Dynamic stability of coral reefs on the west Australian coast.

Monitoring changes in coral cover and composition through space and time can provide insights to reef health and assist the focus of management and conservation efforts. We used a meta-analytical approach to assess coral cover data across latitudes 10-35°S along the west Australian coast, including 25 years of data from the Ningaloo region. Current estimates of coral cover ranged between 3 and 44% in coral habitats.

Unprecedented mass bleaching and loss of coral across 12° of latitude in Western Australia in 2010-11.

Background: Globally, coral bleaching has been responsible for a significant decline in both coral cover and diversity over the past two decades. During the summer of 2010-11, anomalous large-scale ocean warming induced unprecedented levels of coral bleaching accompanied by substantial storminess across more than 12° of latitude and 1200 kilometers of coastline in Western Australia (WA).

Methodology/principal Findings: Extreme La-Niña conditions caused extensive warming of waters and drove considerable storminess and cyclonic activity across WA from October 2010 to May 2011.

Digitise this! A quick and easy remote sensing method to monitor the daily extent of dredge plumes.

Technological advancements in remote sensing and GIS have improved natural resource managers' abilities to monitor large-scale disturbances. In a time where many processes are heading towards automation, this study has regressed to simple techniques to bridge a gap found in the advancement of technology. The near-daily monitoring of dredge plume extent is common practice using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery and associated algorithms to predict the total suspended solids (TSS) concentration in the surface waters originating from floods and dredge plumes.

Relative and combined effects of habitat and fishing on reef fish communities across a limited fishing gradient at Ningaloo.

Habitat degradation and fishing are major drivers of temporal and spatial changes in fish communities. The independent effects of these drivers are well documented, but the relative importance and interaction between fishing and habitat shifts is poorly understood, particularly in complex systems such as coral reefs. To assess the combined and relative effects of fishing and habitat we examined the composition of fish communities on patch reefs across a gradient of high to low structural complexity in fished and unfished areas of the Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia.

Dispersal without errors: symmetrical ears tune into the right frequency for survival.

Vertebrate animals localize sounds by comparing differences in the acoustic signal between the two ears and, accordingly, ear structures such as the otoliths of fishes are expected to develop symmetrically. Sound recently emerged as a leading candidate cue for reef fish larvae navigating from open waters back to the reef. Clearly, the integrity of the auditory organ has a direct bearing on what and how fish larvae hear.