Recent datasets

This project will investigate how coral communities along the Great Barrier Reef have historically responded to acute (e.g. cyclones) and chronic (e.g. water quality) disturbances using pioneering high-precision geological dating and palaeoecological techniques, combined with high-resolution geochemical analysis of coral records. This project will determine high resolution chronological records on different time scales over the past 1-2 millennia of parameters such as: 1. Sea-level based on high-precision dating and elevation survey of well-preserved microatolls;

Pesticides, and particularly herbicides from agricultural sources, have been detected in nearshore sites of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) all year round. The actual impact from these concentrations of herbicides is under debate and information on cumulative impacts is required. To address this, a series of experiments will examine how plants and corals are affected by herbicides in the water in conjunction with other stressors such as temperature, low salinity and low light. An important source of herbicides in coastal waters is flood plumes from river runoff.

The rezoning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) in 2004 increased the number and extent of ‘no-take’ areas within the Park. This project surveys pairs of reefs, one in a ‘no-take’ or green zone and the other a similar reef where fishing is allowed (blue zone), in five regions of the GBRMP. Green and blue zones will be surveyed for the abundance and size of fishery species, particularly coral trout, as well as wider effects on coral reef communities. The results of reef surveys will be used to:

This project uses genetic parentage analysis, biophysical modelling and information on coral trout larval behaviour to determine patterns of recruitment of coral trout larvae within and among inshore and offshore reefs in the southern Great Barrier Reef. The overall goal of this project will be to assess larval dispersal patterns, demographic connectivity and levels of recruitment subsidies from green zones at a regional scale. Tasks include:

This dataset consists of site means of the density of derelict fishing line, the percent cover of major benthic categories on fringing coral reefs of the Keppel, Whitsunday and Palm Island groups, and the accumulation rate of fishing line

The data consists of ten minute readings of above water meteorological parameters (wind speed, wind direction, barometric pressure, air temperature and humidity) from a Vaisala WTX520 instrument, above water light as Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) from a Li-COR Li-192

The Reef Check Australia monitoring program acts as an early warning system for coral community health. Annual surveys provide long-term data that can reveal patterns over time.

Sharks play an important role in marine ecosystems but are facing increasing pressure from fishing and other anthropogenic factors. Along the Queensland coast inshore waters play an important role as nursery areas for sharks. However, the same inshore waters are also most prone to fisheries exploitation and effects of freshwater discharge from coastal streams and rivers. This project will examine the importance of different types of inshore habitat (protected bay vs.

Overall the key objectives of this program are to: 1. Identify and map the principal foraging locations for shearwaters and boobies breeding at the most important colonies of the GBR, both within and between breeding seasons, using a combination of different Geolocation, GPS and Satellite PTT data loggers; 2. Obtain detailed information on the biophysical oceanographic characteristics of these foraging habitats in both the GBR and Coral Sea regions using a range of biophysical parameters derived from satellite and in situ data;