Abstract
Here, we utilise a unique, 70-year-long (1949–2017), high-resolution historical aerial imagery dataset to track changes to coral reef structures in Bill’s Bay on the Ningaloo coast. Reef habitat was distinguished from sand and rubble substrates based on imagery greyscale values and autoclassified using unsupervised image analysis in ArcMap. This approach was validated through comparison of reef structure (defined by bathymetric LiDAR imagery), greyscale values of aerial photography taken during the same survey, and in-water ground-truthed photographs. Long-term (1990–2015) live coral cover data were then compared with changes in reef structure. Reef structure increased from 11 to 38% within Bill’s Bay between 1949 and 1990. A coral spawn-induced hypoxia event in 1989 caused a loss of live coral cover from 50 to 7%, a 25% reduction in reef structure by 2002, and a switch from branching to massive coral-dominated reef. From 2002, reef structure recovered and continued to expand, peaking at 41% of total area (2017). Live coral cover in 2015 (46%) matches this measured increase in reef structure, despite a drop in coral cover in 2008. Discrepancies observed between live coral cover and reef structure during the 2002–2010 period reflect the persistence of the massive dominated coral community and in situ dead reef framework. Across the entire study period, reef growth was most prominent along the south-western edge of the bay, possibly due to an increase in the availability of hard substrate for coral recruitment. This study provides new insights into reef health over decadal timescales by capturing changes in reef geomorphology that go beyond the spatial scale and scope of traditional in-water assessments. These data further highlight that coral reef structure in Bill’s Bay has expanded even with frequent natural disturbances affecting the region over the last 70 years.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdo D, Coleman G, Ninio R, Osborne K (2004) Surveys of benthic reef communities using underwater video - Long term monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef - Standard Operating Procedure Number 2
Alvarez-Filip L, Dulvy N, Gill J, Côté I, Watkinson A (2009) Flattening of Caribbean coral reefs: Region-wide declines in architectural complexity. Proceedings: Biological Sciences 276:3019–3025
Armstrong S (2007) Ningaloo Marine Park Drupella long-term monitoring program: results of the 2006 survey. Data report NIN/NMP-2007/03 Marine Science Program, Department of Environment and Conservation, Perth, Western Australia
Baird AH, Marshall PA (2002) Mortality, growth and reproduction in scleractinian corals following bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 237:133–141
Bell PRF, Elmetri I, Lapointe BE (2014) Evidence of large-scale chronic eutrophication in the Great Barrier Reef: quantification of chlorophyll a thresholds for sustaining coral reef communities. Ambio 43:361–376
Bellwood DR, Hughes TP, Folke C, Nyström M (2004) Confronting the coral reef crisis. Nature 429:827–833
Brown BE, Dunne RP, Somerfield PJ, Edwards AJ, Simons WJF, Phongsuwan N, Putchim L, Anderson L, Maeije MC (2019) Long-term impacts of rising sea temperature and sea level on shallow water coral communities over a ~ 40 year period. Sci Rep 9:8826
Brown E, Cox E, Jokiel P, Rodgers K, Smith W, Tissot B, Coles SL, Hultquist J (2004) Development of benthic sampling methods for the Coral Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (CRAMP) in Hawaii. Pac Sci 58:145–158
Browne NK (2012) Spatial and temporal variations in coral growth on an inshore turbid reef subjected to multiple disturbance events. Mar Environ Res 77:71–83
Bruno JF, Selig ER (2007) Regional decline of coral cover in the Indo-Pacific: Timing, extent, and subregional comparisons. PLoS ONE 2(8):e711
Clark TR, Leonard ND, Zhao J, Brodie J, McCook LJ, Wachenfeld DR, Nguyen AD, Markham HL, Pandolfi JM (2016) Historical photographs revisited: A case study for dating and characterizing recent loss of coral cover on the inshore Great Barrier Reef. Sci Rep 6:1–14
