Prof Terry Hughes ~ Distinguished Professor
College of Science & Engineering
- About
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- Interests
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- Research
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- In the past five years, my research has increasingly evolved in a new direction, moving from an ecological focus to a broader evaluation of the linkages between coral reef ecosystems and people. This new program focuses on solutions for managing resilience and for coping with change and uncertainty in complex social-ecological systems. The ARC Centre is developing further research capacity in this area by strategic recruitment of social scientists, creating a unique multi-disciplinary team of the highest calibre. My recent work has focussed on market drivers of ecological change, missing institutions, identifying safe planetary boundaries for human development, avoiding social traps, and transformative governance of the sea in Australia, Chile, China, the Galapagos Islands, Gulf of Maine and the Coral Triangle. My future research will focus on the linkages between coral reef ecosystems, the goods and services they provide to people, and the welfare of human societies. The objective is to improve the governance and management of natural systems and enhance their capacity to sustain human and natural capital. The overarching goal is to integrate the science of coral reef resilience with decision-making and management.
- Research Disciplines
Professor Terry Hughes is Director of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, which is headquartered at James Cook University, Australia. His research focuses on the linkages between the ecology of reefs and their importance for societies and economies. He has worked extensively in Australia, the Coral Triangle Region, and in the Caribbean. An important aspect of his research is understanding the dynamics and resilience of coral reefs, and translating this knowledge into innovative and practical solutions for improved reef management.
- Honours
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- Awards
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- 2014 - Einstein Professorship
- 2008 - The Darwin Medal
- 2007 - Eureka Sherman Prize for Environmental Science
- Fellowships
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- 2012 to 2017 - ARC Laureate Fellow
- 2007 to 2012 - Federation Fellow
- 2002 to 2007 - Federation Fellow
- Publications
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These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.
- Journal Articles
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- Dietzel A, Bode M, Connolly S and Hughes T (2020) Long-term shifts in the colony size structure of coral populations along the Great Barrier Reef. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological Sciences, 287 (1936), DOI:10.1098/rspb.2020.1432.
- Duarte C, Agusti S, Barbier E, Britten G, Carlos Castilla J, Gattuso J, Fulweiler R, Hughes T, Knowlton N, Lovelock C, Lotze H, Predragovic M, Poloczanska E, Roberts C and Worm B (2020) Rebuilding marine life. Nature, 580 (7801), pp. 39-51, DOI:10.1038/s41586-020-2146-7.
- McWilliam M, Pratchett M, Hoogenboom M and Hughes T (2020) Deficits in functional trait diversity following recovery on coral reefs. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological Sciences, 287, Article: 20192628, DOI:10.1098/rspb.2019.2628.
- Morrison T, Adger W, Brown K, Hettiarachchi M, Huchery C, Lemos M and Hughes T (2020) Political dynamics and governance of World Heritage ecosystems. Nature Sustainability, , DOI:10.1038/s41893-020-0568-8.
- Morrison T, Adger N, Barnett J, Brown K, Possingham H and Hughes T (2020) Advancing coral reef governance into the Anthropocene. One Earth, 2 (1), pp. 64-74, DOI:10.1016/j.oneear.2019.12.014.
- Polasky S, Crepin A, Biggs R, Carpenter S, Folke C, Peterson G, Scheffer M, Barrett S, Daily G, Ehrlich P, Howarth R, Hughes T, Levin S, Shogren J, Troell M, Walker B and Xepapadeas A (2020) Corridors of clarity: four principles to overcome uncertainty paralysis in the Anthropocene. BioScience, 70 (12), pp. 1139-1144, DOI:10.1093/biosci/biaa115.
- Turner M, Calder W, Cumming G, Hughes T, Jentsch A, LaDeau S, Lenton T, Shuman B, Turetsky M, Ratajczak Z, Williams J, Williams A and Carpenter S (2020) Climate change, ecosystems and abrupt change: science priorities. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 375 (1794), Article: 20190105, DOI:10.1098/rstb.2019.0105.
- Bellwood D, Pratchett M, Morrison T, Gurney G, Hughes T, Álvarez-Romero J, Day J, Grantham R, Grech A, Hoey A, Jones G, Pandolfi J, Tebbett S, Techera E, Weeks R and Cumming G (2019) Coral reef conservation in the Anthropocene: confronting spatial mismatches and prioritizing functions. Biological Conservation, 236, pp. 604-615, DOI:10.1016/j.biocon.2019.05.056.
- Cohen P, Allison E, Andrew N, Cinner J, Evans L, Fabinyi M, Garces L, Hall S, Hicks C, Hughes T, Jentoft S, Mills D, Masu R, Mbaru E and Ratner B (2019) Securing a just space for small-scale fisheries in the blue economy. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, Article: 171, DOI:10.3389/fmars.2019.00171.
- Harrison H, Álvarez-Noriega M, Baird A, Heron S, Macdonald C and Hughes T (2019) Back-to-back coral bleaching events on isolated atolls in the Coral Sea. Coral Reefs, 38 (4), pp. 713-719, DOI:10.1007/s00338-018-01749-6.
- Hughes T, Kerry J, Baird A, Connolly S, Chase T, Dietzel A, Hill T, Hoey A, Hoogenboom M, Jacobson M, Kerswell A, Madin J, Mieog A, Paley A, Pratchett M, Torda G and Woods R (2019) Global warming impairs stock-recruitment dynamics of corals. Nature, 568 (7752), pp. 387-401, DOI:10.1038/s41586-019-1081-y.
