Newly settled crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster cf. solaris, aka CoTS) have rarely been studied in the field. This knowledge gap in our understanding of CoTS population and outbreak dynamics has been my research focus for the past several years. My interest developed when I worked for two years on GBRMPA’s CoTS control program, where I taught […]
2019 Research Report
The Lizard Island Research Station’s 2019 Report is available here. It includes 2019 in review by resident Directors Lyle Vail & Anne Hoggett; Visitors in 2019: details of the 106 visiting researchers and their projects; Publications: Titles and citations for the 88 new scientific papers based on LI research that were added to the collection […]
2020 coral bleaching at Lizard Island
In early 2020, the Great Barrier Reef suffered its third major coral bleaching event in five years due to heat stress. At Lizard Island, bleaching first became noticeable in mid-February. February is normally “wet season”, with clouds and rain that keep the sea temperature down despite the tropical summer heat. But this year, the weather […]
Early detection of CoTS outbreaks
Early detection of population outbreaks in Crown of Thorns Starfish (Acanthaster solaris cf, aka CoTS) is a necessary precursor to containment. Excellent progress has been made over the past few years, especially in the deployment of DNA technology. The five research projects outlined below have been funded by The Ian Potter Foundation 50th Anniversary Commemorative […]
Impact of ocean acidification on fishes
Ph.D. student Kelly Hannan is undertaking research into the impact of ocean acidification on fishes under the supervision of Associate Professor Jodie Rummer (James Cook University). The fieldwork for her research has been supported by a Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation (LIRRF) doctoral fellowship. That support funded a field trip to the Lizard Island […]
Microplastics and DEHP in coral reef fish
Marine life is detrimentally affected by human pollution; including by plastic waste and greenhouse gas emissions that cause ocean warming. Thanks to a LIRRF Fellowship grant, I was recently able to undertake further research on these effects, yielding additional data and samples for the projects outlined below and in my March 2019 post. Microplastics are […]
Baby brooding corals: diversity and thermal tolerance
My research at Lizard Island sought to answer two questions: Are all larval corals (a.k.a. planulae) created equal, or do they vary depending on parental condition, species, location and time of birth? and Are corals born from parents that survived mass bleaching events more thermally tolerant? To answer these questions, I first had to […]
The changing song of the sea
For the last four years, I’ve been fortunate to carry out research on coral reef bioacoustics at Lizard Island. My most recent trip was funded by a LIRRF Ian Potter Doctoral Fellowship, awarded by the Australian Museum. Coral reefs are alive with sound; the crackle of snapping shrimp combines with the pops, grunts, whoops and […]
Mapping reef recovery at Lizard Island
Assoc. Prof Maria Dornelas (University of St Andrews, Scotland), Assoc. Prof Joshua Madin (University of Hawaii) and fellow collaborators have been making annual visits to LIRS since the early 2000s during which they monitored the changing ecology of coral reef communities. Their trips coincide with the annual coral spawning event. Their long-term and detailed data sets are […]
Corals and goby fishes showing signs of recovery at Lizard Island
Corals and goby fishes are slowly recovering, less than 3 years after the devastating climatic events that occurred at Lizard Island. While this is great news for Lizard Island, more recovery time is needed. The last 5 years have been rough for the reef, with two consecutive cyclones and two back-to-back mass bleaching events taking […]
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