Data

AIMS Photo Transects - Yonge Reef Coral Communities From 1981 To 2007

Name: AIMS Photo Transects - Yonge Reef Coral Communities From 1981 To 2007
Published: 2026

Australian Institute of Marine Science

Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)

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ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2FANDS&rft_id=https://apps.aims.gov.au/metadata/view/984c54d7-5cb4-468a-a465-e58d0d7d9756&rft.title=AIMS Photo Transects - Yonge Reef Coral Communities From 1981 To 2007&rft.identifier=https://apps.aims.gov.au/metadata/view/984c54d7-5cb4-468a-a465-e58d0d7d9756&rft.publisher=Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)&rft.description=Starting in the early 1980s, thirty-two permanent photographed sites were established by AIMS to learn about the dynamic behavior of coral communities in the full variety of reef-zones from sheltered nearshore reefs in turbid waters through to the slopes and surf zones of outer reefs, each of which has its own distinctive assemblage of corals. With allied field studies, it was established that in the last two decades of the 20th Century, GBR coral communities exhibited substantial resilience (in terms of restoration of prior percent cover and composition) following disturbances such as floods, crown-of-thorns starfish and cyclone-generated waves. There is presently little basis for setting resilience targets for coral reefs, especially in relation to the great variety of environmental settings and reef-types within the Great Barrier Reef. This project will help scientists provide a much stronger evidence base for the setting of targets and evaluating contemporaneous changes compared to more benign years of late last century.Eight photo-stations were established at Yonge Reef in 1981. This reef, visited during the historic 1928-29 Great Barrier Reef Expedition, is named after the expedition’s leader Sir Maurice Charles Yonge. https://www.jcu.edu.au/library/specials/yonge-collectionYonge Reef is a 7 km long ribbon reef east of Lizard Island. Its reef flat is exposed at extreme low tides, and its morphology is a product of prolific coral growth on its margins, intertidal flats and slopes. The photo-stations sample coral communities in reef flats and slopes on both eastern and western margins of the reef. The photo-stations were established at depths ranging from 2 to 39 metres. There are eight photo-stations, each comprising 3 – 4 overlapping rows of stereo-pairs, and each photographed up to 19 years between 1981 and 2007. Access to the sites was extremely weather and tide dependent, which accounts for differences among the sites in their frequency of visitation.Maintenance and Update Frequency: asNeededStatement: Methods: Each site is represented by 30–36 1m2 images taken in a grid pattern of 3 or 4 adjacent photo transects. Each transects was 8 – 10 m long and marked at each end and near the middle with 12 mm steel pegs. On each survey occasion, a tape measure was stretched between these pegs to guide the acquisition of a set of near vertical overlapping stereo-pairs of 35 mm colour slides. Each stereo-pair, taken at 1 m intervals and from a range of approximately 2 m using paired Nikonos cameras (models II–IV), with 28 mm lenses and a camera base (distance between lenses) of 300 mm, covered an area of about 1 m2. Photography was attempted in most years from 1981 to 2000, but turbid water and/or dangerous conditions on many occasions meant that useable photographs could not be obtained on all visits. All slides (Kodachrome 64) were scanned at three resolutions (approximately 300 Kb, 1.2 and 27 Mb per slide). The images produced here have been cropped, enhanced and reduced to < 1Mb to facilitate their analysis in the Zooniverse citizen science project ‘Follow the Coral’ (2022). https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/pteranodon01/follow-the-coral&rft.creator=Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) &rft.date=2026&rft.coverage=westlimit=145.6267333; southlimit=-14.6087; eastlimit=145.6267333; northlimit=-14.6087&rft.coverage=westlimit=145.6267333; southlimit=-14.6087; eastlimit=145.6267333; northlimit=-14.6087&rft.coverage=westlimit=145.6312; southlimit=-14.58645; eastlimit=145.6312; northlimit=-14.58645&rft.coverage=westlimit=145.6312; southlimit=-14.58645; eastlimit=145.6312; northlimit=-14.58645&rft.coverage=westlimit=145.6312; southlimit=-14.58645; eastlimit=145.6312; northlimit=-14.58645&rft.coverage=westlimit=145.6312; southlimit=-14.58645; eastlimit=145.6312; northlimit=-14.58645&rft.coverage=westlimit=145.6267333; southlimit=-14.6087; eastlimit=145.6267333; northlimit=-14.6087&rft.coverage=westlimit=145.6267333; southlimit=-14.6087; eastlimit=145.6267333; northlimit=-14.6087&rft.coverage=westlimit=145.6312; southlimit=-14.58645; eastlimit=145.6312; northlimit=-14.58645&rft.coverage=westlimit=145.6312; southlimit=-14.58645; eastlimit=145.6312; northlimit=-14.58645&rft.coverage=westlimit=145.624; southlimit=-14.60311667; eastlimit=145.624; northlimit=-14.60311667&rft.coverage=westlimit=145.624; southlimit=-14.60311667; eastlimit=145.624; northlimit=-14.60311667&rft.coverage=westlimit=145.6267333; southlimit=-14.6087; eastlimit=145.6267333; northlimit=-14.6087&rft.coverage=westlimit=145.6267333; southlimit=-14.6087; eastlimit=145.6267333; northlimit=-14.6087&rft_rights=Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Australia License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/au/&rft_rights=Use Limitation: All AIMS data, products and services are provided as is and AIMS does not warrant their fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. While AIMS has made every reasonable effort to ensure high quality of the data, products and services, to the extent permitted by law the data, products and services are provided without any warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of title, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. AIMS make no representation or warranty that the data, products and services are accurate, complete, reliable or current. To the extent permitted by law, AIMS exclude all liability to any person arising directly or indirectly from the use of the data, products and services.&rft_rights=Attribution: Format for citation of metadata sourced from Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) in a list of reference is as follows: Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). (2022). AIMS Photo Transects - Yonge Reef Coral Communities From 1981 To 2007. https://apps.aims.gov.au/metadata/view/984c54d7-5cb4-468a-a465-e58d0d7d9756, accessed[date-of-access].&rft_subject=oceans&rft.type=dataset&rft.language=English Access the data

