NERP TE Project 1.3 - Characterising the cumulative impacts of global, regional and local stressors on the present and past biodiversity of the GBR, 2011-2014 (UQ)

Updated: 2026-06-25

This project will investigate how coral communities along the Great Barrier Reef have historically responded to acute (e.g. cyclones) and chronic (e.g. water quality) disturbances using pioneering high-precision geological dating and palaeoecological techniques, combined with high-resolution geochemical analysis of coral records. This project will determine high resolution chronological records on different time scales over the past 1-2 millennia of parameters such as: 1. Sea-level based on high-precision dating and elevation survey of well-preserved microatolls; 2. Salinity and pH value based on high-precision boron isotope analyses of selected coral cores in conjunction with back-reef sediment cores; 3. Cyclone frequency based on precise dating of transported reef blocks, cyclone ridges and lagoon sediment cores; 4. Sea-surface temperature based on geochemical proxy analyses (Sr/Ca, Mg/Ca, 18O/16O) of U-series-dated coral cores. 5. Variation in coral reef community structure and coral calcification rates.