- Hughes T, Kerry J, Connolly S, Baird A, Eakin C, Heron S, Hoey A, Hoogenboom M, Jacobson M, Liu G, Pratchett M, Skirving W and Torda G (2019) Ecological memory modifies the cumulative impact of recurrent climate extremes. Nature Climate Change, 9 (1), pp. 40-44, DOI:10.1038/s41558-018-0351-2.
- More
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ResearchOnline@JCU stores 158+ research outputs authored by Prof Terry Hughes from 1980 onwards.
- Current Funding
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Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.
Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation - Donation
GBR Coral Replenishment
- Indicative Funding
- $63,181 over 4 years
- Summary
- This funding will be used to support our research on the capacity of coral reefs to cope with climate change. Specifically, in 2019 we will examine the rate of coral replenishment along the length of the Great Barrier Reef, in the aftermath of the two bleaching events in 2016 and 2017. The objective is to compare stock-recruitment relationships today with earlier, to better understand the recoverability of reefs.
- Investigators
- Terry Hughes (ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies)
- Keywords
- Climate Change; stock recruitment relationships; coral replenishment; reef recoverability; Coral Bleaching
Alliance of the CGIAR Centres - Contract Research
CGIAR Fish-Agri-Food Systems.
- Indicative Funding
- $429,091 over 4 years (administered by WorldFish, Malaysia)
- Summary
- JCU and WorldFish are committed to delivery of Flagship 2 "Sustaining small-scale fisheries" of the FISH CRP, and in particular Cluster 1 Resilient Coastal Fisheries and with contributions towards Cluster 3 Fish in Regional Food Systems (Program description http://on.cgiar.org/CRP2Proposals). This partnership will produce novel research contributing to increasing nutrition-sensitive fisheries management and policy for small-scale coastal fisheries, and leading to increased adpative capacity and resilience of small-scale coastal fisheries in the face of climate change. This partnership also represents a strong opportunity to build research-in0development capacity of students and post-doctoral research fellows based in Australia and in WorldFish focal countries.
- Investigators
- Joshua Cinner, Terry Hughes and Cindy Huchery (ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies)
- Keywords
- Pacific Islands; small scale coastal fisheries; Climate Change; adaptive capacity and resilience; food security and nutrition; Sustainable Fisheries
Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research - Research Grant
Research Fellow: Governing for resilience and equity in small-scale fisheries
- Indicative Funding
- $180,000 over 4 years (administered by World Fish, Malaysia)
- Summary
- The objective of this project is to enhance collaborative research between WorldFish and the Centre of Excellence with a particular focus on participation of the Centre in ACIAR's project 'Strengthening and scaling community-based approaches to Pacific coastal fisheries management in support of the New Song." WorldFish and the Centre will co-fund a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to undertake research on governing for food security, equity and resilience in Pacific small-scale fisheries.
- Investigators
- Terry Hughes (ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies)
- Keywords
- Pacific Islands; Small scale fisheries management; Gender equity; Food Security; Resilience; Sustainability
Australian Research Council - Discovery - Australian Laureate Fellowships
Science for management of coral reefs
- Indicative Funding
- $2,511,216 over 6 years
- Summary
- The overarching aim is to increase knowledge of the dynamics and resilience of ecosystems (i.e. their capacity to absorb recurrent shocks without tipping into a degraded condition), and to incorporate these research findings into improved management of coral reefs. The Fellowship will develop research programs of international significance through the establishment of new collaborative teams that transcend disciplinary boundaries. Coral reefs provide essential ecosystem services and food security to millions of people. A key outcome of the research will be to actively transfer scientific knowledge to end-users, to increase their capacity and effectiveness and provide tangible benefits to all Australians.
- Investigators
- Terry Hughes (ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies)
- Keywords
- Coral reefs; Ecosystems; Biodiversity; Ecology; social-ecological systems; Resilience; regime-shift
- Supervision
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Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.
These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.
- Completed
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- Applying ecological coexistence theory to improve management (2020, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
- Adaptive strategies in reef-building corals (2017, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
- The functional diversity and redundancy of corals (2019, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
- The viability of coral populations in the Anthropocene (2020, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
- Data
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These are the most recent metadata records associated with this researcher. To see a detailed description of all dataset records, visit Research Data Australia.
- Hughes, T. (2019) Global warming impairs stock-recruitment dynamics of corals. James Cook University
- Hughes, T. (2018) Ecological memory modifies the cumulative impact of recurrent climate extremes. James Cook University
- McWilliam, M. (2018) Biogeographical disparity in the functional diversity and redundancy of corals. James Cook University
- McWilliam, M. (2018) Disturbance, recovery and the depletion of functional diversity on coral reefs. James Cook University
- McWilliam, M. (2018) Neighbour diversity regulates the productivity of coral assemblages. James Cook University
- Hughes, T. (2018) Global warming transforms coral reef assemblages. James Cook University
- Connolly, S. (2017) Data from: A unified model explains commonness and rarity on coral reefs. James Cook University
- Collaboration
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The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.- 5+ collaborations
- 4 collaborations
- 3 collaborations
- 2 collaborations
- 1 collaboration
- Indicates the Tropics (Torrid Zone)
Connect with me
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- Advisory Accreditation
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My research areas
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Prof Morgan PratchettARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
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Dr Jacqueline LauARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
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Dr Georgina GurneyARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies