- Research Scientist, Responding to Climate Change team
Role
Background
- Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (1986 - 1999) - Impact assessment, acquisition and application of research to help management of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
- Australian Institute of Marine Science (1999 - present) - Research into climate change impacts and adaptation of coral reefs.
Education
- 2002: PhD in Marine Biology and Aquaculture, School of Marine Biology, James Cook University.
- 1979: BSc in Marine Biology and Zoology, James Cook University.
Current Research Activities
My research interests are in climate change effects on coral reefs and in particular thermal stress causing a breakdown in the symbiosis between the corals and their algal partners, the zooxanthellae. As a physiological ecologist, I am interested in both the large-scale picture as well as the small-scale "looking under the bonnet" science of bleaching. Adaptation to climate warming, resilience of reef communities and upwelling are current research pursuits. I also run a long-term temperature monitoring program in Australia's tropical and subtropical corals reefs.
Publications
Over 40 science and technical papers in international journals. The following are a selection of recent publications.
Cooper TF, Berkelmans R, Weeks S, Ulstrup KE, Radford B, et al. (In Press) Environmental factors controlling the distribution of Symbiodinium harboured by the coral Acropora millepora on the Great Barrier Reef. PLoS ONE.
van Oppen MJH, Souter P, Howells EJ, Heyward AJ, Berkelmans R (2011) Novel genetic diversity through somatic mutations: Fuel for adaptation of reef corals? Diversity 3: 405-423.
Jones AM, Berkelmans R (2011) Tradeoffs to thermal acclimation: energetics and reproduction of a reef coral with heat tolerant Symbiodinium type-D. Journal of Marine Biology 2011: Article ID 185890.
Berkelmans R, Weeks S, Steinberg CR (2010) Upwelling linked to warm summers and bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef. Limnology & Oceanography 55: 2634-2644.
Jones AM, Berkelmans R (2010) Potential costs of acclimatization to a warmer climate: Growth of a reef coral with heat tolerant vs. sensitive symbiont types. PLoS ONE 5: e10437.
Császár NMB, Ralph PJ, Frankham R, Berkelmans R, van Oppen MJH (2010) Estimating the Potential for Adaptation of Corals to Climate Warming. PLoS ONE 5: e9751.
Lough JM, Bainbridge S, Berkelmans R, Steinberg CR (2010) Physical monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef to understand ecological responses to climate change. pp 66-110. In: You Y, Henderson-Sellers A (eds) Climate Alert: Climate Change Monitoring and Strategy. Sydney University Press, Sydney.
Berkelmans R (2009) Bleaching and mortality thresholds: How much is too much? pp 103-119. In: van Oppen MJH, Lough JM (eds) Coral Bleaching: Patterns, Processes, Causes and Consequences. Ecological Studies 205, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg.
Jones AM, Berkelmans R, van Oppen MJH, Mieog JC, Sinclair W (2008) A community shift in the symbionts of a scleractinian coral following a natural bleaching event: field evidence of acclimatization. Proc R Soc London, B 275: 1359-1365.
Berkelmans R, van Oppen MJH (2006) The role of zooxanthellae in the thermal tolerance of corals: a 'nugget of hope' for coral reefs in an era of climate change. Proc R Soc London 273: 2305-2312.
