2008 Handbooks

A unit recommended for all students with interests in biology and biodiversity, palaeobiology, geology, geoecology and environmental science. The unit investigates the evolution and development of reef structures in the fossil record with particular emphasis on the dynamics of modern coral reefs: the process of formation, large and small scale controls, reef accretion, response to global warming and the changing patterns of reef dynamics/carbonate buildups through time. Special attention will be paid to fluctuations in biodiversity of reefs through time, symbiosis, recruitment, the effects of bioturbation and bioerosion, and the interaction of the biota on modern reefs. The unit is a field based unit. An 8-day fieldtrip to the Heron Island Research Station on the Great Barrier Reef allows students to develop an understanding about reef zonation and develop skills to identify the primary structuring organisms on the reef. Other activities included quadrat mapping, biomass estimates and trophic analyses to understand energy flow in a reef system and documentation of changes in bioturbation and biogenic sediments across the reef.