Australasia Reef and Research Information

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NOAA bolsters satellite warning network
10 October 2008: A satellite alert system that warns reef managers when there is an elevated risk of coral bleaching has been expanded by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. NOAA's Coral Reef Watch has expanded its network of 'virtual stations' monitoring ocean temperatures from 24 to 190 locations worldwide. [Read media release]

Light and Photosynthesis on Coral Reefs
An intensive postgraduate course on coral reef photobiology
19 January - 7 February 2009,
Puerto Morelos, Mexico.
[ PDF ]

Moving to better climes
23 July 2008: In the latest edition of the scientific journal Science, University of Queensland researchers, including the Chair of the CRTR Program's Centre of Excellence in Australasia, Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, argue we need to consider the radical step of moving plants and animals, including marine life, to help them survive the impact of climate change. [Read summary]

Ultimate guide to managing coral disease
8 July 2008: The definitive management guide - handbook plus id cards for Caribbean and Indo-Pacific regions - to identifying, assessing and managing coral reef diseases was launched at the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS) and can be ordered online now.
[Read media release] [Read summaries] [Order online]

Top award for CRTR researcher
21 May 2008: CRTR Program researcher, Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, has been awarded the Queensland Government’s top science award. Chair of the CRTR Bleaching Working Group, and also of its Australasian Centre of Excellence, Professor Hoegh-Guldberg was one of the world's first scientists to show how projected changes in global climate threaten coral reefs including Australia's Great Barrier Reef......
[Read UQ News]

Indian Ocean coral shows partial recovery
15 May 2008: An unusual spike in sea temperatures a decade ago killed coral throughout the Indian Ocean, dropping the average healthy, hard coral cover to 15 percent of reefs from 40 percent before. CRTR researcher, Dr Tim McClanahan, said hard coral cover had recovered to 30 percent by 2005, although the data masked big variations.....
[Read Reuters Africa article]

Strange days on planet earth
5 May 2008: The award winning National Geographic program Strange Days on Planet Earth recently premiered Episode 6 (Dirty Secrets). This features the CRTR Program’s Roberto Iglesias-Prieto and his colleagues in the Caribbean who are “studying how CO2, one of our largest industrial waste products, is impacting coral reefs”.
[Read article]

Local area description

Heron Island is a 16 hectare, densely forested sand cay, on the leeward edge of a flourishing platform of coral reef. Bisected by the Tropic of Capricorn, Heron reef is home to around 900 of the 1500 species of fish and around 72 percent of the coral species found in the Great Barrier Reef.

Established in the early 1950s. HIRS has become Australia’s largest, best-equipped and most productive university-owned marine research station and is an international facility for coral reef research and student training in marine sciences.

Built on a lease of two hectares from Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Heron Island is about 800 metres long and 300 metres wide at its maximum.

The research station can cater for up to one hundred researchers and students and is operated by a permanent staff of eleven. In 2002, it hosted over 2000 researchers and students, with researchers and education groups from 20 nations using the station. Station users came from Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Scotland and the United States of America.

In 2002 it hosted the second major CRTR Program collaborative workshop and planning meeting.

Activities

Covering the Australasian/South Pacific area, the Australasian COE provides facilities and expertise for those working groups undertaking research in the area. The COE is also developing resources for the region - during Phase One it will develop a strategy to engage and enhance existing local networks.

The Australasian COE is supported by an advisory panel, which includes key research institutes and management organizations. Working closely with these agencies, the COE is identifying ways to connect disparate reef system managers and researchers with each other and to disseminate their research results.

The COE’s secondary role is to develop new reef researchers by seeking in-kind and funding support from local agencies and international organizations. The COE conducts specialized activities for young researchers, enabling them to access the extensive resources of the Great Barrier Reef to improve their knowledge and skills in reef research and management.

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