Focus On: Cyclones

Cyclones don't just cause damage when they hit land - they can affect marine systems too. Below is a collection of articles examining the impacts of cyclones on marine life when they pass over water and coastal areas.

All articles below are from journals that AIMS is subscribed to, and should therefore be freely accessible by AIMS staff.

Please note the publication dates on these articles as many are older articles.

A.D. McKinnon, M.G. Meekan, J.H. Carleton, M.J. Furnas, S. Duggan, W. Skirving (2003) Rapid changes in shelf waters and pelagic communities on the southern Northwest Shelf, Australia, following a tropical cyclone, Continental Shelf Research, Volume 23, Issue 1, 93-111 Link to Abstract/Full Text

B. Delesalle, M. Pichon, M. Frankignoulle, and J.-P. Gattuso (1993) Effects of a cyclone on coral reef phytoplankton biomass, primary production and composition (Moorea Island, French Polynesia), J. Plankton Res. Volume 15(12), 1413-1423 Link to Abstract/Full Text

C.B. Fandry, R.K. Steedman (1994) Modelling the dynamics of the transient, barotropic response of continental shelf waters to tropical cyclones, Continental Shelf Research, Volume 14, Issue 15, 1723-1750 Link to Abstract/Full Text

C. S. Law, E. M. S. Woodward, M. J. Ellwood, A. Marriner, S. J. Bury and K. A. Safi (2011) Response of surface nutrient inventories and nitrogen fixation to a tropical cyclone in the southwest Pacific, Limnology and Oceanography, Volume 56, Issue 4, 1372–1385 Link to Abstract/Full Text

E.I. Paling, H.T. Kobryn, G. Humphreys (2008) Assessing the extent of mangrove change caused by Cyclone Vance in the eastern Exmouth Gulf, northwestern Australia, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Volume 77, Issue 4, 603-613 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Erika Woolsey, Scott J. Bainbridge, Michael J. Kingsford, Maria Byrne (2012) Impacts of cyclone Hamish at One Tree Reef: integrating environmental and benthic habitat data, Marine Biology, Volume 159, Issue 4, 793-803 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Fern B. Halper, William W. Schroeder (1990) The response of shelf waters to the passage of tropical cyclones—observations from the Gulf of Mexico, Continental Shelf Research, Volume 10, Issue 8, 777-793 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Fuh-Kwo Shiah, Shi-Wei Chung, Shuh-Ji Kao, Gwo-Ching Gong, Kon-Kee Liu (2000) Biological and hydrographical responses to tropical cyclones (typhoons) in the continental shelf of the Taiwan Strait, Continental Shelf Research, Volume 20, Issue 15, 2029-2044 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Garry R. Russ, Laurence J. McCook (1999) Potential effects of a cyclone on benthic algal production and yield to grazers on coral reefs across the central Great Barrier Reef, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, Volume 235, Issue 2, 237-254 Link to Abstract/Full Text

G. Diaz-Pulido, A. Chin, J. Davidson, L. J. McCook (2007) Cyclone promotes rapid colonisation of benthic diatoms in the Great Barrier Reef, Coral Reefs, Volume 26, Issue 4, 787 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Jinlun Zhang, Carin Ashjian, Robert Campbell, Victoria Hill, Yvette H. Spitz, Michael Steele (2014) The great 2012 Arctic Ocean summer cyclone enhanced biological productivity on the shelves, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Volume 119, Issue 1, 297–312 Link to Abstract/Full Text

J. P. Gilmour, L. D. Smith (2006) Category 5 cyclone at Scott Reef, northwestern Australia, Coral Reefs, Volume 25, Issue 2, 200 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Katharina E. Fabricius, Glenn De'ath, Marji Lee Puotinen, Terry Done, Timothy F. Cooper and Scott C. Burgess (2008) Disturbance gradients on inshore and offshore coral reefs caused by a severe tropical cyclone, Limnology and Oceanography, Volume 53, Issue 2, 690–704 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Martin J. Riddle (1988) Cyclone and bioturbation effects on sediments from coral reef lagoons, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Volume 27, Issue 6, 687-695 Link to Abstract/Full Text

M. M. P. B. Fuentes and D. Abbs (2010) Effects of projected changes in tropical cyclone frequency on sea turtles, MEPS, 412, 283-292 Link to Abstract/Full Text

N. Guillemot, P. Chabanet, O. Le Pape (2010) Cyclone effects on coral reef habitats in New Caledonia (South Pacific), Coral Reefs , Volume 29, Issue 2, 445-453 Link to Abstract/Full Text

N.R. Loneragan, M. Kangas, M.D.E. Haywood, R.A. Kenyon, N. Caputi, E. Sporer (2013) Impact of cyclones and aquatic macrophytes on recruitment and landings of tiger prawns Penaeus esculentus in Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Volume 127, 46-58 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Paul C. Fiedler, Jessica V. Redfern, Joel Van Noord, Candice Hall, Robert L. Pitman and Lisa T. Ballance (2013) Effects of a tropical cyclone on a pelagic ecosystem from the physical environment to top predators, MEPS, 484, 1-16 Link to Abstract/Full Text

P. Bongaerts, P. Muir, N. Englebert, T. C. L. Bridge, O. Hoegh-Guldberg (2013) Cyclone damage at mesophotic depths on Myrmidon Reef (GBR), Coral Reefs, Volume 32, Issue 4, 935 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Peter T. Harris, Andrew D. Heap (2009) Cyclone-induced net sediment transport pathway on the continental shelf of tropical Australia inferred from reef talus deposits, Continental Shelf Research, Volume 29, Issue 16, 2011-2019 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Robert E. Scheibling and Jean-Sébastien Lauzon-Guay (2010) Killer storms: North Atlantic hurricanes and disease outbreaks in sea urchins, Limnology and Oceanography, Volume 55, Issue 6, 2331–2338 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Sílvia Anglès, Antoni Jordi and Lisa Campbell (2015) Responses of the coastal phytoplankton community to tropical cyclones revealed by high-frequency imaging flow cytometry, Limnology and Oceanography, Link to Abstract/Full Text

T.J. Done (1992) Effects of tropical cyclone waves on ecological and geomorphological structures on the Great Barrier Reef, Continental Shelf Research, Volume 12, Issues 7–8, 859-872 Link to Abstract/Full Text

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