Coral reefs, climate change and land-based pollution: past, present and future impacts on coral reefdevelopment

Climate change and declining water quality have been identified as the greatest threats to the Great BarrierReef (GBR) ecosystem. The aims of this work will address key knowledge gaps by: 1) providing detailedinformation on how GBR water quality has changed over the last century; 2) using novel geochemicalproxies in long-lived corals and developing other innovative reef biomonitors; 3) quantifyingcontemporaneous coral reef development and bio-physical reef growth histories; and 4) providing the firstintegrated assessment of how water quality has influenced coral reef formation historically. Findings will beimmediately relevant to the long-term management of the GBR.