Coral Reef Targeted Research

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Science meets policy
3 April 2008: Keeping the Great Barrier Reef alive is one of the greatest environmental and social challenges faced by Australia today. Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg (Chair of the CRTR Program’s Bleaching Working Group) recently presented Australia’s political leaders with the latest research on the impact of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef. Hear Professor Hoegh-Guldberg outline scientists' concerns at the threats facing this international icon.
[View PowerPoint presentation] [Hear Audio (MP3)]

Impact of human activity on oceans
3 March 2008: Only about 4% of the world's oceans remain undamaged by human activity, according to the first detailed global map of human impacts on the seas. A study in Science journal says climate change, fishing, pollution and other human factors have exacted a heavy toll on almost half of the marine waters.
[View video] [Read BBC News] [Hear press conference]

Filipino students call for action
7 February 2008: Students attending the recent Future Leaders Forum at the University of Queensland have added their voice to the call for urgent action to address the impact of climate change on coral reefs and their ecosystems.
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International Year of the Reef 2008
29 December 2007: The ICRI International Year of the Reef 2008 is a worldwide campaign to raise awreness about the value and importance of coral reefs and the threats to their sustainability, and to motivate people to take action to protect them.
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The Coral Reef Targeted Research and Capacity Building for Management (CRTR) Program is a leading international coral reef research initiative that provides a coordinated approach to credible, factual and scientifically-proven knowledge for improved coral reef management.

Coral reefs are the largest living structures on earth and the richest repositories of marine biodiversity. Coral reefs are also important economic assets for almost 100 countries around the world, however nearly two thirds of the world’s reefs are under severe threat from impacts such as economic development and climate change.

The CRTR Program is a proactive research and capacity building partnership that aims to lay the foundation in filling crucial knowledge gaps in the core research areas of Coral Bleaching, Connectivity, Coral Diseases, Coral Restoration and Remediation, Remote Sensing and Modelling and Decision Support

Each of these research themes is facilitated by Working Groups underpinned by the skills of many of the world’s leading coral reef researchers. The CRTR Program also supports four Centres of Excellence in priority regions, serving as important regional centres for building confidence and skills in research, training and capacity building.

Carbon crisis: time for action
Seventeen leading marine scientists from the CRTR Program review the likely impact of climate change on the oceans' coral reefs. The paper also spells out steps that must be taken to address this issue.
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ReefVid
A resource of free coral reef video clips for educational use. Individual permission is required from to use clips for commercial purposes
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Restoring Coral Reefs - what works, what doesn't
New guidelines from the CRTR Program provide coastal managers, decision-makers, technical advisors and others with an overview of research exploring successful and unsuccessful coral reef restoration approaches from around the world. French edition now available. Read more >

CRTR Program Brochure

CRTR Program brochure available
This CRTR Program brochure details the genesis of the program, the current research being undertaken and the networks being established. The CRTR Program provides a coordinated approach to credible, factual and scientifically proven knowledge for improved coral reef management. Read more >

Marine population connectivity
Theoretically, population connectivity should contribute to the resilience of reefs. However, modeling has been hindered by a lack of empirical data and knowledge of the processes controlling population connectivity in reef ecosystems. A special issue of Oceanography features two papers, including a review, co-authored by members of the CRTR Program’s Connectivity Working Group.
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Coral bleaching
A study in marine parks in Kenya that has measured the size of more than 21,000 corals over a 14-year period found that corals are growing smaller and these changes are associated with coral bleaching events and fishing.
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Oceanography feature article, March 2007

Coral disease
Destructive infectious diseases are contributing to the decline of many coral reef ecosystems. Monitoring has revealed new coral-disease syndromes at each of the CRTR Centres of Excellence, with particularly drastic loss of coral on the Yucantan Peninsula in the Caribbean. Data collected in this program is being used to test specific hypotheses about how climate change and anthropogenic factors threaten coral reefs.
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