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9 News
17 January 2014
Ships passing through the Great Barrier Reef could disrupt whales' ability to call out to one another, a study has found.
Researchers from James Cook University used a large underwater microphone to record noises at a reef off Townsville for three months last year.
Professor Colin Simpfendorf, who recently analysed the recordings, said three main sounds could be heard. Read more
Red Orbit
12 August 2013
The short-spined crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster brevispinus) is a species of starfish that is classified within the Acanthasteridae family. This species has a large range that includes the Great Barrier Reef, the Philippines, and the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. Because these areas are so far away from one another, the full range of this starfish cannot be known, but it can be said that it resides in a tropical or subtropical environment. It was first discovered by W.K. Fisher, who classified it as the subspecies A. brevispinus brevispinus, although it was in fact new and distinct species. Read more
Daily Mercury
02 July 2013
A TOTAL of 672 Whitsunday residents, tourists and businesses were asked how they use, relate to and value the Great Barrier Reef as part of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation's (CSIRO) most extensive social study to date.
Over the next two months CSIRO will be approaching a total of 5000 people from Cooktown to Bundaberg to gain an understanding of what the Great Barrier Reef means to those who live nearby, work around it or visit the area. Read more
The Conversation
27 August 2013
Polychaete worms can change their metabolic rates to adapt to waters with high levels carbon dioxide.
A study conducted by the University of Plymouth shed light on how certain species may adapt to survive in increasingly acidic waters due to climate change. Read more
National Geographic
25 October 2013
Exploration of a "lost world" on a remote Australian peninsula has yielded the discovery of three new species, including a leaf-tailed gecko with spindly legs and unusually big eyes.
In March, a team of scientists and filmmakers joined the ranks of the few human visitors to the misty rain forest atop the Melville Range, a small mountain range on Cape Melville, part of northeastern Australia's Cape York Peninsula. Read More
The Conversation
15 October 2013
New weed control techniques developed for sugarcane crops in Queensland could reduce herbicide runoffs into the Great Barrier Reef by 90%.
After testing shielded herbicide sprayers and restricting their application to only raised beds of sugarcane plantation, researchers greatly reduced the flow of herbicides into surrounding waterways. Read more
The Cairns Post
07 December 2013
THE battle to eradicate crown of thorn starfish has intensified with an injection of $1.1m in funding to provide another dedicated boat and crew for culling the destructive creature.
The crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) can destroy coral faster than it can regenerate and is one of the most significant threats to the Great Barrier Reef. Read more
The Brisbane Institute
12 July 2012
How much frog and reptile diversity is out there? How does this diversity form? How do we discover and describe this diversity? How can we conserve Queensland’s diversity?
UQ alumnus, Dr Conrad Hoskin takes you on an adventurous journey to discover and re-discover some of Queensland’s most fascinating frog and reptile species. An ecologist and conservation biologist, Dr Hoskin has discovered spectacular new species, rediscovered a frog species long thought to be extinct, and defined how new species can form. Read more
ABC News
20 September 2013
Queensland researchers say a new study shows present climate change policies could decide the future of the Great Barrier Reef over the next century.
The nine-month University of Queensland study on Heron Island, off Gladstone, compared how four coral reef ecosystems inside plastic tubs were affected by different climate change scenarios. Read more
ABC News
08 May 2014
James Cook University (JCU) says its study on seagrass will help inform a north Queensland port authority before dredging starts at the Abbot Point coal terminal at Bowen.
Researchers have used the conditions caused by Cyclone Ita to test the seagrass' reaction to turbidity and have found it can survive because it produces large numbers of long-lived seeds that lie dormant in the sediment. Read more