Effects of Cyclone 'Joy' on nearshore coral communities of the Great Barrier Reef

The rain associated with tropical Cyclone 'Joy', in late 1990 and early 1991, led to the third largest recorded flood in central Queensland, Australia. This study examined the effects of floodwaters on nearshore coral communities, in 3 regions of the Great Barrier Reef. The Keppel Island reefs (23" 10' S) were affected by extreme floodwaters which damaged corals to an average depth of 1.3 m below low water datum. Mortality was highest for shallow Acropora spp. and pocilloporids; faviids were most tolerant. The most widespread effect on deeper colonies of Acropora spp. was gross swelling and lysis of the epidermal cells and loss of zooxanthellae from the gastrodermis (bleaching). Shallow waters around Middle Reef (19" 09' S) experienced moderate floodwaters and significant mortality occurred to colon~es of Acropora spp.; other corals were not damaged. The Whitsunday lsland reefs (20' 20' S) were subjected to minor floodwaters and shallow corals suffered little damage, however deep-water pocilloporids died, possibly because of low incident light during the tropical depression.

[1]  V. Tunnicliffe,et al.  Hurricane Allen's Impact on Jamaican Coral Reefs. , 1981, Science.

[2]  E. Williams,et al.  The World-Wide Coral Reef Bleaching Cycle and Related Sources of Coral Mortality , 1990 .

[3]  N. Muthiga,et al.  THE EFFECTS OF SALINITY STRESS ON THE RATES OF AEROBIC RESPIRATION AND PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN THE HERMATYPIC CORAL SIDERASTREA SIDEREA. , 1987, The Biological bulletin.

[4]  P. Isdale.  Fluorescent bands in massive corals record centuries of coastal rainfall , 1984, Nature.

[5]  T. Done,et al.  Effects of tropical cyclone waves on ecological and geomorphological structures on the Great Barrier Reef , 1992 .

[6]  E. Shinn,et al.  The Geologic Effects of Hurricane Donna in South Florida , 1967, The Journal of Geology.

[7]  M. Stafford-Smith.  Sediment-rejection efficiency of 22 species of Australian scleractinian corals , 1993 .

[8]  J. Brodie,et al.  Nutrient composition of the January 1991 Fitzroy River plume , 1991 .

[9]  Histopathology in Ceriantheopsis americanus (Cnidaria: Ceriantharia) exposed to Black Rock Harbor dredge spoils in Long Island Sound , 1989 .

[10]  J. Porter.  Autotrophy, Heterotrophy, and Resource Partitioning in Caribbean Reef-Building Corals , 1976, The American Naturalist.

[11]  C. Rogers.  The effect of shading on coral reef structure and function , 1979 .

[12]  C. Rogers,et al.  Sublethal and lethal effects of sediments applied to common Caribbean Reef corals in the field , 1983 .

[13]  I. Goodbody.  Mass Mortality of a Marine Fauna Following Tropical Rains , 1961 .

[14]  B. Brown,et al.  Tissue retraction in the scleractinian coral Coelosehs mayeri, its effect upon coral pigmentation, and preliminary implications for heat balance , 1994 .

[15]  D. Stoddart,et al.  ECOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY OF RECENT CORAL REEFS , 1969 .

[16]  O. Hoegh‐Guldberg,et al.  The Effect of Sudden Changes in Temperature, Light and Salinity On the Population-Density and Export of Zooxanthellae From the Reef Corals Stylophora-Pistillata Esper and Seriatopora-Hystrix Dana , 1989 .

[17]  B. Mapstone,et al.  Impact of Tropical Cyclone 'Ivor' on The Great Barrier Reef, Australia , 1991 .