Annual Report 2018
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ANNUAL REPORT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT 2018 1 ANNUAL REPORT 2018 Vision, Aims 2 Article: Tiny Coral Paradise in the Great Barrier Reef Reckons 37 with Climate Change Mission 3 National Priority Case Study: Impacts of Climate Change on Overview 3 World Heritage Coral Reefs 38 Director’s Report 4 Article: Shark Bay: A World Heritage Site at Catastrophic Risk 40 2018 Research Impact and Engagement 6 Graduate and Early Career Training 43 Centre Expertise Contributes to Latest IPCC Report Calling for 8 Graduate Profile: Claire Ross 51 Swift Response to Climate Change Digital Data: Managed, Connected, Discoverable, Reusable 52 Global Recognition of Coral Reef Scientist 9 National and International Linkages 54 Recognition of Excellence of Centre Researchers 10 Communication, Media and Public Outreach 59 CONTENTS Centre Researchers Recognised in Young Tall Poppy Awards 11 Governance 64 Research Program 1: People and Ecosystems 12 Honorary Doctorate Punctuates an Extraordinary Career 67 Research Profile: Michele Barnes 18 Membership 68 Article: The Majority of People Who See Poaching in Marine Parks 20 Say Nothing Publications 71 Research Program 2: Ecosystem Dynamics: Past, Present and Future 22 2019 Activity Plan 84 Research Profile: Nils Krueck 28 Financial Statement 85 Article: Jurassic-Era Piranha is World’s Earliest Flesh-Eating Fish 29 Financial Outlook 86 Research Program 3: Responding to a Changing World 30 Key Performance Indicators 87 Research Profile: Malcolm McCulloch 36 Acknowledgements 89 At the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies we acknowledge the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of this nation. We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands and sea where we conduct our business. We pay our respects to ancestors and Elders, past, present and future. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies is committed to honouring Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ COVER PHOTO NICK EVENSEN unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and seas and their rich contribution to society. THIS PHOTO CHRISTOPHER BRUNNER 2 ARC CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR CORAL REEF STUDIES ANNUAL REPORT 2018 1 PHOTO CHRISTOPHER BRUNNER VISION MISSION Scientific knowledge that fosters sustainable use, adaptive governance and effective management of To lead the global research effort in the provision of scientific knowledge necessary for sustaining the world’s coral reefs to enhance human wellbeing. the ecosystem goods and services of the world’s coral reefs during a period of unprecedented environmental change. AIMS OVERVIEW The aims of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies are: The ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies commenced operations in 2014 following the award of $28 million from the Australian Research Council to fund the Centre for seven years. 1. Research Headquartered at James Cook University (JCU), the Centre’s additional nodes are The Australian Produce research that is world-best, innovative, collaborative, multi-disciplinary and highly National University (ANU), The University of Queensland (UQ) and The University of Western relevant to coral reef management, adaptive governance and policy development. Australia (UWA). Our national and international partner institutions are the Australian Institute of 2. Research Training and Professional Education Marine Science (AIMS), the Center for Ocean Solutions at Stanford University (COS, USA), Centre Build human capacity and expertise in coral reef science worldwide. National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS, France), the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN, Switzerland) and WorldFish 3. National and International Linkages (Malaysia). In 2018, the Centre has collaborative links and co-authorships with 440 institutions in 79 Create a global hub for integrated coral reef research collaborations. countries. 4. Impacts and end-user engagement The major objective of the Centre is to achieve a better understanding of the science, both social Exchange and transfer knowledge, technologies and research outcomes with end-users and and natural, that underpins the dynamic changes currently occurring in coral reefs worldwide. Our partners. research is both multifaceted and transdisciplinary. Improving the governance and management of natural systems and enhancing the capacity to sustain both human and natural capital is an 5. Governance overarching goal of our research. Continuously evolve Centre management to ensure it is co-operative, multi-institutional and communicative. 