CANBERRA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Efforts to control populations of damaging starfish on Australia's iconic Great Barrier Reef have resulted in improved reef health, research has found.
According to a study published by the federal government-funded Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) on Thursday, coral cover in regions of the reef subjected to targeted crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) control has increased by 44 percent.
Covered in thorns containing toxins that are venomous to humans and marine animals, an adult COTS can consume up to 10 square meters of coral every year.
Major outbreaks of COTS have been identified as a major cause of coral decline on the Great Barrier Reef over the last 40 years, prompting the establishment of the Crown-of-thorns Starfish Control Program by the federal government in 2011.
The new research found that during the most recent COTS outbreak on the reef from 2010-2022, starfish numbers were up to six times lower than during the 1998-2008 outbreak.
In areas where COTS were effectively suppressed, live coral cover grew by 44 percent during the 2010-2022 outbreak compared to declines of up to 37 percent during the previous outbreak.
Roger Beeden, chief scientist at the GBRMPA, said the findings demonstrated the long-term benefits of suppressing outbreaks of the starfish.
"This study shows targeted surveillance and culling can effectively suppress crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks and protect coral across entire reefs and regions, which is vital to the Reef, especially during times of stress," he said in a media release.
The study was conducted in collaboration with researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, James Cook University, and the University of New South Wales. ■
