[Coral-List] Potential bleaching in Australia

Hughes, Terry terry.hughes at jcu.edu.au
Wed Jan 6 04:39:06 EST 2016


Dear Coral-list,

The Australian coral reef research community has established a National Coral Bleaching Taskforce, in anticipation of a potential bleaching event later this Austral summer. Projections by the Austrian Bureau of Meteorology and by NOAA suggest that bleaching could occur in March, although there is much uncertainty (and we hope it doesn't eventuate).

The purpose of the informal taskforce is to foster collaborative research on bleaching and to coordinate the efforts of over 300 researchers. The geographic scope is Australia wide, including tropical and sub-tropical reefs on the east and west coast. If bleaching occurs in 2-3 months' time, we will combine our efforts and resources to learn as much as we can from it.

Part of our planning includes an ongoing inventory of all of the existing data we collectively have from many locations, especially information on two earlier mass-bleaching events in 1998 and 2002.


Members of Taskforce (and associated organisations):

Terry Hughes (ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies; James Cook University)
Russ Babcock (CSIRO)
Maria Byrne (University of Sydney)
James Gilmour (AIMS Perth)
Scott Heron (NOAA, Townsville)
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg (ARC Centre, University of Queensland)
Janice Lough (AIMS Townsville)
Ryan Lowe (ARC Centre; University of Western Australia)
John Pandolfi (ARC Centre; University of Queensland)
David Wachenfeld (GBRMPA)
Shaun Wilson (DPaW)
James Kerry (ARC Centre; Project Manager)

If bleaching does occur, we will provide further updates. If you'd like to be involved please contact us.

Cheers, Terry


Professor Terry Hughes FAA
ARC Laureate Fellow
Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811
Australia

Link to Terry Hughes Google Scholar profile<http://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=MhJ2LfsAAAAJ>

Email: terry.hughes at jcu.edu.au<mailto:terry.hughes at jcu.edu.au>
Phone: 61 (0)7 4781 4000
Website: http://www.coralcoe.org.au/postdocs/terry-hughes


ABC TV Future Forum: Can coral reefs survive the 21st century (60 minutes)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-01/can-coral-reefs-survive-the-21st-century/4121444

ABC TV (Catalyst): Future response of the Great Barrier Reef to climate change (8 minutes)
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3576802.htm




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