Latest David Bellwood Stories

When it comes to choosing a place to hang out, big reef fish like coral trout, snappers and sweetlips have strong architectural preferences. The choices big fish make on where to shelter could have a major influence on their ability to cope with climate change, say scientists from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University. In research aimed at understanding the process of fish population decline when coral reefs sustain major damage, PhD student James...

Lessons from tens of millions of years ago are pointing to new ways to save and protect today’s coral reefs and their myriad of beautiful and many-hued fishes at a time of huge change in the Earth’s systems. The complex relationship we see today  between fishes and corals developed relatively recently in geological terms – and is a major factor in shielding reef species from extinction, says Professor David Bellwood of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James...

Australian scientists have urged greater consideration for the brilliantly-hued parrot fishes that tend and renew the world’s imperiled coral reefs. “Parrotfishes are the constant gardeners of the reef. They play a crucial role in keeping it healthy, suppressing weed, removing sediment and helping the corals to regrow after a setback,” explains Professor David Bellwood of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University. In a major new study published...

A ridiculous amount of green seaweed has taken over much of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, leaving scientists worrying about the health of the coral structure.Professor David Bellwood, of James Cook University and the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, told AFP that this seaweed has taken over 40 percent of areas closest to the shore. The seaweed could be just the latest problem for the reef."We are concerned about it because it does look like a lot of weed and in other places...

When reef fish get a mouthful of sand, coral reefs can drown.That's the latest startling evidence to emerge from research into the likely fate of reefs under climate change and rising sea levels, at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS)."We've known for a while that having a lot of sediment in the water is bad for corals and can smother them.  What we didn't realize is how permanent this state of affairs can become, to the point where it may prevent the corals ever...

While rabbits continue to ravage Australia's native landscapes, rabbitfish may help save large areas of the Great Barrier Reef from destruction.The reason, say scientists, is the same in both cases "“ both rabbits and rabbitfish are efficient herbivores, capable of stripping an area of vegetation. However, in the case of the Reef, it is the vegetation that is the problem "“ and the rabbitfish, the answer."When a coral reef is weakened or damaged through human activity such as climate...