People:
Richard Nemeth


Richard Nemeth

Center for Marine and Environmental Studies
University of the Virgin Islands  (Virgin Islands (U.S.))


Research interests

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As Director of the Center for Marine and Environmental Studies (CMES) I have focused the department on applied fisheries and habitat conservation research. This has lead to considerable grant funding to examine the influence of anthropogenic activities on the functioning of coral reef systems and the importance of marine protected areas in protecting deep coral reef habitats and rebuilding fish stocks, in particular, grouper and snapper spawning aggregations. Our research findings were instrumental in establishing the Grammanik Bank seasonal fishery closure in 2005 which protected spawning aggregations of the endangered Nassau grouper and seven species. Ongoing research is focused on three key areas: 1) understanding the connectivity between grouper spawning aggregations which are located on deep shelf edge reefs and larval grouper recruitment in shallow water habitats around the USVI, 2) spatial and temporal patterns of migration and mesophotic reef habitat use of grouper and snapper spawning aggregations and 3) comparing the movement and migration patterns of Caribbean and tropical Pacific groupers as a means of determining the minimum boundaries for MPAÕ¢ŠÎ†¢s around grouper spawning aggregation sites. Working with fishermen, non-profit conservation organizations, local and federal resources agencies, CMES produced an educational documentary on the biology of reef fish spawning aggregations in the Virgin Islands highlighting the social-economic issues of local fisheries and current research (Pickert et al. 2006, Seas of Change: Spawning aggregations of the Virgin Islands. DVD by Friday's Films, San Francisco, CA 28 min).

Publications

  Please note that only publications relevant to mesophotic reefs are indexed.

Characterizing the deep insular shelf coral reef habitat of the Hind Bank marine conservation district (US Virgin Islands) using the Seabed autonom... | article
Armstrong RA, Singh H, Torres J, Nemeth RS, Can A, Roman C, Eustice R, Riggs L, Garcia-Moliner G (2006)
Cont Shelf Res 26:194-205

Benthic structure and cryptic mortality in a Caribbean mesophotic coral reef bank system, the Hind Bank Marine Conservation District, US Virgin Isl... | article
Smith TB, Blondeau J, Nemeth RS, Pittman SJ, Calnan JM, Kadison E, Gass J (2010)
Coral Reefs 29:289-308

Geomorphology and benthic cover of mesophotic coral ecosystems of the upper insular slope of southwest Puerto Rico | article
Sherman C, Nemeth M, Ruíz H, Bejarano I, Appeldoorn R, Pagán F, Schärer M, Weil E (2010)
Coral Reefs 29:347-360

Flow and transport characteristics at an Epinephelus guttatus (red hind grouper) spawning aggregation site in St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands) | article
Cherubin LM, Nemeth RS, Idrisi N (2011)
Ecol Model 222:3132-3148

Spatial and temporal patterns of movement and migration at spawning aggregations of red hind, Epinephelus guttatus, in the US Virgin Islands | article
Nemeth RS, Blondeau J, Herzlieb S, Kadison E (2007)
Environ Biol Fish 78:365-381

Sex structure and potential female fecundity in a Epinephelus guttatus spawning aggregation: applying ultrasonic imaging | article
Whiteman EA, Jennings CA, Nemeth RS (2005)
J Fish Biol 66:983-995

Assessing coral reef health across onshore to offshore stress gradients in the US Virgin Islands | article
Smith TB, Nemeth RS, Blondeau J, Calnan JM, Kadison E, Herzlieb S (2008)
Mar Pollut Bull 56:1983-1991

Population characteristics of a recovering US Virgin Islands red hind spawning aggregation following protection | article
Nemeth RS (2005)
Mar Ecol Prog Ser 286:81-97
Coral disease prevalence and host susceptibility on mid-depth and deep reefs in the United States Virgin Islands | article
Calnan JM, Smith TB, Nemeth RS, Kadison E, Blondeau J (2008)
Rev Biol Trop 56:223-234

Caribbean mesophotic coral ecosystems are unlikely climate change refugia | article
Smith TB, Gyory J, Brandt ME, Miller WJ, Jossart J, Nemeth RS (2016)
Global Change Biol 22:2756–2765

Mesophotic coral ecosystems under anthropogenic stress: a case study at Ponce, Puerto Rico | article
Appeldoorn R, Ballantine D, Bejarano I, Carlo M, Nemeth M, Otero E, Pagán F, Ruiz H, Schizas N, Sherman C, Weil E (2016)
Coral Reefs 35:63-75

Comparative Use of a Caribbean Mesophotic Coral Ecosystem and Association with Fish Spawning Aggregations by Three Species of Shark | article
Pickard AE, Vaudo JJ, Wetherbee BM, Nemeth RS, Blondeau JB, Kadison EA, Shivji MS (2016)
PLoS ONE 11:e0151221

Abundance of commercially important reef fish indicates different levels of over-exploitation across shelves of the U.S. Virgin Islands | article
Kadison E, Brandt M, Nemeth R, Martens J, Blondeau J, Smith T (2017)
PLoS ONE 12:e0180063

In situ Tagging of Nassau Grouper Epinephelus striatus Using Closed-Circuit Rebreathers at a Spawning Aggregation in Puerto Rico | article
Tuohy E, Nemeth MI, Bejarano I, Schärer MT, Appeldoorn RS (2015)
Mar Technol Soc J 49:115-123

Temporal patterns and behavioral characteristics of aggregation formation and spawning in the Bermuda chub (Kyphosus sectatrix) | article
Nemeth RS, Kadison E (2013)
Coral Reefs 32:1067-1076

Intraspecific variation in vertical habitat use by tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) in the western North Atlantic | article
Vaudo JJ, Wetherbee BM, Harvey G, Nemeth RS, Aming C, Burnie N, Howey_Jordan LA, Shivji MS (2014)
Ecol Evol 4:1768-1786

The United States Virgin Islands Territorial Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Year 11 Annual Report | report
Smith TB, Kadison E, Henderson L, Brandt ME, Gyory J, Kammann M, Wright V, Nemeth RS (2011)
The United States Virgin Islands Territorial Coral Reef Monitoring Program
The United States Virgin Islands Territorial Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Year 14 Annual Report | report
Smith TB, Kadison E, Ennis RS, Gyory J, Brandt ME, Wright V, Nemeth RS, Henderson L (2014)

The United States Virgin Islands | chapter
Smith TB, Brandt ME, Brandtneris VW, Ennis RS, Groves SH, Habtes S, Holstein DM, Kadison E, Nemeth RS (2019)
in: Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems (Springer) by Loya Y, Puglise KA, Bridge TCL
Behavioural Characteristics of Spawning in the Bermuda Chub (Kyphosus sectatrix) | article
Nemeth RS, Kadison E (2013)
Proc Gulf Caribb Fish Inst
Research keywords
Research summary (from publications)