The double burden of climate change
A new study on the effects of climate change in five tropical countries has found fisheries are in more trouble than agriculture, and poor people are in the most danger. Distinguished Profess
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University Townsville
Queensland 4811 Australia
Phone: 61 7 4781 4000
Email: info@coralcoe.org.au
Kirsty grew up in England completing a BSc (Hons) in Oceanography with Marine Biology at the University of Southampton. She came to Australia to do a Master of Applied Science at James Cook University, before teaching field skills and reef monitoring in the Seychelles, and running Oceanography courses for a school ship in the Caribbean. On returning to Australia, she completed a Masters of Education through Charles Sturt University and started working at the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at JCU as a research assistant. She began her PhD in February.
The resilience of a complex ecosystem may be attributed to its capacity to adapt to changing conditions whilst maintaining core processes. However, the degree of resilience within a system is not a tangible, directly measurable entity; reduced resilience is often only made clear when thresholds are reached and the system moves into an alternate state. Operationalising resilience into a quantitative measure or set of measures is therefore critical for coral reef managers to anticipate and adapt to change before shifts occur. Fish function has been identified as critical for supporting resilience of reefs within a coral dominated state. However, research to date suggests that simple measures, such as biomass of functional groups, are not directly related to ecosystem impact due to spatial and ontogenetic changes in function. For evaluation of fish function to be a useful in operationalising resilience there is a need to move to a multi-scale approach, where the role of species within the spatial patchiness of the landscape is considered. My research aims to address this need by (1) Characterising the spatially explicit functional role of reef fish; (2) Evaluating the interaction of fish with coral reef structure across spatial scales; and (3) Using this information to evaluate the effectiveness of cross-scale diversity of function in fish as an indicator of resilience in coral reef ecosystems. The research outcomes will provide fundamental understanding of the spatial scales at which fish interact with their environment and perform functions critical to coral reef condition. This will aid management by identifying the scales at which action is needed to support resilience.
A new study on the effects of climate change in five tropical countries has found fisheries are in more trouble than agriculture, and poor people are in the most danger. Distinguished Profess
James Cook University researchers have found brightly coloured fish are becoming increasingly rare as coral declines, with the phenomenon likely to get worse in the future. Christopher Hemingson, a
Researchers working with stakeholders in the Great Barrier Reef region have come up with ideas on how groups responsible for looking after the reef can operate more effectively when the next bleaching
A new study has delivered a stark warning about the impacts of urban growth on the world’s coral reefs. As coastal developments expand at pace around the world, a year-long study of coral on a reef
Abstract: Evolution of many eukaryotic organisms is affected by interactions with microbes. Microbial symbioses can ultimately reflect host’s diet, habitat range, and even body shape. However, how
Abstract: The past few years have seen unprecedented coral bleaching and mortality on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) but the consequences of this on biodiversity are not yet known. This talk will expl
Abstract: Molecular approaches have revolutionised our understanding of the systematics and evolution of most branches on the tree of life, including corals. Over the last twenty-five years molecula
Abstract: Outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) are a major driver of coral decline across the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and compound upon the impacts of increasingly frequent and severe coral
Abstract: Being a new staff member at JCU, I will start with a short overview of my research. Next I will zoom in on a specific topic that I have been interested in for a long time: the impact of e
Abstract: The harsh truth is that, despite exciting innovations and increases in activity, ocean conservation is not succeeding, at least not fast enough. This is my conclusion from the last decad
This talk is the last of the parachute science seminar series organized by the ARC CoE Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) committee. Abstract Universities and institutions across th
This talk is the second of three on parachute science being organized by the ARC CoE Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) committee. Abstract For millenia, Traditional Owners have hel
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University Townsville
Queensland 4811 Australia
Phone: 61 7 4781 4000
Email: info@coralcoe.org.au