Download - ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies

Program 1Evolutionary andenvironmental changeResearchersMalcolm McCulloch (ProgramLeader)Roger BradburySean ConnollyOve Hoegh-GuldbergTerry Hughes (Research Fellow)Stacey Jupiter (Research Fellow)Michael KingsfordJanice LoughPippa Moore (Research Fellow)John PandolfiRobert SteneckKnowledge of the past improves ourability to predict future infl uences ofnatural environmental variability, humanimpacts, and climate change on coralreefs. Centre researchers use fossiland historical records to develop novelmethods to identify potential causesof global change in biodiversity andecosystem function. Together withecological studies, this broad array ofwork provides a unique perspectiveon community change that rangesfrom centuries to millennia. Two newPostdoctoral Fellows were recruited toProgram 1 in 2006 - Stacy Jupiter fromthe USA, and Pippa Moore from the UK.Program 1 is documenting the ecologicaleffects of climate change duringthe Quaternary interval, in order tounderstand how regional diversitypatterns respond to climate change.Researchers from the UQ and ANUnodes, led by John Pandolfi and MalcolmMcCulloch have focussed on the upliftedHolocene reefs of the Huon Peninsula,Papua New Guinea. Similar studiesare also underway along a latitudinalgradient on Western Australian coralreefs. In WA, Malcolm McCulloch isutilizing the 5-6m higher sea-levelsassociated with warmer conditions ofthe Last Interglacial period to provide abenchmark for understanding future risesin sea level. In another project, Pandolfiand colleagues have found persistencein coral community structure from raisedreef terraces of Barbados through a115 ka interval. These studies showhow analysis of ecological patterns infossil coral reefs can provide estimatesof the natural variability of coral reefcommunities in the absence of humaninteractions.In February, the ARC Centre held aworkshop in Townsville to plan a researchstrand on the issue of shifting baselines,focusing in particular on the social,economic and environmental history ofthe Great Barrier Reef and its catchment.This is a joint Program 1 and 5 set ofprojects, involving all nodes of the ARCCentre.This year, Program 1 and 2 launched anew multi-disciplinary, multi-nationalcollaboration to study the origins andevolutionary development of the shallowmarine biota of the Indo-Pacifi c regionover the last fi fty million years. Ledby John Pandolfi and David Bellwood,the project currently comprises topresearchers from Australia, Europe andSoutheast Asia, involving universities,museums, oil companies and privateconsultants. These specialists aretackling a range of geological andecological issues around a central themeof the plate tectonic development of S.EAsia, the stratigraphic response, and theaffect this has on coral reef, sea-grass,and mangrove biota. The initial focusof the group is to compile and interpretfaunal turnover data to investigatethe Indo-Pacifi c longitudinal diversitygradient. The Centre sponsored an initialmeeting of the group in Leiden, theNetherlands, in December.Research on water quality commencedin 2006 in Princess Charlotte Bay, inthe northern GBR, a new collaborationbetween the ARC Centre and theAustralian Institute of Marine Science.The principal researchers involved areMalcolm McCulloch, Stacy Jupiter,Janice Lough and Katarina Fabricius. Aseries of coral cores have been collectedfrom reefs offshore from the mouthsof the Normanby and Kennedy Riverswhich drain into the bay. These coreswill provide a continuous 100-200 yeargeochemical record of changes in waterquality along an inshore to outer reefgradient. Preliminary observationsalready suggest that previous perceptionsregarding the relatively pristine nature ofthe region may have been ill-founded.Community participation in Program 1and 4 in 2006 is exemplified by ongoingresearch addressing long-term changes inwater quality in the Mackay-Whitsundayregion of the central Great BarrierReef. This project, involving ProfessorsHoegh-Guldberg (UQ) and McCulloch(ANU), PhD student Guy Marion, andresearch fellow Stacy Jupiter, hasdemonstrated the strong connectivitybetween coral reefs and the adjacentPioneer River catchment and estuariesbordering the reef. The project isreceiving considerable support by theMackay Council, the Mackay-WhitsundayNatural Resource Management Groupand GBRMPA, but also notably thewider Mackay community. The ARCCentre continues to provide advice to theMackay City Council, which has a veryactive program in improving water qualityvia improvements in storm-water outletsand fl ood mitigation.14