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Population Explosions of Acanthaster planci and Associated Destruction of the Hard-coral Cover of Reefs of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Robert Endean  and
William Stablum
Robert Endean
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Australia.
William Stablum
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Australia.
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Extract

Population explosions of the Crown-of-thorns Starfish, Acanthaster planci, first reported on reefs of the Great Barrier Reef in the Cairns region near lat. 17° S during the early 1960s, have since spread to numerous other reefs. The spread has been predominantly southwards, the principal region of infestation currently lying between lat. 19° S and lat. 19°20' S. South of this region, scattered infestations of reefs have recently been reported. Available data indicate that most reefs in the middle third of the Great Barrier Reef were infested during the last decade, and it is postulated that most reefs in the southernmost third will be infested during the next decade.

The bulk of the hard-coral cover of most of the inner platform reefs infested, and a lower but significant percentage of the hard-coral cover of the outer platform reefs affected by the infestations, have been devastated. Recovery of devastated reefs is in progress but is slow.

The A. planci infestations appear to the authors to be man-induced, and it is suggested that international action be taken to assess the magnitude of the A. planci problem and to coordinate possible control activities in the Indo-West Pacific region.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 2 , Issue 4 , Winter 1975 , pp. 247 - 256
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1975

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