scholarly journals Cumulative impacts across Australia’s Great Barrier Reef: a mechanistic evaluation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves‐Marie Bozec ◽  
Karlo Hock ◽  
Robert A. B. Mason ◽  
Mark E. Baird ◽  
Carolina Castro‐Sanguino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Cumulative Impacts

scholarly journals Large-scale interventions may delay decline of the Great Barrier Reef

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A. Condie ◽  
Kenneth R. N. Anthony ◽  
Russ C. Babcock ◽  
Mark E. Baird ◽  
Roger Beeden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Coral Cover ◽  
Solar Radiation Management ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Cumulative Impacts ◽  
Coral Rubble

On the iconic Great Barrier Reef (GBR), the cumulative impacts of tropical cyclones, marine heatwaves and regular outbreaks of coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS) have severely depleted coral cover. Climate change will further exacerbate this situation over the coming decades unless effective interventions are implemented. Evaluating the efficacy of alternative interventions in a complex system experiencing major cumulative impacts can only be achieved through a systems modelling approach. We have evaluated combinations of interventions using a coral reef meta-community model. The model consisted of a dynamic network of 3753 reefs supporting communities of corals and CoTS connected through ocean larval dispersal, and exposed to changing regimes of tropical cyclones, flood plumes, marine heatwaves and ocean acidification. Interventions included reducing flood plume impacts, expanding control of CoTS populations, stabilizing coral rubble, managing solar radiation and introducing heat-tolerant coral strains. Without intervention, all climate scenarios resulted in precipitous declines in GBR coral cover over the next 50 years. The most effective strategies in delaying decline were combinations that protected coral from both predation (CoTS control) and thermal stress (solar radiation management) deployed at large scale. Successful implementation could expand opportunities for climate action, natural adaptation and socioeconomic adjustment by at least one to two decades.

scholarly journals Coal, Cumulative Impacts, and the Great Barrier Reef

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 200-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Grech ◽  
R.L. Pressey ◽  
J.C. Day
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Cumulative Impacts

scholarly journals Cumulative impacts across Australia’s Great Barrier Reef: A mechanistic evaluation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves-Marie Bozec ◽  
Karlo Hock ◽  
Robert A. B. Mason ◽  
Mark E. Baird ◽  
Carolina Castro-Sanguino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Life History ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Multiple Stressors ◽  
Coral Cover ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Cumulative Impacts

ABSTRACTCumulative impacts assessments on marine ecosystems have been hindered by the difficulty of collecting environmental data and identifying drivers of community dynamics beyond local scales. On coral reefs, an additional challenge is to disentangle the relative influence of multiple drivers that operate at different stages of coral ontogeny. We integrated coral life history, population dynamics and spatially-explicit environmental drivers to assess the relative and cumulative impacts of multiple stressors across 2,300 km of the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Using literature data, we characterized relationships between coral life history processes (reproduction, larval dispersal, recruitment, growth and mortality) and environmental variables. We then simulated coral demographics and stressor impacts at the organism (coral colony) level on >3,800 individual reefs linked by larval connectivity, and exposed to temporally- and spatially-realistic regimes of acute (crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks, cyclones and mass coral bleaching) and chronic (water quality) stressors. Model simulations produced a credible reconstruction of recent (2008–2020) coral trajectories consistent with monitoring observations, while estimating the impacts of each stressor at reef and regional scales. Overall, corals declined by one third across the GBR, from an average ∼29% to ∼19% hard coral cover. By 2020, less than 20% of the GBR had coral cover higher than 30%. Global annual rates of coral mortality were driven by bleaching (48%) ahead of cyclones (41%) and starfish predation (11%). Beyond the reconstructed status and trends, the model enabled the emergence of complex interactions that compound the effects of multiple stressors while promoting a mechanistic understanding of coral cover dynamics. Drivers of coral cover growth were identified; notably, water quality (suspended sediments) was estimated to delay recovery for at least 25% of inshore reefs. Standardized rates of coral loss and recovery allowed the integration of all cumulative impacts to determine the equilibrium cover for each reef. This metric, combined with maps of impacts, recovery potential, water quality thresholds and reef state metrics, facilitates strategic spatial planning and resilience-based management across the GBR.

Physiographic investigations in Queensland with reference to the Great Barrier Reef

1928 ◽  
Vol s5-16 (91) ◽  
pp. 45-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. V. Stanley
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Barrier Reef

Management of Water Quality in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

1989 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Woodley
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Coral Reef ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Management Issue ◽  
Reef System ◽  
Marine Park ◽  
World Heritage List ◽  
The World ◽  
Coral Reef System

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world. It is recognised and appreciated worldwide as a unique environment and for this reason has been inscribed on the World Heritage List. The Reef is economically-important to Queensland and Australia, supporting substantial tourism and fishing industries. Management of the Great Barrier Reef to ensure conservation of its natural qualities in perpetuity is achieved through the establishment of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The maintenance of water quality to protect the reef and the industries which depend on it is becoming an increasingly important management issue requiring better knowledge and possibly new standards of treatment and discharge.

The Limits of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park: Defining Bays and Redefining Regulatory Control

2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald R Rothwell ◽  
Brad Jessup
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Regulatory Control ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Marine Park
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