Education
Postdoc present Auburn University
Ph.D 2012 Oregon State University
B.A. 2003 University of Hawaii at Hilo
Mark (dot) Albins (at) Auburn (dot) Edu
While working with the University of South Florida, Mark is conducting research determining the effort necessary to control local populations of invasive lionfish and mitigate their effects on native reef fishes in Southeastern Florida.
With strict limits on the funding available to deal with the lionfish invasion, it is critical that managers have access to meaningful estimates of the level of effort required to reduce local lionfish populations and to mitigate their effects on native species. His experiment is designed to determine the frequency of manual removal efforts necessary to substantially reduce and maintain local invasive lionfish populations to levels at which their negative effects on native fishes are mitigated. The results of this study will allow effective and efficient allocation of resources necessary to mitigate the lionfish invasion on southeast Florida reefs. This will allow local managers to avoid the twin pitfalls of under- and overinvestment in control efforts and will provide general guidelines for managers in other areas tasked with managing the lionfish invasion.
At Auburn University, under the advisory of Stephen Szedlmayer, Mark is also studying early post-settlement ecology of important fisheries species in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico, with the ultiamate goal of providing information that can improve accuracy of fisheries models and the effectiveness of management decisions. He is currently investigating the early post-settlement ecology of Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) in order to understand how habitat availability, predation, and other non-consumptive interactions with older red snapper and other species may affect survival rates of juveniles.
Publications:
Albins, M. A. (2013). Effects of invasive Pacific red lionfish Pterois volitans versus a native predator on Bahamian coral-reef fish communities. Biological Invasions. 15:29-43. DOI: 10.1007/s10530-012-0266-1.
Albins, M. A., P. J. Lyons (2012). Invasive red lionfish Pterois volitans blow directed jets of water at prey fish. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 448:1-5. DOI: 10.3354/meps09580.
[reviewed in “Science Now” feature on AAAS website (24 Feb 2012)]
Page-Albins, K. N., P. S. Vroom, R. Hoeke, M. A. Albins, C. M. Smith (2012). Patterns in benthic coral reef communities at Pearl and Hermes Atoll along a wave exposure gradient. Pacific Science. 66(4): 481-496. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2984/66.4.6.
Albins, M. A., M. A. Hixon (2011). Worst case scenario: Potential long-term effects of invasive predatory lionfish (Pterois volitans) on Atlantic and Caribbean coral-reef communities. Environmental Biology of Fishes. Online First. DOI: 10.1007/s10641-011-9795-1.
Christie, M. R., B. N. Tissot, M. A. Albins, J. P. Beets, Y. Jia, D. M. Ortiz, S. E. Thompson, M. A. Hixon (2010). Larval connectivity in an effective network of marine protected areas. PLoS ONE. 5(12): e15715. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0015715.
[reviewed in "News" column of Nature (13 Jan 2011) 469:146. DOI: 10.1038/469146a]
Albins, M. A., M. A. Hixon, Y. Sadovy (2009). Threatened fishes of the world: Epinephelus striatus (Bloch, 1792) (Serranidae). Environmental Biology of Fishes. 86(2): 309-310. DOI: 10.1007/s10641-009-9512-5.
Albins, M. A., M. A. Hixon (2008). Invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans reduce recruitment of Atlantic coral-reef fishes. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 367: 233–238.
[Reviewed in "News in Brief" column of Nature (16 Jul 2008) 454:265. DOI: 10.1038/454265f]
Dameron, O. J., M. Parke, M. A. Albins, R. Brainard (2007). Marine debris accumulation in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands: An examination of rates and processes. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 54: 423-433.