Time series photography of Great Barrier Reef corals

In 1980, thirty permanent photographic sites were established on 6 reefs in 2 separate regions of the Great Barrier Reef. In 2001 an additional reef location was examined. Since 1980 the sites have been photographed annually to document fine-scale changes to the reef environment in a variety of habitats over an extended period of time. The last survey undertaken was in June-July 2007.The sites have been impacted by a number of disturbances including crown-of-thorns starfish, bleaching and cyclones. Analysis of the images reveals information about the extent and long term effect of each disturbance. Other aspects of the coral reef such as community type, diversity, succession, spatial interaction, species growth rate and resilience can be explored. To document fine-scale changes to the reef environment in a variety of habitats over an extended period of time. In the northern Great Barrier Reef region, 5 sites were established on the fringing reef of Lizard Island at depths between 2m and 13m and 8 sites were established on Yonge Reef at depths ranging from 2m to 38m.In the central Great Barrier Reef region a total of 17 sites were established on Pandora, John Brewer, Rib and Myrmidon Reefs.2 additional sites were established at Nellie Bay, Magnetic Island in December 2001 to document bleaching.The sites were photographed using 2 cameras to produce a stereo or 3-D image. Utilising 3-D software it is possible to make accurate measurements of individual corals, create spatial maps and track the fate of selected corals through time.