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Resilience of Coral Reefs of NW Western Australia to Climatic Extremes and Environmental Impacts. Malcolm McCulloch WA Premier’s Fellow ARC Laureate Fellow. Climate Change & Coral Reefs. Kimberley. Rowley Shoals. Dampier to Ningaloo Reef. Houtman Abrolhos. Rottnest Is.
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Resilience of Coral Reefs of NW Western Australia to Climatic Extremes and Environmental Impacts Malcolm McCullochWA Premier’s Fellow ARC Laureate Fellow
Climate Change & Coral Reefs Kimberley Rowley Shoals Dampier to Ningaloo Reef Houtman Abrolhos Rottnest Is Key Research Themes: • Ocean acidification response of coral calcification to CO2vstemp. (large N-S gradient in SST along WA coast) • Rising ocean temperatures coral bleaching: magnitude, rapidity of change? • Projecting coral reef futuresintegrating biogeochemical processes with physical/chemical models Can corals adapt ? At what rate? Feb-Mar 2011:
Climate Change & Coral Reefs Key Research Themes for NW WA • Adaption of Kimberley corals to temperature extremes What controls extraordinary resistance of coral to high SST’s extremes? Is resilience transferable ? • Long-term coral records of change & baseline response SST records of ocean warming, pH changes, calcification rates, river runoff (sediment loads, flood plumes, cyclone frequency etc) • Community-scale interactions & response to warming, OA reef-scale interactions, eg corals <-> seagrass to OA,> SST & environmental impacts (fishing, runoff etc)