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Use Limitation: All AIMS data, products and services are provided "as is" and AIMS does not warrant their fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. While AIMS has made every reasonable effort to ensure high quality of the data, products and services, to the extent permitted by law the data, products and services are provided without any warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of title, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. AIMS make no representation or warranty that the data, products and services are accurate, complete, reliable or current. To the extent permitted by law, AIMS exclude all liability to any person arising directly or indirectly from the use of the data, products and services.

Attribution: Format for citation of metadata sourced from Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) in a list of reference is as follows: "Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). (2022). AIMS Photo Transects - Yonge Reef Coral Communities From 1981 To 2007. https://apps.aims.gov.au/metadata/view/984c54d7-5cb4-468a-a465-e58d0d7d9756, accessed[date-of-access]".

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Starting in the early 1980s, thirty-two permanent photographed sites were established by AIMS to learn about the dynamic behavior of coral communities in the full variety of reef-zones from sheltered nearshore reefs in turbid waters through to the slopes and surf zones of outer reefs, each of which has its own distinctive assemblage of corals. With allied field studies, it was established that in the last two decades of the 20th Century, GBR coral communities exhibited substantial resilience (in terms of restoration of prior percent cover and composition) following disturbances such as floods, crown-of-thorns starfish and cyclone-generated waves. There is presently little basis for setting resilience targets for coral reefs, especially in relation to the great variety of environmental settings and reef-types within the Great Barrier Reef. This project will help scientists provide a much stronger evidence base for the setting of targets and evaluating contemporaneous changes compared to more benign years of late last century.

Eight photo-stations were established at Yonge Reef in 1981. This reef, visited during the historic 1928-29 Great Barrier Reef Expedition, is named after the expedition’s leader Sir Maurice Charles Yonge. https://www.jcu.edu.au/library/specials/yonge-collection

Yonge Reef is a 7 km long ribbon reef east of Lizard Island. Its reef flat is exposed at extreme low tides, and its morphology is a product of prolific coral growth on its margins, intertidal flats and slopes. The photo-stations sample coral communities in reef flats and slopes on both eastern and western margins of the reef.

The photo-stations were established at depths ranging from 2 to 39 metres. There are eight photo-stations, each comprising 3 – 4 overlapping rows of stereo-pairs, and each photographed up to 19 years between 1981 and 2007. Access to the sites was extremely weather and tide dependent, which accounts for differences among the sites in their frequency of visitation.

