A Lagrangian particle tracking model driven by a regional ocean circulation model was used to investigate the seasonally varying connectivity patterns within the shelf circulation surrounding the 300 km long Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia (WA) during 2009-2010. Forward-in-time simulations revealed that surface water was transported equatorward and offshore in summer due to the upwelling-fav...

Abstract Coral bleaching events are more frequent and severe as global temperatures rise. However, analysis of the surface energy fluxes that substantially affect thermoregulation shallow reef environments is rare. Previous work on evaporative cooling in a humid environment led to hypothesis proximity desert regions, drier air enhances water overlying coral reefs, reducing risk extreme high‐wat...

Coral reef fish density and species richness are often higher at sites with more structural complexity. This association may be due to greater availability of shelters, but surprisingly little is known about the size and density of shelters and their use by coral reef fishes. We quantified shelter availability and use by fishes for the first time on a Caribbean coral reef by counting all holes ...

Decision making for the conservation and management of coral reef biodiversity requires an understanding of spatial variability and distribution of reef habitat types. Despite the existence of very high-resolution remote sensing technology for nearly two decades, comprehensive assessment of coral reef habitats at national to regional spatial scales and at very high spatial resolution is still s...

In the granitic Seychelles, many shores and beaches are fringed by coral reef flats which provide protection to shores from erosion by waves. The surfaces of these reef flats support a complex ecology. About 10 years ago their seaward zones were extensively covered by a rich coral growth, which reached approximately to mean low water level, but in 1998 this was largely killed by seawater warmin...

Influences of topographic variations the offshore fringing reef on harbor oscillations excited by incident N-waves with different amplitudes and waveform types are studied for first time. Both propagation over subsequently-induced simulated a Boussinesq-type numerical model, FUNWAVE-TVD. The present study concentrates revealing influences plane reef-face slope, profile shape lagoon width maximu...