Conditions of the Southern Sector in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

Objectives:

To assess the factors that can be impacting the minimal bleaching including ocean surface temperature, coral diseases, currents, and

zoning laws.

Methods:

First, I will assess map out the average water temperature for2017 during January for each sector, the hottest month of the

year. Optimal temperature for the coral is researched to be

between 20-27 degrees Celsius (68-80.6 degrees Fahrenheit)

(Owens, Paine, & Reid, 2003). Each map will display the

temperature and current data.

Second I will use GIS to assess the coral bleaching of 2017 in

each sector (Northern, Central, Southern) classified by intensity:

low, medium, and high. I will use the map to assess where the

majority of the bleaching has occurred and how much wasimpacted.

Third, I will take into consideration the areas that were severely

impacted by coral diseases and currents that might push the

diseases along and turn this data into another map usingArcMap.

Fourth, I will use ArcMap to lay out the zoning sections along the

reef.

Fifth, I will asses the differences between the Southern Sector

and the other two sectors to see which factors are influencing the

lack of bleaching using different GIS tools.

Conclusions:

Overall, the discernable differences between the sectors, besides

zoning, seem to be by chance. The Central Sector seemed to have the worst luck by accumulating the most disease throughout the

years. Each sector seems to accumulate 1/3 of the preservation

zones. In terms of bleaching, the Central and Northern Sector did

have more significant events.

It seems as if the main factor influencing the reef is sea surface

temperature. That is the constant between every map and feature. If

anything, it appears as if the Central Sector is the main region

suffering, which is odd considering it does not have the hottest

temperatures.

References

”Corals." NOAA National Ocean Service Education: Corals. NOAA, 06 July 2017. Web.“Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan 2003.” May 2004, pp. 1–211., doi:http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/3390/GBRMPA-zoning-plan-2003.pdf.N.d. Coracle.au.org. Arc Center of Excellence Coral Reef Studies. Web.Owens, D., Paine, J., & Reid, G. (2003) Macquarie Revision Guides- HSC Geography, Macmillan: Sth Yarra. P.46

Acknowledgements Thank you to Dr.Meierdiercks for teaching me how to use ArcGIS.

Also, thank you to ReefBase for providing me with the data

needed to complete this project

Introduction:

The Great Barrier Reef is one the most iconic ocean ecosystem inthe world attracting tourists from all over the globe. It’s natural

beauty has certainly earned its place as one of the seven wonders

of the natural world. The Great Barrier Reef is responsible for

supporting 10% of all of the fish in the world. It is home to 54%

of the world’s mangrove’s, 6/7 species of sea turtle, 1625 speciesof fish, and 450 species of hard coral(AU.GOV). The Great Barrier

Reef also contains soft corals, sponges, sea pens and so much

more (AU.GOV)

Throughout recent years, the reef has seen massive bleachingevents to the point where some media coverage even claim it as

“dead” or severely bleached. However, there is one location of

the reef called the Southern Sector that is thriving more

compared to the others. Only 1% of this area is severely

bleached and 25% is not bleached at all(/www.coralcoe.org.au).

Results:

Coral Bleaching Map: There have seem to be 4 significant bleachingevents in the Southern Sector. 2/4 impacted 2-50 colonies of the area

and the final case only impacted a single colony. All within the Central

Sector (none in the Northern) there have been 13 cases of few

colonies impacted (2-50) and 2 cases of Many (50+) colonies

impacted.

Coral Diseases Map: 7 have only impacted 1.73-8.66% of the

individual reefs in the southern sector where there was one event that

impacted .46%-1.72% of the individual reef. However, in Central

Sector with 57 cases, the amount of diseases has skyrocketed as wellas impact ranging all the way up to 67.19% of the individual

reef. Since the amount of bleaching events and diseases is low in the

Northern Sector, it is possible that due to the temperature and warm

water currents, it's state is deteriorated.

Temperatures & Currents: The Northern Sector has an average

Sea Surface Temperature of 30 Degrees Celsius in January. The

Central Sector’s average is 29, and the Southern Sector’s is 28. There

is a warm current which loops inward towards the Northern Sector

and follows the coast of the Great Barrier Reef. It seems to cool downin average temperature as the current moves south.

Zoning Map: I have discovered that only .139% of all the land in the

Southern Sector is dedicated to preservation zones. Which was

surprising considering it's health. The Central and Northern Sectorcombined has set aside double the amount of land at

0.284%. Therefore, it is almost proportionate to the amount it should

be preserving. The preservation zones seem to be split almost in

thirds. I thought looking at the physical area of preservation was not

a reliable source because the sectors are all different sizes.

Further Research:

In terms of further research, I would like to look at the Central Sector. An analysis of how powerful the current is down the coast may

determine why the diseases stopped migrating at this point. Also,

maybe do a bit of ocean topography work may be beneficial to see if

that has any influence.

Finally, a good way to assess the Central Sector’s overall health would

be to locate a sensitive species and see how it is thriving in each

sector.