April is a post-doctoral research fellow; her research activities explore fundamental concepts of coral reef fish ecology, with a particular focus on marine parks management and conservation of coral reef fish communities. April’s current research activities are focussed around evaluating the value of conservation park (yellow) zones to biodiversity conservation in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. April holds an Advance Queensland Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship, and works in collaboration with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, as well as the Reef and Ocean Ecology Laboratory. April’s PhD research focused on the importance of predatory fishes on reefs, and the trophic impacts of predator removals on coral reef fish communities. This project provided valuable information on how fishing of predators affects trophic dynamics on the Great Barrier Reef, and demonstrated the utility of no-take marine reserves in protecting ecosystem processes on reefs. Other key research areas include: interrelationships between soft corals and fishes, the importance of inshore seascape mosaics as habitat for fishes,  and investigation of the demographics, reproduction and habitat associations of nemipterid fishes, April has co-supervised several masters and honours students, and has held several roles as a course demonstrator in the College of Marine and Environmental Sciences.

Publications:

Hall, A. E., Cameron, D. S. & Kingsford, M. J. 2021. Partially protected areas as a management tool on inshore reefs. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries. https://tinyurl.com/avewr7zn

Garra, S., Hall, A.E. & Kingsford, M. J. 2020. The effects of predation on the condition of soft corals. Coral Reefs, 39, 1329-1343.

Hall, A. E., Vitale, L. & Kingsford, M. J. 2019. Planktonic larval duration, early growth, and the influence of dietary input on the otolith microstructure of Scolopsis bilineatus (Nemipteridae). Environmental Biology of Fishes, 102, 541-552.

Hall, A.E. and Clark, T.D. (2016). Seeing is believing: visual rather than chemosensory predator cues elicit a metabolic response in a prey species of coral reef fish. Animal Behaviour. 115:117-126.

Hall, A.E. and Kingsford, M.J. (2016). Variation in the population demographics of Scolopsis bilineatus in response to predators. Coral Reefs. doi:10.1007/s00338-016-1486-0 Hall, A.E. and Kingsford, M.J. (2016). Predators exacerbate competitive interactions and dominance hierarchies between two coral reef fishes. PLoS ONE.

*Boaden, A. E. and Kingsford, M. J. (2015). Predators drive community structure in coral reef fish assemblages. Ecosphere DOI: 10.1890/ES14-00292.1.

*Boaden, A. E. and Kingsford, M. J. (2013). Distributions and Habitat Associations of the Bridled Monocle Bream (Scolopsis bilineatus :Nemipteridae): a Demographic Approach. Journal of Fish Biology, 83: 618-641.

*Boaden, A.E., and Kingsford, M.J. (2012)  Diel behaviour and trophic ecology of Scolopsis bilineatus (Nemipteridae). Coral Reefs 31: 817-883.

* Published in maiden name of April Boaden. Name change to April Hall as of November 2015.