Future too warm for baby sharks
New research has found as climate change causes the world’s oceans to warm, baby sharks are born smaller, exhausted, undernourished and into environments that are already difficult for them to survi
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
Program Leaders: A/Prof Maja Adamska, A/Prof Mia Hoogenboom and Professor Ryan Lowe
The responses of people, other organisms and biological processes to rapidly changing local and global environments are key issues for the sustainability of coral reefs and the ecosystem services they provide to societies and economies.
This program focuses on new research that will advance the fundamental understanding of the key processes underpinning reef resilience, and will deliver vital information and understanding for Program 1 and Program 2.
The results of this research will generate critical new insights into the challenges that coral reef ecosystems and societies face in a rapidly changing world.
Dynamics of Coral Associations in Changing Environments – Explores the capacity of coral reefs to respond to both local and global drivers and stressors.
Integrity of Carbonate Reef Frameworks – Focuses on the key coral reef processes of calcification, decalcification and bioerosion critical to understanding the potential impact of changing global conditions, particularly ocean warming, acidification and declining water quality.
Adapting to a Challenging Future – Explores the mechanisms by which organisms respond to environmental change, and provide new information necessary to construct predictive models of future ecosystems.
Maja Adamska
Associate Professor, ARC Future Fellow and Program 3 leader
Australian National University
Mia Hoogenboom
Chief Investigator, A/Prof and Program 3 Leader
James Cook University
Ryan Lowe
Professor, Chief Investigator and Program 3 Leader
University of Western Australia
Andrew Baird
Professorial Research Fellow and Chief Investigator
James Cook University
Peter Cowman
Senior Research Fellow in Ecosystem Dynamics
James Cook University
Jennifer Donelson
Senior Research Fellow - ARC Future Fellow
James Cook University, Townsville
Rebecca Green
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Perth, Western Australia
Hugo B. Harrison
ARC and AIMS Joint Research Fellow
James Cook University
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
Professor, Deputy Director, and Chief Investigator
University of Queensland
Mike Kingsford
Professor and Chief Investigator
James Cook University
Janice Lough
Senior Principal Research Scientist
Australian Institute of Marine Science
Malcolm McCulloch
Professor, Deputy Director, and Chief Investigator
The University of Western Australia
David J. Miller
Professor and Chief Investigator
James Cook University
Philip Munday
Professor & Chief Investigator
James Cook University
Natalia Andrade Rodríguez
Research Associate
James Cook University, Townsville
Jodie Rummer
Associate Professor and Principal Research Fellow
James Cook University
Greg Torda
Senior Research Fellow (DECRA)
James Cook University
Sue-Ann Watson
Senior Research Fellow
James Cook University
Members of this program work across a range of themes (see introduction). Some are also part of individual research groups (below).
Coral Reef Biogeochemical Laboratories, led by Malcolm McCulloch
The group based at the University of Western Australia focusses on understanding the effects of climate change and ocean acidification on coral bio-calcification in both shallow-water as well deep-sea reef environments. Research areas include the application and/or development of novel coral-based geochemical proxies including in-situ laser ablation, isotopic and trace-element methods to track the impact of global warming, declining seawater pH across a spectrum of environments (tropical to sub-tropical, shallow water to deep-sea) over different timescales. This is complemented by mesocosm, field studies and modelling of reef environments designed to understand and predict how changing physical/chemical/biological conditions and other environmental variability (e.g. thermal induced stress and land-based interactions such as river runoff) influence coral reef ecosystems.
Coral Reef Ecology Lab, led by Andrew Baird, Andrew Hoey, and Morgan Pratchett
Coral reef ecosystems are ecologically and economically important, but are also being rapidly degraded throughout the world. Pratchett, Hoey and Baird work together (along with a large group of graduate students and early career researchers) to explore the dynamics of reef organisms and interactions among key components of reef ecosystems. This research is fundamental to developing effective management strategies to halt and reverse global degradation of reef ecosystems.
