Publications

Peer-reviewed publications

* indicates supervised students

2024

15. Womersley, F. C., Rohner, C. A., Abrantes, K., Afonso, P., Arunrugstichai, S., Bach, S. S.,.. Lester, E. ... & Araujo, G. (2024). Identifying priority sites for whale shark ship collision management globally. Science of The Total Environment, 934, 172776.

2023

14. *Asunsolo-Rivera, A., Lester, E., Langlois, T., Vaughan, B., McCormick, M.I., Simpson, S.D. and Meekan, M.G., 2023. Behaviour of mesopredatory coral reef fishes in response to threats from sharks and humans. Scientific Reports, 13(1), p.6714.

13. Miller, A., de Lestang, S., How, J., Gibbons, B., Lester, E., Navarro, M., Fitzhardinge, J., Brooker, M. and Langlois, T., 2023. Fine-scale variability in catch and growth rates of western rock lobsters (Panulirus cygnus) show heterogeneous life-history parameters. Marine and Freshwater Research, 74(4), pp.335-346.

2022

12. Rolim, F.A., Langlois, T., dos Santos Motta, F., de Castro, G.M., Lester, E., Abieri, M.L., Gadig, O.B.F. and de Moura, R.L., 2022. Habitat and marine reserve status drive reef fish biomass and functional diversity in the largest south Atlantic coral reef system (Abrolhos, Brazil). Frontiers in Marine Science, 9, p.701244.

11. Womersley, F.C., Humphries, N.E., Queiroz, N., Vedor, M., da Costa, I., Furtado, M., Tyminski, (+ 60 authors).… Lester, E, et al. 2022. Global collision-risk hotspots of marine traffic and the world’s largest fish, the whale shark. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(20), p.e2117440119.

10. Lester, E., Cannon, T., Lawrence, S., Wilton, J., Araujo, G. and Chin, A., 2022. Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) feed on baitfish with other predators at Ningaloo Reef. Pacific Conservation Biology.

9. Lester, E., Langlois, T., Lindgren, I., Birt, M., Bond, T., McLean, D., Vaughan, B., Holmes, T.H. and Meekan, M., 2022. Drivers of variation in occurrence, abundance, and behaviour of sharks on coral reefs. Scientific reports, 12(1), pp.1-13.

2021

8. Lester, E., Langlois, T.J., McCormick, M.I., Simpson, S.D., Bond, T. and Meekan, M.G., 2021. Relative influence of predators, competitors and seascape heterogeneity on behaviour and abundance of coral reef mesopredators. Oikos, 130(12), pp.2239-2249.

7. Ross, C.L., French, B., Lester, E., Wilson, S.K., Day, P.B., Taylor, M.D. and Barrett, N., 2021. Coral communities on marginal high-latitude reefs in West Australian marine parks. Diversity, 13(11), p.554.

6. Meenakshisundaram, A., Thomas, L., Kennington, W.J., Thums, M., Lester, E. and Meekan, M., 2021. Genetic markers validate photo-identification and uniqueness of spot patterns in whale sharks. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 668, pp.177-183.

5. Lester, E., Langlois, T.J., Simpson, S.D., McCormick, M.I. and Meekan, M.G., 2021. Reef‐wide evidence that the presence of sharks modifies behaviors of teleost mesopredators. Ecosphere, 12(2), p.e03301.

2020

4. Lester, E., Langlois, T.J., Simpson, S.D., McCormick, M.I. and Meekan, M.G., 2020. The hemisphere of fear: the presence of sharks influences the three dimensional behaviour of large mesopredators in a coral reef ecosystem. Oikos, 129(5), pp.731-739.

3. Lester, E., Meekan, M.G., Barnes, P., Raudino, H., Rob, D., Waples, K. and Speed, C.W., 2020. Multi-year patterns in scarring, survival and residency of whale sharks in Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 634, pp.115-125.

2. Meekan, M.G., Taylor, B.M., Lester, E., Ferreira, L.C., Sequeira, A.M., Dove, A.D., Birt, M.J., Aspinall, A., Brooks, K. and Thums, M., 2020. Asymptotic growth of whale sharks suggests sex-specific life-history strategies. Frontiers in Marine Science, p.774.

2019

1. Lester, E., Speed, C., Rob, D., Barnes, P., Waples, K. and Raudino, H., 2019. Using an electronic monitoring system and photo identification to understand effects of tourism encounters on whale sharks in Ningaloo Marine Park. Tourism in Marine Environments, 14(3), pp.121-131.

Book Chapters

Heithaus, Michael R., Ruth E. Dunn, N. Frances Farabaugh, Emily Lester, Elizabeth Madin, Mark G. Meekan, Yannis P. Papastamatiou, George Roff, Jeremy J. Vaudo, and Aaron J. Wirsing. "Advances in our understanding of the ecological importance of sharks and their relatives." In Biology of Sharks and Their Relatives, pp. 487-521. CRC Press, 2022.