Mar 28, 2021 | COTS, Grants
Crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster cf. solaris, are natural inhabitants of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS) are common coral eating starfish which grow up to 80 cm across, eat 10 square metres of coral a year and can produce up to 50... 
Mar 26, 2021 | Fellowships, Research
Following a COVID enforced delay, Dr Stephanie Gardner heads to LIRS in late March to spend two weeks, supported by two PhD candidate assistants, researching the characteristics of turf algae in the region. Lizard Island represents the northerly most point of her... 
Mar 19, 2021 | Plastic pollution, Research
The impact of plastic in our oceans is a growing threat to the marine ecosystem and a new study conducted at LIRS is helping to understand the magnitude of the problem associated with microplastics – those plastics that are <5mm. The aim of the project is to... 
Mar 15, 2021 | Global change, Research
Coral reefs are in global decline through the combined effects of climate change and anthropogenic stressors. This has resulted in a decrease in coral cover, shifts in coral composition and the spatial arrangement of coral habitats. Such habitat degradation can have... 
Dec 21, 2020 | Plastic pollution, Research
Human activity has caused plastics to contaminate marine ecosystems around the world. Plastic materials can remain in the marine environment for decades and break down into smaller pieces such as microplastics (i.e. plastics <5 mm). Contamination by microplastics... 
Sep 25, 2020 | COTS, eDNA, Grants, Research
Mitigating the devastating effects of coral eating Crown of Thorns Starfish (Acanthaster cf. solaris, aka CoTS) has been the focus of 21 LIRS based projects over the past 5 years. This extensive and collective research has been funded by the generous $500,000 grants...