Coral Reef Ecosystems Laboratory, led by Ove Hoegh-Guldberg and Sophie Dove
The Coral Reef Ecosystem (CRE) Laboratory includes a number of Post-docs, PhD students and professional staff. The lab is interested in examining the organisms and processes that underlie the structure and function of coral reef ecosystems. Current projects investigate the effects of climate change at both the reef community and species levels, through a large climate controlled water treatment system on Heron Island. Other projects examine reef metabolism, health, biodiversity, connectivity and species interactions, through the use of surveys, in situ environment and organism measurements and photographs from the Catlin Seaview Survey.
Reef fish ecology and climate change, led by Philip Munday
Professor Munday has broad interests in the population, community and behavioural ecology of reef fishes. His research group focuses on understanding and predicting the impacts that climate change and ocean acidification will have on populations and communities of marine fishes, both directly through changes in the physical environment and indirectly through effects on coral reef habitat. Using a range of laboratory and field experiments he is investigating the effects of climate change and ocean acidification on reef fish populations and testing their capacity for acclimation and adaptation to a rapidly changing environment. A major research focus is understanding how exposure to higher temperatures and carbon dioxide levels in one generation affects the ability of subsequent generations of fish to tolerate these conditions (transgenerational acclimation).
Ecological and Conservation Physiology of Fishes (Rummer Lab), led by Jodie Rummer
With over 400 million years of evolution, the fishes represent one of the most successful adaptive radiation events in vertebrate history. Yet, we do not fully understand how fish are responding to environmental and human-induced stress and their capacity to adapt to global climate change. The physiological changes that fish make in response to stress in order to maintain performance and the significance of these changes to over daily, seasonal, geographic, developmental, and generational scales is the focus the research in the Rummer Lab.
Physioshark Project led by Jodie Rummer
The Physioshark project, led by Dr. Jodie Rummer from James Cook University in Australia, investigates how climate change impacts the physiology of newborn and juvenile reef sharks. Sharks that are born today represent adult shark populations of the future. Understanding how human and environmental impacts affect these sharks is crucial knowledge for developing effective shark conservation strategies.
New research has found as climate change causes the world’s oceans to warm, baby sharks are born smaller, exhausted, undernourished and into environments that are already difficult for them to survi
A new study shows the coastal protection coral reefs currently provide will start eroding by the end of the century, as the world continues to warm and the oceans acidify. A team of researchers led
A team of scientists led by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) won one of the nation’s top science awards at tonight’s ‘Oscars of Australian science’, the Eureka P
An analytical tool will be used to assess the climate risks facing historic World Heritage sites in Africa—the ruins of two great 13th century ports and the remains of a palace and iron-making indus
Abstract: It is a little over a decade since research commenced into the effects of anthropogenic ocean acidification on marine fishes. In that time, we have learned that projected end-of-century
Abstract: Increased uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere has caused the world’s ocean to become more acidic. Different marine habitats are known to have varying ranges of CO2 across mul
Abstract: The Allen Coral Atlas (http://allencoralatlas.org) partnership uses high-resolution satellite imagery, machine learning, and field data to map and monitor the world’s coral reefs at unp
Abstract: Climate change is causing the average surface temperature of the oceans to rise and increasing the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves. In addition, absorption of additional CO2
Abstract: Marine environments are a concealing medium, where observations of natural fish behavior are challenging. In particular, the geographic and depth distributions of migratory top predators ar
Abstract: Invasive species management can be the the subject of debate in many countries due to conflicting ecological, ethical, economic, and social reasons, especially when dealing with a species s
Abstract: Ocean acidification, the increase in seawater CO2 with all its associated consequences, is relatively well understood in open oceans. In shelf seas such as the Great Barrier Reef, processe
Abstract: The backdrop of legends and movies, the deep sea has always been unfathomable because we had no idea what existed there. Once thought to be barren of life, we now know this couldn’t be
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