Article
Geology
Tara R. Clark, George Roff, Tess Chapman, Hannah Markham-Summers, Nicholas M. Hammerman, Faye Liu, Yuexing Feng, John M. Pandolfi, Jian-xin Zhao
Summary: The overall status of many reefs in the Great Barrier Reef is uncertain due to the lack of detailed broad-scale studies. The relative role of various threats in impacting individual reefs is generally unclear. A novel approach using uranium-thorium dating of dead corals was adopted to reconstruct historical disturbance events at Rib and Davies Reefs, providing a reliable benchmark to assess recovery and monitor coral communities effectively.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Chris M. Roelfsema, Mitchell B. Lyons, Carolina Castro-Sanguino, Eva M. Kovacs, David Callaghan, Magnus Wettle, Kathryn Markey, Rodney Borrego-Acevedo, Paul Tudman, Meredith Roe, Emma Kennedy, Manuel Gonzalez-Rivero, Nicholas Murray, Stuart R. Phinn
Summary: The geomorphic and benthic composition of Australia's Great Barrier Reef are understudied, but crucial for understanding disturbance impacts and recovery potential. Through new research methods and high-resolution maps, there is now a more comprehensive understanding of the spatial extent and ecological characteristics of the Great Barrier Reef.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Lorna Howlett, Emma F. Camp, John Edmondson, Russell Hosp, Ben Taylor, Philip Coulthard, David J. Suggett
Summary: Tourism-led stewardship projects in the Great Barrier Reef have implemented coral propagation and out-planting practices to improve ecosystem function. Benthic surveys conducted over a 24-month period showed significant increases in hard coral cover at some out-planting sites, particularly for commonly out-planted genera. Despite variations in coral community responses, this tourism-led approach has demonstrated potential for increasing hard coral cover through coral propagation.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Hillary A. Smith, Stella E. Fulton, Ian M. Mcleod, Cathie A. Page, David G. Bourne
Summary: Manual removal of macroalgae can promote the recovery of inshore coral reefs and improve the composition of benthic reef organisms.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Wenhui Zhao, Yi Huang, Steven Siems, Michael Manton
Summary: The study revealed a significant negative correlation between total cloud cover anomaly (TCCA) and lagged sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) in the Great Barrier Reef region, which is greater in magnitude and spatial extent compared to the SSTA-ENSO correlation. This suggests that local-scale reduced cloud cover plays a crucial role in the formation of warm shallow water and occurrence of thermal coral bleaching events in the region.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Fisheries
Morgan S. Pratchett, Ciemon F. Caballes, Jean-Paul A. Hobbs, Joseph D. DiBattista, Brock Bergseth, Peter Waldie, Curtis Champion, Samuel P. Mc Cormack, Andrew S. Hoey
Summary: This study explored the variation in physiological condition of common coral trout on Australia's Great Barrier Reef after severe mass bleaching and coral loss. The results showed that fish condition was largely influenced by fish size and varied with latitude, while there was no apparent effect of recent coral bleaching on the physiological condition of the fish. However, further changes to the environmental conditions and reef habitat may impact these important fisheries species.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Marine Gouezo, Katharina Fabricius, Peter Harrison, Yimnang Golbuu, Christopher Doropoulos
Summary: Researchers have proposed a framework to guide reef managers and scientists on how to best support coral reef recovery after disturbance. The framework includes two main stages: first, assessing disturbed reefs based on their social-ecological values and likelihood of recovery; second, choosing management actions based on ecological attributes of the disturbed reef, such as substrata rehabilitation, repopulating, resilience-based management, and monitoring.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Oceanography
Lorna Howlett, Emma F. Camp, John Edmondson, Jenny Edmondson, Taryn Agius, Russell Hosp, Philip Coulthard, Steve Edmondson, David J. Suggett
Summary: Coral propagation through nurseries and out-planting practices has increased globally to improve stakeholder-led stewardship for local reef site health. The tourism industry in the Great Barrier Reef implemented coral propagation after back-to-back bleaching events, overcoming cost-efficiency limitations through the Coral Nurture Program (CNP) partnership model. Success of CNP relies on collaboration between researchers and operators, utilizing complementary expertise and resources for continual improvement. This study examines the CNP activity to evaluate how collective propagation by tourism operators and research validation can enhance site stewardship on the Great Barrier Reef.
OCEAN & COASTAL MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jacob G. D. Rogers, Eva E. Plaganyi
Summary: This study uses multispecies modelling to show that the management of a coral predator, the crown-of-thorns starfish, could help corals recover following bleaching events. They show that management was most effective when heat stress severity for corals was low to moderate, when corals had lower heat sensitivity and when the recruitment rate of starfish was high.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Biology
James P. W. Robinson, Emily S. Darling, Eva Maire, Mark Hamilton, Christina C. Hicks, Stacy D. Jupiter, M. Aaron MacNeil, Sangeeta Mangubhai, Tim Mcclanahan, Yashika Nand, Nicholas A. J. Graham
Summary: Coral reef fisheries provide nutritious catch to tropical communities, but current management strategies focus on total reef fish biomass rather than individual growth and nutrient content, limiting the sustainability of nutritious catches.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jessica A. Benthuysen, Grant A. Smith, Claire M. Spillman, Craig R. Steinberg
Summary: The 2020 marine heatwave in the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea caused mass coral bleaching, with sea surface temperature anomalies exceeding +2 degrees C across broad regions. While the model predictions generally agreed with observations in the first week, it failed to capture the development phase and end of the heatwave. Subseasonal variability due to weather systems affected the accuracy of predicting the event's duration and intensity.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Christine Ferrier-Pages, Miguel C. Leal, Ricardo Calado, Dominik W. Schmid, Frederic Bertucci, David Lecchini, Denis Allemand
Summary: This review discusses the impact of underwater noise on coral reef organisms, with a focus on how different factors influence the sensitivity of organisms to noise. It highlights the need for measures from governments, the shipping industry and individual users to address global noise emission on coral reefs and emphasizes the importance of policies and research in managing this issue.
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Esther Fischer, Graham Jones
Summary: Short-term stress experiments were conducted on the staghorn coral Acropora intermedia with dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) and tripolyphosphate (TPP) under low and elevated seawater temperatures. The study found that natural stresses and added substances at high temperatures had significant impacts on the coral's stress indicators.
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Andreas Dietzel, Sean R. Connolly, Terry P. Hughes, Michael Bode
Summary: This study found that recent mass coral bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef have larger and more continuous spatial footprints than previous bleaching events, posing an unprecedented threat to coral species resilience. In contrast to the impacts of a severe tropical cyclone, the bleaching events isolated severely affected reefs from the nearest mildly affected reefs by greater distances, highlighting the significant threat to coral species posed by the spatial footprint of these recent bleaching events.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jason E. Tanner, Joseph H. Connell
Summary: This study describes the benthic composition data from surveys conducted over 41 years at Heron reef, providing valuable insights into the changes in coral composition over time. It is the longest existing photographic record of coral cover, offering a temporal contrast to more recent studies.