Research

Current Projects

Uncovering the functioning and importance of temperate mesophotic ecosystems

Funded by the Royal Society Te Apārangi Marsden Fund.
Associate Investigators: Dr. James Bell, Dr. Pim Bongaerts, Dr. Sarah Bury
Postdoctoral Researchers: Dr. Francesca Strano
Research Assistants: Dr. Chelsey Beese, Dr. Matteo Collina
PhD Students: Emma Novak, Mollie Rickwood

Temperate mesophotic ecosystems (TMEs) are the “twilight zone” of our oceans, found at depths of 30–150 metres where little sunlight remains. Unlike shallow seas dominated by seaweeds, TMEs are rich in sponges, sea fans, and other animals adapted to low light. These habitats create complex structures that support diverse marine life, including fish and crustaceans, and may provide refuges from marine heatwaves and other climate impacts.

Despite their ecological and economic importance, TMEs remain under-researched and vulnerable to threats like fishing, sedimentation, and physical disturbance. Our Marsden Fund project uses new technology—such as remotely operated vehicles (ROVs)—to explore, document, and model these unique ecosystems, aiming to inform their protection and management for the future.

Learn more: Into the ocean twilight zone: how new technology is revealing the secrets of an under-researched undersea world (The Conversation/Greenpeace)

Climate change at the end of the earth: sevengill sharks in Fiordland, New Zealand

Funded by the Save Our Seas Foundation.

This project aims to understand how climate change and extreme weather events will impact the broadnose sevengill shark (Notorynchus cepedianus) in Fiordland, New Zealand. Sevengill sharks are a key top predator, recently listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and play a vital role in coastal ecosystems. The project investigates how changes in water temperature, salinity, and prey availability affect the sharks’ movements, habitat use, and survival, with the goal of informing management to ensure their future.

Learn more: Save Our Seas Project Page

Publications

Broadribb, M., A. Rogers, V. Micaroni, R. Kinsey, and J. J. Bell. 2026a. Temporal trends in benthic community composition differ between shallow and mesophotic temperate rocky reefs. Marine Ecology Progress Series 778.

Broadribb, M., A. Rogers, T. Thomas, V. Micaroni, F. Strano, and J. J. Bell. 2026b. Differing temperature regimes have no impact on the heat stress response of shallow and upper-mesophotic populations of a temperate calcareous sponge. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 293:20251103.

Resende, A. C., C. Vinagre, and A. Rogers. 2026. Temperature and prey availability drive seasonal variations in diet, abundance and condition of forsterygion lapillum across two coastal habitats. Ecology and Evolution 16.

Beran, H., S. Datta, R. O. Smith, L. Woods, M. Ladds, J. J. Bell, and A. Rogers. 2025. Mesophotic thermal refuge modelling shows mitigated reductions in fisheries productivity during marine heatwaves. Frontiers in Marine Science 12.

Resende, A. C., J. Streatfield, and A. Rogers. 2025a. Thanatosis in juvenile notolabrus celidotus, the new zealand spotty wrasse. Acta Ethologica 28:45–48.

Resende, A. C., C. Vinagre, and A. Rogers. 2025b. Exposure of an intertidal fish to simulated heatwaves and suspended sediment – a multistressor approach. Journal of Thermal Biology 132.

Wade, B. L., A. C. Resende, D. Willis-Kaio, and A. Rogers. 2025. Exploring the consequences of complex habitat loss for the new zealand blue cod, parapercis colias. Ecosphere 16.

Bell, J. J., V. Micaroni, B. Harris, F. Strano, M. Broadribb, and A. Rogers. 2024. Global status, impacts, and management of rocky temperate mesophotic ecosystems. Conservation Biology.

Datta, S., H. Beran, and A. Rogers. 2024. The impacts of warming on shallow and deep-water fisheries in new zealand. Earth’s Future 12.

Beese, C. M., P. J. Mumby, and A. Rogers. 2023. Small-scale habitat complexity preserves ecosystem services on coral reefs. Journal of Applied Ecology 60:1854–1867.

Bell, J., A. Rogers, K. Hansen, C. Anslow, and S. McCallum. 2023. Diving into the twilight zone VR for marine biology. 29th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology:1–2.

Millington, R. C., A. Rogers, P. Cox, Y. Bozec, and P. J. Mumby. 2022. Combined direct and indirect impacts of warming on the productivity of coral reef fishes. Ecosphere 13.

Rogers, A. 2022. Managing reefs for productivity. Nature Sustainability 6:122–123.

Stella, J. S., K. Wolfe, G. Roff, A. Rogers, M. Priest, Y. Golbuu, and P. J. Mumby. 2022. Functional and phylogenetic responses of motile cryptofauna to habitat degradation. Journal of Animal Ecology 91:2203–2219.

Carrington, V. G., Y. Papa, C. M. Beese, J. Hall, R. Covain, P. Horn, M. A. Ladds, and A. Rogers. 2021. How functionally diverse are fish in the deep? A comparison of fish communities in deep and shallow-water systems. Diversity and Distributions 27:1208–1223.

McGregor, V. L., P. Horn, A. Dutilloy, S. Datta, A. Rogers, J. Porobic, A. Dunn, and I. Tuck. 2021. From data compilation to model validation: Comparing three ecosystem models of the tasman and golden bays, new zealand. PeerJ 9:e11712.

Rogers, A., and P. J. Mumby. 2019. Mangroves reduce the vulnerability of coral reef fisheries to habitat degradation. PLOS Biology 17:e3000510.