Coral Dynamics - South Island

3 years is a long time on a coral reef! Here is a short visual summary of the changes in coral cover between 2019 and 2022 at one of our long term photo-monitoring sites at Jiigurru (Lizard Island) - the oblique reef crest near South Island.
Location: 14° 42.020'S 145° 26.925'E

This site received the full force of category 4 cyclones Ita and Nathan (2014 & 2015) and there was extensive damage to the coral community. Large Porites bommies were rolled up the reef slope and deposited at the base of the crest by the storm waves. The area was then affected by a severe bleaching event in 2016, and at that time coral cover was less than 5%.

We noticed extensive hard coral settlement along the reef crest in our 2018 surveys, and now space is quickly filling again as the Acroporid coral assemblage hits its rapid growth phase.

Not all places around Jiigurru have recovered at the same rate - as expected, reef habitats with good water flow, such as the back reef margins and the reef crests, have received extensive coral settlement and have come back very fast, while areas inside the lagoon are recovering more slowly. Understanding the spatial and temporal dynamics of reef recovery after disturbance remains a research priority for sustainable management of the Great Barrier Reef.

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