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The Centre for Marine Studies maintains a research program that spans many fields of marine and coastal science. As a strategic centre within the University of Queensland, the Centre for Marine Studies represents the focal point for the combined effort in marine sciences across the University, and it is mandated to assist in the integration, collaboration, and development of research and educational programs related to, or involving, marine science.
The Centre for Marine Studies has a number of established research groups based on the Science Faculty marine science theme.
Aquaculture and Aquatic Animal Health
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Dr Andrew Barnes
My research centres on the control of disease in farmed aquatic species. The main focus of my research is vaccines for aquacultured species, but I also investigate effects of nutrition and environmental conditions on innate and adaptive immunity in aquatic animals. Australia is many years behind Europe, Scandinavia, Canada and South America in the use of vaccine technologies for sustainable disease control in its aquaculture industry. This is a gap that we are aiming to bridge through research and collaboration with major global vaccine companies. More>>
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Coastal Resource Management
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Associate Professor Ron Johnstone
Nutrient cycling & dynamics in coastal Ecosystems The investigation of nutrient processes across different ecological scales. It includes studies on the interactions and connectivity between habitats & biotopes such as coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangroves, open sediment habitats, and various assemblages of these components.
Benthic nutrient remineralisation processes Research in this area is currently focusing on nitrogen remineralisation processes in sediments associated with mangroves, seagrass beds and open lagoon sediments. Specifically, it is employing methods including micro-sensors and stable isotopes to make in situ measurements of sediment physico-chemical characteristics.
Integration of science and management in coastal resource management Research in this field is working to devise appropriate tools and approaches for the better integration of environmental science into the management decision making process. This includes the investigation of environmental indicators but also examines decision structures and management strategy as applied to coastal resource management. More>>
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Coastal Plant Communities
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Dr Catherine Lovelock
Research in my lab is focused on the ecology and ecophysiology of coastal plant communities. We are particularly interested in the influence of environment, including global climate change, and fauna in controlling plant community productivity and diversity. We conduct experimental work over a wide range of coastal plant communities that includes algae, mangroves and cyanobacterial mat communities. Some of our current research projects include assessment of how nutrient enrichment influences mangrove ecosystem function, and in discovering how mangroves mediate exchanges between the land and sea. More>>
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Coral Ecology & Climate Change
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Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
My laboratory is located both in St Lucia and on Heron Island on the southern Great Barrier Reef and has become a focal point for studies trying to understand the basis of stress in reef-building corals. This spans the effect of nutrients, global warming and ocean acidification on organisms from corals to fish. Our work in this area spans ecology, remote sensing, physiology and molecular studies. We hold two patents on a group of green fluorescent protein like compounds called pocilloporins. Recent work has begun to focus on the pathology of coral disease and on the stress proteins of the principal symbiont of reef-building corals, Symbiodinium. We have developed the first EST library for Symbiodinium. The laboratory consists of over 25 students and postdocs and a key component of the ARC Center for Excellence in Coral Reef Studies and the GEF-World Bank Coral Reef Targeted Research Program. More>> |
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Marine Biology and Biodiscovery
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Dr Ian Tibbetts
Reef Ecology: Grazers in the Subtropics (REGS):
Herbivorous fish are thought to play a key role in maintaining the balance between the slow growing corals and the faster growing algae. The existing paradigms concerning this relationship seem inconsistent with my extensive experience in the reefs of the Capricorn Bunker group. The underlying theme is about resolving issues about the evolution of herbivory in fishes.
Transhaline and Euryhaline Electroreceptive Fishes (TEEF):
Work on electroreception in sharks, rays and catfishes has led to productive and novel lines of investigation involving the DSTO. We have for the first time demonstrated multiple electroreceptor types in a single species, and importantly different receptor morphologies in the same species living in environments of different salinity. ...
Biology and Evolution of Epipelagic Fishes (BEEF):
The phylogenetic relationship among the Beloniformes (long tom, sauries, flying fish and garfish) has been a long-standing interest. The functional morphological and developmental evidence I have compiled suggests that this group requires revision and that an evolutionary explanation of the relationships within this group is possible. More>>
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Marine Botany
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Dr Norm Duke
Dr Duke is recognised worldwide for his specialist knowledge of mangrove forest ecosystems, especially regards their floristics, biogeography, evolution, climate change effects, sea level change, vegetation mapping, productivity, plant-animal relationships and habitat restoration. Over the last 30 years, he has lead international marine science projects studying coastal ecosystems and mangroves, particularly in Australia, Central America and Western Pacific. Human effects have also been considered in broad-scale studies of pollutant stress from major oil spills and severe storms. Dr Duke’s findings contribute toward development of mitigation strategies like the use of dispersants, bioremediation and mangrove planting, as well as standardising practical assessment techniques and monitoring methods. More>>
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Palaeoecology of Benthic Ecosystems
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Associate Professor John Pandolfi
Long-term ecology of coral reefs: The overarching goal of this research program is to integrate long-term ecological and environmental time series data over broad spatial scales to discover the major past and predicted future influences of natural variability, human impact, and climate change on coral reef resilience.
Using Historical Ecology to guide reef management actions: Recent findings from sites distributed throughout the tropical world point to the immense importance of understanding historical events when attempting to tease apart factors that have or may influence present coral reef biodiversity.
The palaeoecological, evolutionary, and extinction dynamics of Indo-Pacific reef corals: The Miocene epoch, 24 - 5 million years before present (mybp), was a time of great environmental and evolutionary change in coral reefs - whole oceans with their component reef biota were obliterated, extinction rates were high, and, near the end of the epoch, the modern Atlantic and Indo-Pacific coral faunas evolved separately. In this research programme we examine the ecological context of the great architectural shift in community structure in Indo-Pacific coral reefs that occurred during the Miocene to Pliocene.
4) Hybridization, extinction, and evolution in a Caribbean reef coral species complex : Recent molecular analyses indicate that many reef coral species belong to hybridizing species complexes or ‘‘syngameons.’’ Our studies involve the species complex Montastraea annularis s.l., where we also conduct parallel studies on its long-term evolutionary history, palaeoecology, and rates of origination and extinction. ... More>>
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Photobiology & Symbiosis
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Dr Sophie Dove
Effects of light and/ or temperature on host and symbiont pigmentation.
The projects identify key genes and processes that are activated in response to light and/or thermal stress in a differentially pigmented coral species. Also
Inorganic carbon fixation in the coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis: effects of global climate change.
Corals obtain the majority of their energy from CO2 fixed by their symbiotic dinoflagellates. Any change in the availability of CO2 has the potential to affect the survival of corals, and therefore coral reefs worldwide. This project tracks the acquisition of CO2 from seawater to its fixation in the algae using a variety of innovative techniques.
Microendoliths, coral bleaching and environmental change.
Corals, the framework builders of reefs, live in close association with dinoflagellates in the coral tissue and skeletal dwelling microalgae. The latter have been largely overlooked although they may influence processes related to recovery of corals or their destruction.
The role of Symbiodinium phylotypes in bleaching.
The photophysiological response and ecological distribution of a variety of Symbiodinium phylotypes. Also included, EST sequencing of dinoflagellate cDNA library. More>>
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