2 ARC CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR CORAL REEF STUDIES ANNUAL REPORT 2018 3 Welcome to the 2018 annual report of the Australian Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, continuously expanding international collaborative Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Coral Indonesia, Brazil, French Polynesia, Micronesia, Saudi network. Eight Centre researchers, were identified as Reef Studies. Arabia, Kenya, the Maldives, the Seychelles, Mexico, 2018 Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate Analytics, and the Caribbean. Centre researchers provided each ranking in the top 1% of researchers worldwide A highlight this year is a series of studies we published hundreds of government and industry briefings, for their citations (p10). this year in Nature, Science, and Nature Climate capacity-building workshops and consultancies Change, which has brought the impact of climate to governments, management agencies, non- In 2018, the Centre’s membership comprised 73 Chief change on coral reefs to the forefront of the public government organisations (NGOs), industry groups Investigators, Research Fellows and Associates; 29 consciousness. At a global scale, the Centre’s research and businesses. The impact and scale of these Partner Investigators, resident international scholars in 2018 demonstrates that the frequency of global activities is global, with Centre researchers informing and adjunct researchers; and 176 research students mass bleaching of corals due to anthropogenic climate policy and practice around the world (p6). change has increased nearly five-fold since 1980. On (p43). Students and early career researchers are DIRECTOR’S the Great Barrier Reef, back-to-back mass bleaching in The Centre’s three research Program summaries essential contributors to the Centre’s activities and REPORT 2016 and 2017 has transformed the Great Barrier Reef, on pp12–37 provide an overview of our activities outputs. In 2018, we recruited 12 new Research killing approximately half the region’s shallow-water live throughout the year. We implemented a new policy Fellows and Associates. Centre researchers this year coral, triggering a profound shift in the composition of to further promote the discovery and dissemination were once again recognised internationally and in survivors. of our digital research outputs in 2018. We added Australia for the excellence of their achievements more than 40 items to our online data repositories (p10), and the Centre continued its commitment to Our research in 2018 also shows that the loss of reef- in 2018, including unique and timely datasets on promoting gender equity in research leadership and building coral species has profound consequences for thermal exposure, coral bleaching and mortality. recruitment of new members. the rest of the reef ecosystem, reducing biodiversity and ARC Centre members also shared digital data and affecting many non-coral species such as commercially metadata via online repositories and databases, data I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to our many important fishes. Our focus in recent months has been journals and journal repositories (p52). friends around the world for their contributions to the recoverability of the Great Barrier Reef, in the face an outstanding year, and to the Centre’s Advisory of depleted brood stocks of corals, and altered stock- The Centre’s researchers produced a record breaking Board, our research partners and end-users from recruitment relationships. This information will be 383 publications in 2018, comprising 354 journal many institutions in Australia and overseas. I am vital for the responses of agencies and governments articles, 2 books, 18 book chapters, and 9 reports responsible for reef management, for the industries (p71). More than one third of these articles were especially grateful to our Chief Operations Officer, that depend on coral reefs, and for assessing the World published in journals with an Impact Factor greater Jennifer Lappin, Assistant Director, Alana Grech and Heritage values of the Reef. than 4 and 33 articles appeared in prestige journals our talented multi-nodal operations team. such as Nature, Science and Trends in Ecology and During the year, the Centre has undertaken fieldwork Evolution. Our co-authors this year come from 440 Terry Hughes in 28 tropical countries, particularly in Australia, institutions in 79 countries, reflecting the Centre’s Director PHOTO CHRISTOPHER BRUNNER 4 ARC CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR CORAL REEF STUDIES ANNUAL REPORT 2018 5 2018 Marine reserve effectiveness International impact RESEARCH IMPACT AND ENGAGEMENT Garry Russ and Rene Abesamis provided multiple briefings to communities and local Senator Sheldon Whitehouse government officials on the outcomes of their long-term marine reserve research (Democrat, Rhode Island) conducted across the Philippines. presented a 15 minute address to the United States Congress