1. Malcolm McCulloch WA Premier’s Fellow
Resilience of Coral Reefs of NW Western Australia to Climatic Extremes and Environmental Impacts
Malcolm McCulloch WA Premier’s Fellow
ARC Laureate Fellow

2. Climate Change & Coral Reefs
Key Research Themes:
Rowley Shoals
Kimberley
Dampier to Ningaloo
Reef
Houtman
Abrolhos
Rottnest Is
Ocean acidification response of coral calcification to CO2 vs temp. (large N-S gradient in SST along WA coast)
Rising ocean temperatures coral bleaching: magnitude, rapidity of change?
Projecting coral reef futures integrating biogeochemical processes with physical/chemical models
Can corals adapt ? At what rate?
Feb-Mar 2011: 2

3. 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) 3