Clarke H, D’Olivo JP, Falter J, Zinke J, Lowe R, McCulloch M (2017) Differential response of corals to regional mass-warming events as evident from skeletal Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 18:1794–1809
Cuttriss AKJ, Prince B, Castley JG (2013) Seagrass communities in southern Moreton Bay, Australia: coverage and fragmentation trends between 1987 and 2005. Aquat Bot 108:41–47
Dawson JL, Smithers SG (2010) Shoreline and beach volume change between 1967 and 2007 at Raine Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Glob Planet Change 72:141–154
De’ath G, Fabricius KE, Sweatman H, Puotinen M (2012) The 27-year decline of coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef and its causes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109:17995–17999
Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) (2017) Ecological monitoring in the Ningaloo marine reserves 2017. Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Perth
Depczynski M, Gilmour JP, Ridgway T, Barnes H, Heyward AJ, Holmes TH, Moore JAY, Radford BT, Thomson DP, Tinkler P, Wilson SK (2013) Bleaching, coral mortality and subsequent survivorship on a West Australian fringing reef. Coral Reefs 32:233–238
Done T (1992) Effects of tropical cyclone waves on ecological and geomorphological structures on the Great Barrier Reef. Cont Shelf Res 12:859–872
Edmunds PJ (2002) Long-term dynamics of coral reefs in St. John, US Virgin Islands. Coral Reefs 21:357–367
Elliff CI, Silva IR (2017) Coral reefs as the first line of defense: Shoreline protection in face of climate change. Mar Environ Res 127:148–154
Emslie MJ, Cheal AJ, Sweatman H, Delean S (2008) Recovery from disturbance of coral and reef fish communities on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 371:177–190
Fine M, Hoegh-Guldberg O, Meroz-Fine E, Dove S (2019) Ecological changes over 90 years at Low Isles on the Great Barrier Reef. Nat Commun 10:4409
Gardner TA, Côté IM, Gill JA, Grant A, Watkinson AR (2003) Long-term region-wide declines in Caribbean corals. Science 301:958–960
Gilmour JP, Cook KL, Ryan NM, Puotinen ML, Green RH, Shedrawi G, Hobbs J-PA, Thomson DP, Babcock RC, Buckee J, Foster T, Richards ZT, Wilson SK, Barnes PB, Coutts TB, Radford BT, Piggott CH, Depczynski M, Evans SN, Schoepf V, Evans RD, Halford AR, Nutt CD, Bancroft KP, Heyward AJ, Oades D (2019) The state of Western Australia’s coral reefs. Coral Reefs 38:651–667
Graham NAJ, Nash KL (2013) The importance of structural complexity in coral reef ecosystems. Coral Reefs 32:315–326
Guest JR, Tun K, Low J, Vergés A, Marzinelli EM, Campbell AH, Bauman AG, Feary DA, Chou LM, Steinberg PD (2016) 27 years of benthic and coral community dynamics on turbid, highly urbanised reefs off Singapore. Sci Rep 6:36260
Halford AR, Perret J (2009) Patterns of recovery in catastrophically disturbed reef fish assemblages. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 383:261–272
Harmelin-Vivien ML (1994) The effects of storms and cyclones on coral reefs: a review. J Coastal Res 12:211–231
Harris A, Wilson S, Graham N, Sheppard C (2014) Scleractinian coral communities of the inner Seychelles 10 years after the 1998 mortality event. Aquat Conserv 24:667–679
Hedley J, Roelfsema C, Phinn S, Mumby P (2012) Environmental and sensor limitations in optical remote sensing of coral reefs: Implications for monitoring and sensor design. Remote Sens (Basel) 4:271–302
Hernández-Cruz LR, Purkis SJ, Riegl BM (2006) Documenting decadal spatial changes in seagrass and Acropora palmata cover by aerial photography analysis in Vieques, Puerto Rico: 1937–2000. Bull Mar Sci 79:401–414
Hughes TP, Connell J (1999) Multiple Stressors on coral reefs: A long-term perspective. Limnol Oceanogr 44:932–940
Hughes TP, Graham NAJ, Jackson JBC, Mumby PJ, Steneck RS (2010) Rising to the challenge of sustaining coral reef resilience. Trends Ecol Evol 25:633–642
Hutchings PA (1986) Biological destruction of coral reefs. Coral Reefs 4:239–252
