The Great Barrier Reef, by Isobel Bennett. Warne, £5.95.

Broadcast Spawning by Pocillopora Species on the Great Barrier Reef

The coral genus Pocillopora is one of the few to include some species that broadcast spawn gametes and some species that brood larvae, although reports of reproductive mode and timing vary within and among species across their range. Notably, the ubiquitous Pocillopora damicornis has been described as both a brooder and spawner, although evidence of broadcast spawning is rare. Here, we report o...

GREAT NEWS FOR THE GREAT BARRIER REEF: TULLY RIVER WATER QUALITY by Robert M. Carter GREAT NEWS FOR THE GREAT BARRIER REEF: TULLY RIVER WATER QUALITY

A prerequisite for meaningful environmental legislation is that it be based upon an adequate scientific understanding of the natural system to which it is applied. In 2003, the Australian Commonwealth and Queensland State governments introduced a Reef Water Quality Protection Plan, which aimed to “improve” water quality in river catchments adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and in nearby ...

Cryptogonimidae) from the Great Barrier Reef and the Maldives

Examination of the humpback red snapper, Lutjanus gibbus (Perciformes: Lutjanidae), from Lizard Island off the Great Barrier Reef and Rasdhoo Atoll, Maldives revealed the presence of a new species of Lobosorchis (Digenea: Cryptogonimidae), L. polygongylus n. sp. Lobosorchis polygongylus n. sp. is distinguished from the typeand only other species, L. tibaldiae by the combination of body size, or...

The Threats of Coastal Development on the Great Barrier Reef

The exposure of the Great Barrier Reef to ocean acidification.

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is founded on reef-building corals. Corals build their exoskeleton with aragonite, but ocean acidification is lowering the aragonite saturation state of seawater (Ωa). The downscaling of ocean acidification projections from global to GBR scales requires the set of regional drivers controlling Ωa to be resolved. Here we use a regional coupled circulation-biogeochemic...