Advancing projections of crown-of-thorns starfish to support management interventions.

Outbreaks of corallivorous Crown of Thorns Starfish (Acanthaster spp.; CoTS) cause substantial coral mortality throughout the Indo-Pacific, particularly on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Refining CoTS population density modelling and understanding the disparities between real-world observations and model predictions is crucial for developing effective control strategies.

Real-time 3D tracking of swimming microbes using digital holographic microscopy and deep learning.

The three-dimensional swimming tracks of motile microorganisms can be used to identify their species, which holds promise for the rapid identification of bacterial pathogens. The tracks also provide detailed information on the cells' responses to external stimuli such as chemical gradients and physical objects. Digital holographic microscopy (DHM) is a well-established, but computationally intensive method for obtaining three-dimensional cell tracks from video microscopy data.

Protecting Great Barrier Reef resilience through effective management of crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks.

Resilience-based management is essential to protect ecosystems in the Anthropocene. Unlike large-scale climate threats to Great Barrier Reef (GBR) corals, outbreaks of coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS; Acanthaster cf. solaris) can be directly managed through targeted culling.

Knowledge Gaps in the Biology, Ecology, and Management of the Pacific Crown-of-Thorns Sea Star sp. on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

AbstractCrown-of-thorns sea stars ( sp.) are among the most studied coral reef organisms, owing to their propensity to undergo major population irruptions, which contribute to significant coral loss and reef degradation throughout the Indo-Pacific. However, there are still important knowledge gaps pertaining to the biology, ecology, and management of sp.

Spatial patterns of microbial communities across surface waters of the Great Barrier Reef.

Microorganisms are fundamental drivers of biogeochemical cycling, though their contribution to coral reef ecosystem functioning is poorly understood. Here, we infer predictors of bacterioplankton community dynamics across surface-waters of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) through a meta-analysis, combining microbial with environmental data from the eReefs platform. Nutrient dynamics and temperature explained 41.

High-resolution characterization of the abiotic environment and disturbance regimes on the Great Barrier Reef, 1985-2017.

This data compilation synthesizes 36 static environmental and spatial variables, and temporally explicit modeled estimates of three major disturbances to coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR): (1) coral bleaching, (2) tropical cyclones, and (3) outbreaks of the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster cf. solaris. Data are provided on a standardized grid (0.