Biological Sciences

Profile

Trevor is a marine ecologist who completed BSc and MSc at Victoria University of Wellington, and PhD at the University of Auckland’s Leigh Marine Laboratory. He spent two years on a postdoc in the Statistics Department at Auckland, followed by four years as a research fellow at the University of Bologna in Italy. He then moved back to New Zealand at the beginning of 2007 to work for NIWA as a senior scientist. Trevor joined the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Portsmouth in April 2012.

Trevor’s past research has focused on the effects of marine reserves (or MPAs), but he has also been involved in studies of fish movement, fish assemblage relationships with habitat, small-scale fisheries assessments, and survey methodologies for fishes. He has also been drawn into studies on soft-sediment ecosystems, distribution of marine mammals, and ecological statistics.

Research interests

• Recovery of exploited species and functional role of marine protected areas
• Trophic structure of reef assemblages
• Spatial variation in marine biodiversity
• Ecology of cryptic fishes

Recent Publications

More recent publications

Publications before 2008

Triossi F, Willis TJ, Pace DS (2013) Occurrence of bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus in natural gas fields of the northwestern Adriatic Sea. Marine Ecology, in press.

Fontana G, KI Ugland, JS Gray, TJ Willis & M Abbiati (2008) Influence of rare species on beta diversity estimates in marine benthic assemblages. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 366: 104-108.

Santin S & TJ Willis (2007) Direct versus indirect effects of wave exposure as a structuring force on temperate cryptobenthic fish assemblages. Marine Biology 151: 1683-1694.

Milazzo M, I Anastasi & TJ Willis (2006) Recreational fish feeding affects coastal fish behavior and increases frequency of predation on damselfish (Chromis chromis) nests. Marine Ecology Progress Series 310: 165-172.

Willis TJ, F Badalamenti & M Milazzo (2006) Diel variability in counts of reef fishes and its implications for monitoring. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 331: 108-120.

Willis TJ & RB Millar (2005) Using marine reserves to estimate fishing mortality. Ecology Letters 8: 47-52.

Denny CM, TJ Willis & RC Babcock (2004) Rapid recolonisation of snapper (Pagrus auratus: Sparidae) within an offshore island marine reserve after implementation of no-take status. Marine Ecology Progress Series 272: 183-190.

Sharp NJ, BK Diggles, CW Poortenaar & TJ Willis (2004) Efficacy of Aqui-S, formalin and praziquantel against the monogeneans Benedenia seriolae and Zeuxapta seriolae infecting yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi) in New Zealand. Aquaculture 236: 67-83.

Parsons DM, RC Babcock, RKS Hankin, TJ Willis, JP Aitken, RK O’Dor & GD Jackson (2003) Snapper (Pagrus auratus: Sparidae) home range dynamics: acoustic tagging studies in a marine reserve. Marine Ecology Progress Series 262: 253-265.

Willis TJ & MJ Anderson (2003) Structure of cryptic reef fish assemblages: relationships with habitat characteristics and predator density. Marine Ecology Progress Series 257: 209-221.

Willis TJ, RB Millar, RC Babcock & N Tolimieri (2003) Burdens of evidence and the benefits of marine reserves: putting Descartes before des horse? Environmental Conservation 30: 97-103.

Sharp NJ, CW Poortenaar, BK Diggles & TJ Willis (2003) Metazoan parasites of yellowtail kingfish, Seriola lalandi, in New Zealand: prevalence, intensity and site preference. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 37: 273-282.

Willis TJ, RB Millar & RC Babcock (2003) Protection of exploited fishes in temperate regions: high density and biomass of snapper Pagrus auratus (Sparidae) in northern New Zealand marine reserves. Journal of Applied Ecology 40: 214-227.

Anderson MJ & TJ Willis (2003) Canonical analysis of principal coordinates: a useful method of constrained ordination for ecology. Ecology 84: 511-525.

Willis TJ (2001) Visual census methods underestimate density and diversity of cryptic reef fishes. Journal of Fish Biology 59: 1408-1411.

Willis TJ, DM Parsons & RC Babcock (2001) Evidence for long-term site fidelity of snapper (Pagrus auratus) within a marine reserve. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 35: 581-590.

Willis TJ & RB Millar (2001) Modified hooks reduce incidental mortality of snapper (Pagrus auratus: Sparidae) in the New Zealand commercial longline fishery. ICES Journal of Marine Science 58: 830-841

Willis TJ & RC Babcock (2000) A baited underwater video system for the determination of relative density of carnivorous reef fish. Marine and Freshwater Research 51: 755-763.

Willis TJ, RB Millar & RC Babcock (2000) Detection of spatial variability in relative density of fishes: comparison of visual census, angling, and baited underwater video. Marine Ecology Progress Series 198: 249-260.

Babcock RC, S Kelly, NT Shears, JW Walker & TJ Willis (1999) Changes in community structure in temperate marine reserves. Marine Ecology Progress Series 189: 125-134.

Millar RB & TJ Willis (1999) Estimating the relative density of snapper in and around a marine reserve using a log-linear mixed effects model. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Statistics 41: 383-394.

Willis TJ, JEH Saunders, DL Blackwood & JE Archer (1999) First New Zealand record of the Australian bridled goby, Arenigobius bifrenatus (Pisces: Gobiidae). New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 33: 189-192.

Taylor RB & TJ Willis (1998) Relationships amongst length, weight and growth of northeastern New Zealand reef fish. Marine and Freshwater Research 49: 255-260.

Willis TJ & RC Babcock (1998) Retention and in situ detectability of visible implant fluorescent elastomer (VIFE) tags in Pagrus auratus (Sparidae). New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 32: 247-254.

Willis TJ & CD Roberts (1996) Recolonisation and recruitment of fishes to intertidal rockpools at Wellington, New Zealand. Environmental Biology of Fishes 47: 329-343.

Haddon M, TJ Willis, RG Wear & VC Anderlini (1996) Biomass and distribution of five species of surf clam off an exposed west coast North Island beach, New Zealand. Journal of Shellfish Research 15: 331-339.

Willis TJ (1995) A preliminary description of the fish fauna of Taranga (Hen) Island, north-eastern New Zealand. Tane 35: 57-68.

Haddon M & TJ Willis (1995) A morphometric and meristic comparison of orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) from the Lord Howe Rise and Puysegur Bank, New Zealand, and its implications for stock structure. Marine Biology 123: 19-27.