Peter Mumby

Royal Society Research Fellow
Marine Spatial Ecology Lab
School of Biological Sciences, Hatherly Laboratory
University of Exeter
Prince of Wales Road
Exeter, EX4 4PS, United Kingdom

Tel: 44 (0) 1392 263798
Fax: 44 (0) 1392 263700
Email:
Web page: http://www.projects.ex.ac.uk/msel/personnel/pjm.html

Education
Ph.D., Marine Ecology , University of Sheffield, UK, 1997
B.Sc. (Hons.) Marine Biology, University of Liverpool, UK, 1992

Research Interests
Peter Mumby is interested in spatial aspects of reef ecology. A key focus of this research is how to make use of reef habitat maps made using satellite or airborne images and photographs. Habitat maps provide information on the connectivity of ecosystems (e.g. which reefs are nearest nursery grounds for grouper), the functions of reefs (why are some reefs only found in sheltered areas?) and patterns of biodiversity (why are some parts of the reef always richer in species than others?). Many of these issues are pertinent to the design of marine protected area (MPA) networks and the Habitat Working Group is investigating how habitat maps of The Bahamas help inform improved designs of MPAs. In particular, how do the placement of MPAs influence the amount of essential fish habitat and overall species diversity protected?

Selected Publications
Harborne A.R., P.J. Mumby, C.V. Kappel, C.P. Dahlgren, F. Micheli, K.E. Holmes, and D.R. Brumbaugh. In Press. Tropical coastal habitats as surrogates of fish community structure, grazing, and fisheries value. Ecological Applications.

Mumby, P.J. and A. Hastings. 2008. The impact of ecosystem connectivity on coral reef resilience. Journal of Applied Ecology 45: 854-862.

Harborne, A.R., P.J. Mumby, C.V. Kappel, C.P. Dahlgren, F. Micheli, K.E. Holmes, J.N. Sanchirico, K. Broad, I.A. Elliott, and D.R. Brumbaugh. 2008. Reserve effects and natural variation in coral reef communities. Journal of Applied Ecology 45: 1010-1018.

Mumby, P.J., A.R. Harborne, J. Williams, C.V. Kappel, D.R. Brumbaugh, F. Micheli, K.E. Holmes, C.P. Dahlgren, C.B. Paris, and P.G. Blackwell. 2007. Trophic cascade facilitates coral recruitment in a marine reserve. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104(20): 8362-8367. [PDF]

Mumby, P.J., A. Hastings, and H.J. Edwards. 2007. Thresholds and the resilience of Caribbean coral reefs. Nature 450: 98-101.

Mumby, P.J. 2006. The impact of exploiting grazers (Scaridae) on the dynamics of Caribbean coral reefs. Ecological Applications 16(2): 747-769. [PDF]

Mumby, P.J. 2006. Connectivity of reef fish between mangroves and coral reefs: algorithms for the design of marine reserves at seascape scales. Biological Conservation 128(2): 215-222. [PDF]

Mumby, P.J., C.P. Dahlgren, A.R. Harborne, C.V. Kappel, F. Micheli, D.R. Brumbaugh, K.E. Holmes, J.M. Mendes, K. Broad, J.N. Sanchirico, K. Buch, S. Box, R.W. Stoffle, and A.B. Gill. 2006. Fishing, trophic cascades, and the process of grazing on coral reefs. Science 311: 98-101.

Mumby P.J., J.D. Hedley, K. Żychaluk, A.R. Harborne, and P.G. Blackwell. 2006. Revisiting the catastrophic die-off of the urchin Diadema antillarum on Caribbean coral reefs: Fresh insights on resilience from a simulation model. Ecological Modelling 196(1-2): 131-148.

Mumby, P.J., F. Micheli, C.P. Dahlgren, S.Y. Litvin, A.B. Gill, D.R. Brumbaugh, K. Broad, J.N. Sanchirico, C.V. Kappel, A.R. Harborne, and K.E. Holmes. 2006. Marine parks need sharks? Response to letter. Science 312: 527-528.

Harborne A.R., P.J. Mumby, F. Micheli, C.T. Perry, C.P. Dahlgren, K.E. Holmes, and D.R. Brumbaugh. 2006. The functional value of Caribbean coral reef, seagrass and mangrove habitats to ecosystem processes. Advances in Marine Biology 50: 57-190.

Harborne, A.R., P.J. Mumby, K. Zychaluk, J.D. Hedly, and P.G. Blackwell. 2006. Modeling the beta diversity of coral reefs. Ecology 87(1): 2871-2881. [PDF]

Hedley J.D., A.R. Harborne, and P.J. Mumby. 2005. Simple and robust removal of sun glint for mapping shallow-water benthos. International Journal of Remote Sensing 26: 2107-2112.

Mumby P.J., A.J. Edwards, J.E. Arias-Gonzalez, K.C. Lindeman, P.G. Blackwell, A. Gall, M.I. Gorczynska, A.R. Harborne, C.L. Pescod, H. Renken, C.C.C. Wabnitz, and G. Llewellyn. 2004. Mangroves enhance the biomass of coral reef fish communities in the Caribbean. Nature 427: 533-536.

Mumby P.J. and A,J. Edwards. 2002. Mapping marine environments with IKONOS imagery: enhanced spatial resolution does deliver greater thematic accuracy. Remote Sensing of Environment 82: 248-257.

Andréfouët, S., P.J. Mumby, M. McField, C. Hu, and F.E. Muller-Karger. 2002. Revisiting coral reef connectivity. Coral Reefs 21: 43-48.

Mumby, P.J. 2001. Beta and habitat diversity in marine systems: a new approach to measurement, scaling and interpretation. Oecologia 128: 274-280.

Mumby, P.J. 1999. Bleaching and hurricane disturbances to populations of coral recruits in Belize. Marine Ecology Progress Series 190: 27-35.

Mumby P.J. 1999. Can Caribbean coral populations be modelled at metapopulation scales? Marine Ecology Progress Series 180: 275-288.

Mumby P.J. and A.R. Harborne. 1999. Development of a systematic classification scheme of marine habitats to facilitate regional management of Caribbean coral reefs. Biological Conservation 88(2): 155-163.