Hydrodynamics and larval dispersal: a population model of Acanthaster planci on the Great Barrier Reef

1992 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 583 ◽  
Author(s):  
JP Scandol ◽  
MK James
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Larval Transport ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Acanthaster Planci ◽  
Dispersal Patterns ◽  
Transport Models ◽  
Southward Shift ◽  
Scale Population ◽  
Flow Through

This paper presents results of a modelling study of the large-scale population dynamics of Acanthaster planci in the central Great Barrier Reef. Dispersal patterns generated by larval transport models are used to drive the simulation. Population flow through the reef matrix during outbreaks is simulated by using an elementary representation of the starfish life cycle. Features of the results include the following: (I) Population patterns generated by the model are consistent with observations of starfish outbreaks. (2) The overall impact of starfish populations undergoing an outbreak on the reef system decreases with a southward shift in the location of initial outbreaks. (3) Within the central Great Barrier Reef, outbreak populations of starfish generally occur more frequently on the inner- and central-matrix reefs than on the outer-matrix reefs.

Larval dispersal simulations: correlation with the crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks database

1992 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 569 ◽  
Author(s):  
MK James ◽  
JP Scandol
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Larval Dispersal ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Strong Positive Correlation ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Central Hypothesis ◽  
Scale Population

The work reported in this paper is a further development of results from a research programme whose principal objective is to achieve an understanding of the large-scale population dynamics of Acanthaster planci. The research is based on the development and use of numerical models of hydrodynamics and resulting larval dispersal throughout a large portion of the Great Barrier Reef. It is chiefly concerned with the large-scale statistical patterns of larval dispersal, the central hypothesis being that passive hydrodynamic dispersal plays an important role in the recruitment process. The present aim is to examine more closely than has been done before the consistencies between the modelling results and the database of recorded observations of crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks. Reefs in the Cairns and Central Sections of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park that were recorded as carrying active outbreaks during the period 1979-89 were used as sources in a programme of intensive simulations of Acanthaster larval dispersal under forcing by the wind, tidal action and the East Australian Current. The resulting broad-scale patterns of larval dispersal were found to be in strong qualitative agreement with the observed spatial and temporal distribution of adult Acanthaster populations. Statistical analysis of the results revealed a strong positive correlation between potential recruitment on surveyed reefs, as estimated by the dispersal simulations, and the observed presence of outbreak populations on those reefs. The correlation was particularly strong when different cross-shelf zones were considered separately.

Distribution of Acanthaster planci outbreaks on the Great Barrier Reef between 1966 and 1989

Coral Reefs ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Reichelt ◽  
R. H. Bradbury ◽  
P. J. Moran
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Acanthaster Planci
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