Jackson JBC, Donovan MK, Cramer KL, Lam VYY, Bak RPM, Chollett I, Connolly SR, Cortés J, Dustan P, Eakin CM, Friedlander AM, Greenstein BJ, Heron SF, Hughes T, Miller J, Mumby P, Pandolfi JM, Rogers CS, Steneck R, Weil E, Alemu IJB, Alevizon WS, Arias-González JE, Atkinson A, Ballantine DL, Bastidas C, Bouchon C, Bouchon-Navaro Y, Box S, Brathwaite A, Bruno JF, Caldow C, Carpenter RC, Charpentier BH, Causey B, Chiappone M, Claro R, Cróquer A, Debrot AO, Edmunds P, Fenner D, Fonseca A, Ford MC, Forman K, Forrester GE, Garza-Pérez JR, Gayle PMH, Grimsditch GD, Guzmán HM, Harborne AR, Hardt MJ, Hixon M, Idjadi J, Jaap W, Jeffrey CFG, Johnson AE, Jordán-Dahlgren E, Koltes K, Lang JC, Loya Y, Majil I, Manfrino C, Maréchal JP, McCoy CMR, McField MD, Murdoch T, Nagelkerken I, Rodriguez-Ramirez A, Ruttenberg BI, Ruzicka R, Sandin S, Shulman MJ, Smith SR, Smith TB, Sommer B, Stallings C, Torres RE, Tunnell JW, Vermeij MJA, Williams ID, Witman JD (2014) Part I: Overview and synthesis for the wider Caribbean region. In: Jackson JBC, Donovan MK, Cramer KL, Lam VV (eds) Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970-2012. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, pp 55–154
Johnson JA, Perry CT, Smithers SG, Morgan KM, Santodomingo N, Johnson KG (2017) Palaeoecological records of coral community development on a turbid, nearshore reef complex: baselines for assessing ecological change. Coral Reefs 36:685–700
Jones T, Hughes M, Wood D, Lewis A, Chandler P (2009) Ningaloo coast region visitor statistics: collected for the Ningaloo destination modelling project. Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism, Gold Coast, Queensland
Knowlton N, Jackson JBC (2008) Shifting baselines, local impacts, and global change on coral reefs. PLoS Biol 6(2):e54
Kuffner IB, Walters LJ, Becerro MA, Paul VJ, Ritson-Williams R, Beach KS (2006) Inhibition of coral recruitment by macroalgae and cyanobacteria. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 323:107–117
Lewis J (2002) Evidence from aerial photography of structural loss of coral reefs at Barbados, West Indies. Coral Reefs 21:49–56
Lindenmayer DB, Likens GE (2009) Adaptive monitoring: a new paradigm for long-term research and monitoring. Trends Ecol Evol 24:482–486
Liu G, Strong AE, Skirving W (2003) Remote sensing of sea surface temperature during 2002 Barrier Reef coral bleaching. Eos (Washington DC) 84(15):137–144
Long SC (2007) Disturbance and recovery of coral communities in Bill’s Bay, Ningaloo Marine Park: Field survey 16-23 October 2006. Technical and Data Report MBI-2007/05. Marine Science Program, Department of Environment and Conservation, Perth, Western Australia
Lowe R, Ghisalberti M (2016) Sediment transport processes within coral reef and vegetated coastal ecosystems: a review. Report of Theme 3 - Project 3.1.2, prepared for the Dredging Science Node, Western Australian Marine Science Institution, Perth, Western Australia
Loya Y (1978) Plotless and transect methods. In: Stoddart D, Johannes R (eds) Coral Reef Research Methods. UNESCO, Paris, pp 581–591
Mihoub JB, Henle K, Titeux N, Brotons L, Brummitt NA, Schmeller DS (2017) Setting temporal baselines for biodiversity: the limits of available monitoring data for capturing the full impact of anthropogenic pressures. Sci Rep 7:41591
Mumby PJ, Skirving W, Strong AE, Hardy JT, LeDrew EF, Hochberg EJ, Stumpf RP, David LT (2004) Remote sensing of coral reefs and their physical environment. Mar Pollut Bull 48:219–228
Mumby PJ, Steneck RS (2008) Coral reef management and conservation in light of rapidly evolving ecological paradigms. Trends Ecol Evol 23:555–563
Palandro D, Andréfouët S, Dustan P, Muller-Karger FE (2003) Change detection in coral reef communities using Ikonos satellite sensor imagery and historic aerial photographs. Int J Remote Sens 24:873–878
Pauly D (1995) Anecdotes and the shifting base-line syndrome of fisheries. Trends Ecol Evol 10:430
Pratchett MS, Hoey AS, Wilson SK (2014) Reef degradation and the loss of critical ecosystem goods and services provided by coral reef fishes. Curr Opin Environ Sustain 7:37–43
Rasser M, Riegl B (2002) Holocene coral reef rubble and its binding agents. Coral Reefs 21:57–72
Reguero BG, Beck MW, Agostini VN, Kramer P, Hancock B (2018) Coral reefs for coastal protection: a new methodological approach and engineering case study in Grenada. J Environ Manage 210:146–161
