scholarly journals Potential Enhanced Survivorship of Crown of Thorns Starfish Larvae due to Near-Annual Nutrient Enrichment during Secondary Outbreaks on the Central Mid-Shelf of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Diversity ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Brodie ◽  
Michelle Devlin ◽  
Stephen Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Nutrient Enrichment ◽  
Barrier Reef

scholarly journals Potential Enhanced Survivorship of Crown of Thorns Starfish Larvae due to Near-Annual Nutrient Enrichment during Secondary Outbreaks on the Central Mid-Shelf of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Brodie ◽  
Michelle Devlin ◽  
Stephen Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Nutrient Enrichment ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Coral Trout ◽  
Wet Tropics ◽  
Nutrient Discharge ◽  
Fourth Wave

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is currently experiencing widespread crown of thorns starfish (CoTS) outbreaks as part of the fourth wave of outbreaks since 1962. It is believed that outbreaks have become more frequent on the GBR and elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific associated with anthropogenic causes. The two widely accepted potential causes are (1) anthropogenic nutrient enrichment leading to increased biomass of phytoplankton, the food of the planktonic stage of larval CoTS; and (2) overfishing of predators on the juvenile to adult stages of CoTS, for example, commercial fished species such as coral trout. In this study, we show the evidence for the nutrient enrichment causation hypothesis is strong based on a large number of recent studies in the GBR. We also hypothesise that secondary outbreaks in the region between Cairns and Townsville can also be enhanced by nutrient enriched conditions associated with the annual nutrient discharge from Wet Tropics rivers.

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.

Circulation and water mass characteristics of the southern Great Barrier Reef

1994 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
JH Middleton ◽  
P Coutis ◽  
DA Griffin ◽  
A Macks ◽  
A McTaggart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Heat Loss ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Low Oxygen ◽  
Geostrophic Balance ◽  
Shelf Slope ◽  
High Nutrient ◽  
Slope Currents ◽  
North And South ◽  
Upper Slope

Data acquired during a winter (May) cruise of the RV Franklin to the southern Great Barrier Reef indicate that the dynamics of the shelf/slope region are governed by the tides, the poleward-flowing East Australian Current (EAC), and the complex topography. Over the Marion Plateau in water deeper than - 100 m, the EAC appears to drive a slow clockwise circulation. Tides appear to be primarily responsible for shelf/slope currents in the upper layers, with evidence of nutrient uplift from the upper slope to the outer shelf proper in the Capricorn Channel. Elsewhere, the bottom Ekrnan flux of the strongly poleward-flowing EAC enhances the sloping isotherms associated with the longshore geostrophic balance, pumping nutrient-rich waters from depth to the upper continental slope. Generally, shelf waters are cooler than oceanic waters as a consequence of surface heat loss by radiation. A combination of heat loss and evaporation from waters flowing in the shallows of the Great Sandy Strait appears to result in denser 'winter mangrove waters' exporting low-oxygen, high-nutrient waters onto the shelf both north and south of Fraser Island; these subsequently mix with shelf waters and finally flow offshore at - 100 m depth, just above the salinity-maximum layer, causing anomalous nutrient values in the region of Fraser Island.

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