New tools for managing ecosystem responses to climate change on the southern Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) underpins over $4 billions of economic activity each year. Recent evidence suggests that reefs like the GBR are vulnerable to climate change, which manifests itself at both local and global scales. Providing the tools for tracking and understanding these changes is vitally important to effective reef management strategies. This project will provide a major advance in o ....New tools for managing ecosystem responses to climate change on the southern Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) underpins over $4 billions of economic activity each year. Recent evidence suggests that reefs like the GBR are vulnerable to climate change, which manifests itself at both local and global scales. Providing the tools for tracking and understanding these changes is vitally important to effective reef management strategies. This project will provide a major advance in our understanding and the tools available to manage the impacts of climate change. In doing so, it will also produce the first comprehensive and multidisciplinary look at how environmental variability impacts coral reef organisms from corals to seabird populations.Read moreRead less
Assessing the risk of ocean acidification for the Great Barrier Reef. The increase in greenhouse gases such as CO2 represents a challenge for coral reefs such as Australia's Great Barrier Reef (GBR). While the impact of greenhouse warming on coral reefs has been partially explored, the potentially serious implications of a decrease in ocean pH due have not been properly assessed. Detecting and understanding changes to carbonate concentrations and reef calcification are of great importance if ....Assessing the risk of ocean acidification for the Great Barrier Reef. The increase in greenhouse gases such as CO2 represents a challenge for coral reefs such as Australia's Great Barrier Reef (GBR). While the impact of greenhouse warming on coral reefs has been partially explored, the potentially serious implications of a decrease in ocean pH due have not been properly assessed. Detecting and understanding changes to carbonate concentrations and reef calcification are of great importance if managers are to respond strategically to potential ecological changes. This project directly addresses National Research Priority 1 of achieving 'An Environmentally Sustainable Australia' by addressing the priority goal of 'Responding to climate change and variability'.Read moreRead less
Coral Reef Fishes And The Global Decline In Reef Health: Is Biodiversity At Risk Or Resilient? Successful management and protection of marine species depends on understanding the processes that control the biodiversity of marine communities at both local and regional scales. This study will develop a general model to predict the response of reef fish communities to declining habitat structure and diversity across the tropical Pacific Ocean. Using expertise and ecological tools developed in Austr ....Coral Reef Fishes And The Global Decline In Reef Health: Is Biodiversity At Risk Or Resilient? Successful management and protection of marine species depends on understanding the processes that control the biodiversity of marine communities at both local and regional scales. This study will develop a general model to predict the response of reef fish communities to declining habitat structure and diversity across the tropical Pacific Ocean. Using expertise and ecological tools developed in Australia, and in collaboration with scientists working on the other side of the Pacific, this project will develop a broad-scale understanding of the threats to coral reefs and play a leading role in the development of marine-biodiversity management plans for Australia and neighbouring regions.Read moreRead less