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| Observed impacts | Location of documented impacts | Climate driver | Management to support adaptation |
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| Giant kelp decline by up to 95% | Eastern Tasmania | Increasing ocean temperature | Maintain ecosystem connectivity; interventions to replant communities |
| Changed structure of nearshore zooplankton communities | Eastern Tasmania | Increasing ocean temperature | Maintain ecosystem connectivity |
| Poleward range extension of the long-spined sea urchin causing habitat changes | Eastern Tasmania | Increasing ocean temperature | Interventions to rehabilitate degraded habitats; removal of locally invasive species; artificial habitats for displaced species |
| Poleward shifts of seaweed species | SE Australia, SW Australia | Increasing ocean temperature | Maintain ecosystem connectivity |
| Reduced resilience of kelp to disturbances at the northern limit of their range | SW Australia | Increasing ocean temperature | Maintain ecosystem connectivity; reduce other stressors on kelp communities |
| Range contraction of habitat-forming seaweed and decline in habitat condition | SW Australia | Increasing ocean temperature | Maintain ecosystem connectivity; reduce other stressors on habitats in decline |
| Tropicalization of fish communities | SW Australia, Tasmania | Increasing ocean temperature | Maintain ecosystem connectivity |
| Decline of 11.4% in coral calcification since 1990 | Great Barrier Reef, northeast Australia | Ocean acidification and increasing ocean temperature | Maintain ecosystem connectivity |
| Declines in fish diversity after climate-related habitat disturbances (coral bleaching and storms) | Great Barrier Reef, northeast Australia | Marine heat waves and more intense storms | Maintain ecosystem connectivity; reduce other stressors on affected fish populations during recovery |
| Reduced adult foraging and chick provisioning of some species of tropical seabirds | Great Barrier Reef, northeast Australia | Marine heat waves and more intense storms | Reduce other stressors on tropical seabird populations and breeding activities |
| Loss of primary seabird nesting islands | Great Barrier Reef, northern Australia | Altered rainfall patterns and more intense storms (future sea-level rise) | Reduce other stressors on seabird nesting islands; rehabilitate degraded islands; provide artificial nesting sites |
| Declines in coral cover from 28% to 14% since 1985 | Great Barrier Reef, northeast Australia | Marine heat waves and more intense storms (and crown-of-thorn starfish) | Maintain ecosystem connectivity; reduce other stressors on coral reefs |
| Declines in seagrass meadows since 2009 with 94% of sites surveyed classified as being in “poor” or “very poor” condition | Great Barrier Reef, northeast Australia | Extreme rainfall events and more intense storms | Maintain ecosystem connectivity; reduce other stressors on seagrass meadows; rehabilitate severely degraded habitats |
| Reduced coralline algae biomass and recruitment | Temperate and tropical Australian reefs | Ocean acidification | Maintain ecosystem connectivity |
| Reduced calcification of benthic invertebrates | Experimental—projected Australia-wide | Ocean acidification | Maintain ecosystem connectivity; reduce other stressors on benthic invertebrates |
| Coral bleaching and mortality, and resultant habitat declines | Great Barrier Reef, northeast Australia; Ningaloo Reef, northwest Australia; Torres Strait, northern point | Marine heat waves | Maintain ecosystem connectivity; reduce other stressors on coral reefs |
| Marine turtle nesting failures | Northern Australia | Increasing sand temperature and inundation (greater storm surge and sea-level rise) | Reduce other stressors on turtle nesting islands; relocate nests; provide artificial shade at nest sites |
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