Richards Z (2018) The Coral Compactus: Western Australia - Hard Coral Genus Identification Guide Version 2. Western Australian Museum, Perth, Western Australia
Ryan EJ, Lewis SE, Smithers SG, Clark TR, Zhao J (2016) Multi-scale records of reef development and condition provide context for contemporary changes on inshore reefs. Glob Planet Change 146:162–178
Sabal M (2009) Implications of the Monck Head Boat Launching Facility on Adjacent Intertidal Sessile Assemblages (Coral Bay, Western Australia). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection, Miami University, Ohio
Schutte VGW, Selig ER, Bruno JF (2010) Regional spatio-temporal trends in Caribbean coral reef benthic communities. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 402:115–122
Shedrawi G, Falter JL, Friedman KJ, Lowe RJ, Pratchett MS, Simpson CJ, Speed CW, Wilson SK, Zhang Z (2017) Localised hydrodynamics influence vulnerability of coral communities to environmental disturbances. Coral Reefs 36:861–871
Simpson CJ, Cary JL, Masini RJ (1993) Destruction of corals and other reef animals by coral spawn slicks on Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia. Coral Reefs 12:185–191
Soga M, Gaston KJ (2016) Extinction of experience: the loss of human–nature interactions. Front Ecol Environ 14:94–101
Solihuddin T, Bufarale G, Blakeway D, O’Leary MJ (2016) Geomorphology and late Holocene accretion history of Adele Reef: a northwest Australian mid-shelf platform reef. Geo-Mar Lett 36:465–477
Sweatman H, Delean S, Syms C (2011) Assessing loss of coral cover on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef over two decades, with implications for longer-term trends. Coral Reefs 30:521–531
Syms C, Jones GP (2000) Disturbance, habitat structure and the dynamics of a coral-reef fish community. Ecology 81:2714–2729
Thurstan RH, McClenachan L, Crowder LB, Drew JA, Kittinger JN, Levin PS, Roberts CM, Pandolfi JM (2015) Filling historical data gaps to foster solutions in marine conservation. Ocean Coast Manag 115:31–40
van Schoubroeck P, Long S (2007) Disturbance history of coral reef communities in Bill’s Bay, Ningaloo Marine Park, 1989-2007. Marine Science Program, Department of Environment and Conservation, Perth, Western Australia
Wachenfeld D (1997) Long-term trends in the status of coral-flat benthos: the use of historical photographs. State of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area Workshop: proceedings of a technical workshop. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville, Queensland, pp 134–148
Webb AP, Kench PS (2010) The dynamic response of reef islands to sea-level rise: evidence from multi-decadal analysis of island change in the Central Pacific. Glob Planet Change 72:234–246
Wilkinson C (2000) Status of coral reefs of the world: 2000. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Cape Ferguson, Queensland
Wilson SK, Depczynski M, Fisher R, Holmes TH, O’Leary RA, Tinkler P (2010) Habitat associations of juvenile fish at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia: The importance of coral and algae. PLoS ONE 5:e15185
Wilson SK, Robinson JPW, Chong-Seng K, Robinson J, Graham NAJ (2019) Boom and bust of keystone structure on coral reefs. Coral Reefs 38:625–635
Xu J, Zhao D (2014) Review of coral reef ecosystem remote sensing. Sheng Tai Xue Bao 34:19–25
Yamano H, Kayanne H, Yonekura N, Kudo K (2000) 21-year changes of backreef coral distribution: causes and significance. J Coast Res 16:99–110
Yang D, Yang C (2009) Detection of seagrass distribution changes from 1991 to 2006 in Xincun Bay, Hainan, with satellite remote sensing. Sensors (Basel) 9:830–838
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the Western Australian State Government Department of Transport for access to aerial photographic imagery for the years 1986, 1990, and 1999.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Topic Editor: Mark R Patterson
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Newnham, T.J., Browne, N.K., Bumbak, J. et al. Long-term (70-year) monitoring of reef structure through high-resolution multidecadal aerial imagery. Coral Reefs 39, 1859–1870 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-02012-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-02012-7