CORAL REEFS AND TROPICAL COASTAL MORPHODYNAMICS
This is a critical time for the tropical coastal ocean. The twin threats of warmer atmospheres and oceans and sea level rise will drive changes in coral reefs and on tropical coastlines. One of the main aims of this project is to determine the potential future states of these systems. Our knowledge of past coral reef changes and the use of a combination of field based surveys, remote sensing, and numerical modelling provides the tools for reaching our research aims. The ultimate goal is to provide support for future planning and management with project both in the pure and applied research space.
See some of our projects below
Beachlab Researchers: Dan Harris, Dylan Cowley, Su Zhou, Atefeh Sansoleimani, Ola Roman
Collaborators: UQ - Stuart Phinn, Chris Roelfsema, Amelia Wenger, Peter Mumby, Tom Baldock, David Callaghan, Greggory Webb
External - Ana Vila-Concejo, Jody Webster, Tristan Salles, Javier Leon
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Long-term coastal change on sub-tropical and tropical coastlines
This project seeks to understand the processes that have changed the Queensland coast during the 20th and 21st centuries. This project takes a multi-scaled and multi-disciplinary approach encompassing remote sensing of shoreline position, nearshore wave modelling and sediment transport modelling and wave climate characterisation. This project is led by PhD candidate Dylan Cowley and Yongjing Mao and Masters student Ola Roman. Funded by UQ Early Career Research Grants.
Recent Publications:
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Cowley, D., & Harris, D. L. (2020). A review of wave climate trends for the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, from 1976-2018. Journal of Coastal Research, 95(sp1), 1401-1405.
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Mao, Y., Harris, D.L., Xie, Z., Phinn, S., 2021. Efficient measurement of large-scale decadal shoreline change with increased accuracy in tide-dominated coastal environments with Google Earth Engine. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 181, 385-399.
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Dynamics of coral rubble beds: Impacts on post-disturbance coral reef recovery.
This project is part of the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP) for the Great Barrier Reef. Coral reefs under increased stress from local and global anthropogenic impacts are more susceptible to widespread loss of reef building corals during extreme events, such as cyclones and mass bleaching events. These corals can be converted into mobile rubble fields which further inhibit the recruitment and recovery of coral reefs after extreme events. It is curious then, that the dynamics coral rubble is almost completely ignored in coral reef ecological studies and has only been seriously investigated in sediment transport and paleo storm research. This project seeks to classify and assessment processes that initiate rubble movement in the field and will work with colleagues in the engineering, ecological, remote sensing, and geological space to scale up the results in this project the whole of the Great Barrier Reef. This project is led by PhD candidate Su Zhou. Funded by RRAP.
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Coral reef evolution during past sea level and environmental changes
Daniel ended up working on the influence of sea level changes and wave processes on coral reef geological development by accident. The discover of fossil micro-atolls at One Tree Reef by Jody Webster and the award of a few small grants led to a few novel pieces of research investigating how coral reefs changed under Holocene sea level fluctuations. Concurrently with this research, major international research projects from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) investigating the conditions that led to the death and initiation of coral reef growth in the past revealed new insights into the impacts of rapid sea level rise and changes in water quality on the survival of coral reefs. The advanced capacity of the Beachlab to run oceanographic models over the last few years has led to more recent collaborations pulling in knowledge of terrestrial and marine processes and the impacts these have on coral reefs and integrating observations made during IODP expedition. Research, led by PhD Candidate Atefeh Sansoleimani, is investigating the use of remote sensing products to detail the evolution of coral reefs during the Holocene and the influence of geological processes in the deep past on the formation of modern coral reefs.
Funded by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.
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Coral reef surf zone processes
Investigating surf zone processes is an ongoing project for The Beachlab with projects always in some stage of development and progress. Current projects are focused on investigating the influence of coral reef structure on the transformation of waves from deepwater to coral reef lagoons and beaches. We are especially interested in advancing the knowledge and the approaches in this space since we have exhausted many of the traditional surf zone transformation approaches over the last 20 to 30 years.
Funded by grants from the Australian Institute of Marine Science and UQ ECR and New Start grants.
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Selected Publications:
Harris, D. L., Rovere, A., Casella, E., Power, H., Canavesio, R., Collin, A., ... & Parravicini, V. (2018). Coral reef structural complexity provides important coastal protection from waves under rising sea levels. Science Advances, 4(2), eaao4350.
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Harris, D. L., Power, H. E., Kinsela, M. A., Webster, J. M., & Vila-Concejo, A. (2018). Variability of depth-limited waves in coral reef surf zones. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 211, 36-44.