Articles

In 2013 and 2014 AIMS undertook a biodiversity survey of coral and fish species on the reefs around 5 islands in Torres Strait. This article shows the coral photo collection that was taken for species identification.

During trips to Torres Strait in collaboration with TSRA in 2013 and 2014 coral skeletons were collected under a permit issued by the Commonwealth of Australia under the Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1998.

The Torres Strait marine environment contains a relatively shallow (<20m) and highly productive stretch of seawater between the tip of Queensland and Papua New Guinea. It straddles the juncture of the Indian Ocean (Arafura sea) with the Pacific Ocean (Coral Sea), resulting in complex patterns of influence from the two ocean systems, including complicated tides and currents, and high biodiversity. Torres Strait contains over 100 islands, and a diversity of marine habitats including coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and rich benthic garden communities.

This milestone report presents a catalogue of information for the most significant and updated data sets, metadata and map compositions for the Torres Strait region, which may be suitable for inclusion in the Torres Strait eAtlas.

This report provides a synthesis of research on climate change and coastal science in the Torres Strait, and has been produced for the Australian Government’s Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility (MTSRF). It identifies and summarises work to date on reef evolution, hydrodynamics and sedimentary environments throughout the Torres Strait. It describes the island dynamics at Boigu, Saibai, Masig, Poruma, Warraber and Iama Islands.

Researchers funded through the Australian Government’s Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility (MTSRF) have worked closely with Torres Strait communities to improve our understanding of both the vulnerability of Torres Strait islands to climate change, and their adaptation capacity.

Proceedings of the Torres Strait Baseline Study Conference edited by David Lawrence and Tim Cansfield-Smith

As part of Torres Strait Baseline study a conference was run on the physical, biological and human environments of the Torres Strait region. The full proceedings of this conference are from the GBRMPA Workshop Series 16.