Marine Ecological Modelling

This research program applies contemporary mathematical modelling techniques to a very broad range of ecological questions relevant to marine ecosystems, usually in collaboration with researchers conducting field-based research in the School’s other research programs. Research topics range from modelling the effects of reef degradationat the scale of individual coral colonies, to the factors influencing coral

reef biodiversity and its dynamics over time at global and millennial scales. Modelling techniques applied in this research range in complexity from simple analytical models to computationally-intensive algorithms that utilise JCU’s supercomputing facilities.

In this program there are many collaborations with staff from the ARC Centre of Excellence - Coral Reef Studies.

Ongoing Research Programs:

• Coral energy budgets and niche boundaries—population-dynamic responses to reef degradation: A/Professor S. Connolly (ARC CoE).

• Global biodiversity gradients on coral reefs—their causes and likely responses to global change: A/Professor S. Connolly (ARC CoE), Professor David Bellwood (Staff).

• Coral competition, connectivity, and metacommunity dynamics of the Great Barrier Reef: A/Professor S. Connolly (ARC CoE).