Enhancing coral reef resilience to climate change. Coral reefs provide enormous economic, cultural and environmental benefits to Australia and its near neighbours. For reefs to remain healthy in the face of climate change and other stresses, they must be managed using best practices. Measuring how reef populations are connected and developing new tools to translate this knowledge into improved management can enhance fisheries, ensure reef health, and protect the livelihoods that reefs sustain. T ....Enhancing coral reef resilience to climate change. Coral reefs provide enormous economic, cultural and environmental benefits to Australia and its near neighbours. For reefs to remain healthy in the face of climate change and other stresses, they must be managed using best practices. Measuring how reef populations are connected and developing new tools to translate this knowledge into improved management can enhance fisheries, ensure reef health, and protect the livelihoods that reefs sustain. This research with partners from Europe, the United States of America, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia places Australia at the forefront of addressing the impacts of climate change and enhances its international reputation as the world leader in coral reef science and management.Read moreRead less
Quantifying the effects of western colonisation on Great Barrier Reef molluscan communities. Dead shells provide a record of the pre-colonisation Great Barrier Reef (GBR) ecosystem. Using this record this research will determine what the GBR looked like before James Cook and the first fleet arrived in Australia. This study will also sample living molluscs to quantify the current state of these communities. Together these data will provide environment managers and stakeholders with the first quan ....Quantifying the effects of western colonisation on Great Barrier Reef molluscan communities. Dead shells provide a record of the pre-colonisation Great Barrier Reef (GBR) ecosystem. Using this record this research will determine what the GBR looked like before James Cook and the first fleet arrived in Australia. This study will also sample living molluscs to quantify the current state of these communities. Together these data will provide environment managers and stakeholders with the first quantitative estimates of human impacts on this world heritage ecosystem. This project will address the questions: Do protected areas return to a pre-colonial state or do they represent another non-natural state? What type of management scheme results in communities most similar to the pre-colonial state?Read moreRead less