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Maintenance and Update Frequency: asNeeded

Statement: Methods: Each site is represented by 30–36 1m2 images taken in a grid pattern of 3 or 4 adjacent photo transects. Each transects was 8 – 10 m long and marked at each end and near the middle with 12 mm steel pegs. On each survey occasion, a tape measure was stretched between these pegs to guide the acquisition of a set of near vertical overlapping stereo-pairs of 35 mm colour slides. Each stereo-pair, taken at 1 m intervals and from a range of approximately 2 m using paired Nikonos cameras (models II–IV), with 28 mm lenses and a camera base (distance between lenses) of 300 mm, covered an area of about 1 m2. Photography was attempted in most years from 1981 to 2000, but turbid water and/or dangerous conditions on many occasions meant that useable photographs could not be obtained on all visits. All slides (Kodachrome 64) were scanned at three resolutions (approximately 300 Kb, 1.2 and 27 Mb per slide). The images produced here have been cropped, enhanced and reduced to < 1Mb to facilitate their analysis in the Zooniverse citizen science project ‘Follow the Coral’ (2022). https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/pteranodon01/follow-the-coral

Notes

Credit
Bennet, R. (AIMS)

Credit
Wakeford, M. (AIMS)

Credit
Navin, K. (AIMS)

Credit
Fisk, D. (AIMS)

Credit
DeVantier, L. (AIMS)

Credit
Wilice, M. (AIMS)

Credit
Done, T. Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)

Credit
Chin, A. (AIMS volunteer)

Credit
Osborne, K. (AIMS)

Modified: 18 09 2026

This dataset is part of a larger collection

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text: westlimit=145.6267333; southlimit=-14.6087; eastlimit=145.6267333; northlimit=-14.6087

text: westlimit=145.6312; southlimit=-14.58645; eastlimit=145.6312; northlimit=-14.58645

text: westlimit=145.6267333; southlimit=-14.6087; eastlimit=145.6267333; northlimit=-14.6087

text: westlimit=145.6312; southlimit=-14.58645; eastlimit=145.6312; northlimit=-14.58645

text: westlimit=145.624; southlimit=-14.60311667; eastlimit=145.624; northlimit=-14.60311667

text: westlimit=145.6267333; southlimit=-14.6087; eastlimit=145.6267333; northlimit=-14.6087

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global : 984c54d7-5cb4-468a-a465-e58d0d7d9756

AIMS Photo Transects - Yonge Reef Coral Communities From 1981 To 2007

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Notes

This dataset is part of a larger collection

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Download AIMS Transects images Yonge Reef zip folder 8 - Hi-Res [size: 1.47 GB]

Download AIMS Transects images Yonge Reef zip folder 3 [size: 302 MB]

Download AIMS Transects images Yonge Reef zip folder 1 - Hi-Res [size: 1.27 GB]

Download AIMS Transects images Yonge Reef zip folder 2 - Hi-Res [size: 1.52 GB]

Download AIMS Transects images Yonge Reef zip folder 4 - Hi-Res [size: 1.3 GB]

Download AIMS Transects images Yonge Reef zip folder 8 [size: 515 MB]

Yonge Reef Hi Res File Index [xlsx file size: 11KB]

Follow the Coral (zooniverse project link)

Introduction to the Yonge Reef sites [pdf file size: 1MB]

Download AIMS Transects images Yonge Reef zip folder 1 [size: 500 MB]

Download AIMS Transects images Yonge Reef zip folder 7 - Hi-Res [size: 1.20 GB]

Download AIMS Transects images Yonge Reef zip folder 2 [size: 572 MB]

Download AIMS Transects images Yonge Reef zip folder 6 [size: 141 MB]

Download AIMS Transects images Yonge Reef zip folder 4 [size: 460 MB]

Download AIMS Transects images Yonge Reef zip folder 5 - Hi-Res [size: 1.42 GB]

Download AIMS Transects images Yonge Reef zip folder 6 - Hi-Res [size: 330 MB]

Download AIMS Transects images Yonge Reef zip folder 3 - Hi-Res [size: 850 MB]

Download AIMS Transects images Yonge Reef zip folder 5 [size: 415 MB]

Download AIMS Transects images Yonge Reef zip folder 7 [size: 390 MB]