Comments

• Hi Anne and Lyle,
  Sounds like it would have been a great talk from Phil Munday! Unlike Phil's irreversible phase shift, coral reef phase shifts can sometimes be reversible if the environment is returned to its previous healthy condition. But of course, prevention is the best cure. We can stop phase shifts from occurring by ensuring the reefs are resilient. Reefs are more resilient if they don't have many stressors at once. A good analogy is that if a person has a cold they have a good chance of fighting that cold and becoming healthy again. But if a person has a cold and many other illnesses, they have less chance of survival. We need to ensure our Great Barrier Reef is more resilient by not giving it many stressors at once and this will give it the best chance to survive imminent climate change and ocean acidification. Of course, we should prevent dangerous climate change too.
  I look forward to seeing you in January.
  Kind Regards Alicia Lloyd (nee Crawley)
  PS. I like your new blog!