Thesis (Ph.D.) - James Cook University, 2004. / Typescript (photocopy). Bibliography: leaves 237-260.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- James Cook University of North Queensland, 1992. / Typescript (photocopy) Bibliography: leaves 321-351.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - James Cook University, 2002. / Typescript (photocopy)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Queensland, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Sc. )--Edith Cowan University, 2006. / Submitted to the Faculty of Computing, Health and Science. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - James Cook University, 2005. / Typescript (photocopy) Bibliography: leaves 148-167.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - James Cook University, 2006. / Appendix 2 (p. 444-454) contains the Research Agreement between the author and the Hopevale Community which governs further research or publications arising from the thesis. Typescript (photocopy). Bibliography: leaves 373-441.

Seagrass meadows are a crucial foraging habitat for marine megaherbivores. The Red Sea hosts two megaherbivore species, the green turtle Chelonia mydas and the dugong Dugong dugon, along with twelve seagrass species. Seagrass habitats in the Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea are currently under pressure from large scale coastal developments. I used multiple methods to assess seagrass and megaherbivore densities in Al-Wajh lagoon, a unique semi-enclosed bay on the northeastern coast of the Red Sea that is currently targeted for development. Seagrasses were assessed using quadrat surveys while megaherbivores censuses were conducted by both unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and boat-based observers. Both seagrass and sea turtles were patchily distributed throughout the bay. Dugongs were never encountered during surveys but feeding trails and off-effort encounters suggest at least occasional use of the area. While there were some qualitative patterns between seagrass composition and feeding trail/sea turtle abundance, there was not enough data to achieve statistical significance. The UAV generally outperformed boat-based surveys, but the inability of the drone to distinguish turtles through dense seagrass coverage is a methodological limitation that should be overcome by using hyperspectral cameras in future work. Overall, my results highlight the importance of ground truthing habitat maps, reveal interesting questions for additional study, and provide some direction for future research and conservation efforts within Al-Wajh Lagoon.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(情報学) / 甲第25432号 / 情博第870号 / 京都大学大学院情報学研究科社会情報学専攻 / (主査)教授 大手 信人, 教授 土居 秀幸, 准教授 市川 光太郎 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Informatics / Kyoto University / DGAM

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Griffith University, 2002. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Apr. 28, 2005). Includes bibliographical references.