DNA reveals the past and future of coral reefs
New DNA techniques are being used to understand how coral reacted to the end of the last ice age in order to better predict how they will cope with current changes to the climate. James Cook Univer
From 2005 to 2022, the main node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies was headquartered at James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland (Australia)
The immense and opaque Planet Ocean supports one of the largest and poorest known species pools on Earth. The decade long Census of Marine Life program banded together a global network of over 2600 scientists from 80+ nations around the world, who engaged in over 500 research cruises across jurisdictional and disciplinary boundaries to learn what lives in the ocean, what lived in the ocean, and what will live in the future ocean. Census scientists discovered over 1500 new species and counting, scattered from the intertidal to the deep ocean and spanning microbes to fishes, but more importantly advanced our understanding of distribution, diversity and abundance of global ocean life. This novel collaboration utilized technologies from DNA barcoding that provides definitive identifications of even cryptic species, to sonar techniques that rapidly image schools of fish the size of Manhattan, to electronic tags on animals that log oceanographic data from remote regions, tell us where animals move, and show us how they see the ocean. The amalgamation of over 28 million+ data records from thousands of year ago to recent efforts encompasses all ocean habitats and shows blind spots in our taxonomic and biogeographic knowledge. We now know much more about what lives in the oceans, where they live, and why they live there. Importantly, we are better positioned to place this knowledge in the context of what has been lost, what we stand to lose, and in identifying priorities for marine biodiversity research by linking ongoing national programs and emerging opportunities in a proposed initiative on Life in a Changing Ocean.
New DNA techniques are being used to understand how coral reacted to the end of the last ice age in order to better predict how they will cope with current changes to the climate. James Cook Univer
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
Abstract: As marine species adapt to climate change, their heat tolerance will likely be under strong selection. Individual variation in heat tolerance and its heritability underpin the potential fo
Abstract: The Reef Ecology Lab in KAUST’s Red Sea Research Center explores many aspects of movement ecology of marine organisms, ranging from adult migrations to intergenerational larval dispersal
Abstract: Macroalgal meadows are a prominent, yet often maligned component of the tropical seascape. Our work at Ningaloo reef in WA demonstrate that canopy forming macroalgae provide habitat for ad
Abstract: Sharks are generally perceived as strong and fearsome animals. With fossils dating back at least 420 million years, sharks are not only majestic top predators but they also outlived dinosa
Abstract: Connectivity plays a vital role in many ecosystems through its effects on fundamental ecological and evolutionary processes. Its consequences for populations and metapopulations have been
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
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