olson, and J.S. Ault. (2004). Behavioral assumptions in models of fish movement and their influence on population dynamics. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 133: 1304-1328. PDF

Meester, G.A., A. Mehrotra, J.S. Ault, and E.K. Baker. (2004). Designing marine reserves for fishery management. Management Science 50(8): 1031-1043. PDF

Bohnsack, J.A., J.S. Ault, and B. Causey. (2004). Why have no-take marine protected areas? American Fisheries Society Symposium 42: 185-193

Ault, J.S., J. Luo, and J.D. Wang. (2003). A spatial ecosystem model to assess spotted seatrout population risks from exploitation and environmental changes. Chapter 15, Pages 267-296 in Biology of Spotted Seatrout. S.A. Bortone (ed.). CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida. PDF

Franklin, E.C., J.S. Ault, S.G. Smith, J. Luo, G.A. Meester, G.A. Diaz, M. Chiappone, D.W. Swanson, S.L. Miller, and J.A. Bohnsack. (2003).  Benthic habitat mapping in the Tortugas region, Florida. Marine Geodesy 26(1-2): 19-34. PDF

Meester, G.A., J.S. Ault, S.G. Smith, and A. Mehrotra. (2001). An integrated simulation modeling and operations research approach to spatial management decision making. Sarsia 86(6): 543-558. PDF

Ault, J.S., J.A. Bohnsack, and G.A. Meester. (1998). A retrospective (1979-1996) multispecies assessment of coral reef fish stocks in the Florida Keys. Fishery Bulletin 96(3): 395-414.

Ault, J.S., and D.B. Olson. (1996). A multicohort stock production model. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 125(3): 343-363. PDF

Bohnsack, J.A., and J.S. Ault. (1996). Management strategies to conserve marine biodiversity. Oceanography 9(1): 73-82. PDF

Rothschild, B.J., J.S. Ault, P. Goulletquer, and M. Heral. (1994). Decline of the Chesapeake Bay oyster population: a century of habitat destruction and overfishing. Marine Ecology Progress Series 111(2&3): 29-39. PDF

  • MBF614, Population Modeling and Management
  • MBF615, Advanced Biometrics in Marine Science
  • MAS547, Computer Simulation Systems