Dr Manuel Gonzalez Rivero wearing a blue shirt,  with the ocean and islands in the background.

Dr Manuel Gonzalez Rivero

Research Team Leader
Reef Process Dynamics
Townsville
Background
About

Broad research interests on multidisciplinary approaches to understand drivers of change in coral reefs ecosystems, and ultimately, to inform ecosystem-based management. This involves areas such as spatial and disturbance ecology, coral reef monitoring and ecosystem-based mathematical modelling. 

My research background covers different angles of coral reef ecology: 
Ecology of coral reef sponges
Exploring aspects of theoretical ecology in coral reefs, using field observations, experimental work and mathematical models, to understand long-term trajectories.
Experimental biology to evaluate climate change effects on phenological patterns
Global coral reef monitoring by implementing technological advances in artificial intelligence to explore broad-scale patterns of coral reef change at high-definition (XL Catlin Seaview Survey)

 

Employment
2021 - Current
Principle Reseach Scientist, Team Leader - Reef Process Dynamics, Australian Insititute of Marine Science, Townsville, AU
2020 -2021
Senior Research Scientist, Team Lead - Biological and Ecological Monitoring (East), Australian Insititute of Marine Science, Townsville, AU
2017-2020
Research Scientist, Australian Insititute of Marine Science, Townsville, AU
2014-2017
Post-Doctoral Fellow (Global Change Institute), University of Queensland, Brisbane AU
2012-2014
Post Doctoral Fellow (School of Biological Sciences), University of Queensland, Brisbae AU
Education
2012
PhD in Biological Sciences - University of Exeter, UK
2005
BSc in Biological Sciences - Universidad Central de Venezuela, Venezuela
Research

A part of the Coral Reef monitoring group at AIMS my current research covers: 

  • Contribute to coral reef monitoring projects, approaches and data analyses to advance the applicability and outputs of this research.
  • Capitalise on technological advances to support fast-tracking and up-scaling coral reef monitoring such as: Automated image recognition, Autonomous underwater vehicles, 3D modelling and Habitat Mapping.
  • Understanding the impact cumulative and independent drivers on coral reef change.
Research areas

Image Analysis, Marine Ecology, Ecology, Marine Biology, Climate Change, Ecology and Evolution, Segmentation, Spatial Analysis, Biodiversity, Remote Sensing

Publications

Fabricius, Katharina & Cooley, Sarah & Golbuu, Yimnang & Riginos, Cynthia & Gonzalez-Rivero, Manuel & Heron, Scott & Mead, David & Cinner, Joshua & Schaffelke, Britta. (2024). Research priorities to support coral reefs during rapid climate change. PLOS Climate. 3. 10.1371/journal.pclm.000043

Cresswell, Anna & Haller-Bull, Vanessa & Gonzalez-Rivero, Manuel & Gilmour, James & Bozec, Yves-Marie & Barneche, Diego & Robson, Barbara & Anthony, Ken & Doropoulos, Christopher & Roelfsema, Chris & Lyons, Mitchell & Mumby, Peter & Condie, Scott & Lago, Veronique & Ortiz, Juan-Carlos. (2024). Reproducing within-reef variability in coral dynamics with a metacommunity modelling framework. 10.1101/2024.01.21.576579 

Vercelloni, Julie & Roelfsema, Chris & Kovacs, Eva & Gonzalez-Rivero, Manuel & Moores, Matt & Logan, Murray & Mengersen, Kerrie. (2023). Fine-scale interplay between decline and growth determines the spatial recovery of coral communities within a reef. 10.32942/X28597

Ditria, Ellen & Buelow, Christina & Gonzalez-Rivero, Manuel & Connolly, Rod. (2022). Artificial intelligence and automated monitoring for assisting conservation of marine ecosystems: A perspective. Frontiers in Marine Science. 9. 918104. 10.3389/fmars.2022.918104 

Harborne, Alastair & Kochan, David & Esch, Melanie & Fidler, Robert & Mitchell, Matthew & Butkowski, Drew & Gonzalez-Rivero, Manuel. (2022). Drivers of fine‐scale diurnal space use by a coral‐reef mesopredatory fish. Journal of Fish Biology. 100. 10.1111/jfb.15006

Ferrari Legorreta, Renata & Leon, Javier & Davies, Andrew & Burns, John & Sandin, Stuart & Figueira, Will & Gonzalez-Rivero, Manuel. (2022). Editorial: Advances in 3D Habitat Mapping of Marine Ecosystem Ecology and Conservation. Frontiers in Marine Science. 8. 10.3389/fmars.2021.827430

Castro Sanguino, Carolina & Bozec, Yves-Marie & Callaghan, D. & Vercelloni, Julie & Rodriguez-Ramirez, A. & Lopez-Marcano, Sebastian & Gonzalez-Marrero, Yeray & Puotinen, Marjetta & Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove & Gonzalez-Rivero, Manuel. (2021). Coral composition and bottom-wave metrics improve understanding of the patchiness of cyclone damage on reefs. Science of The Total Environment. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150178

Roelfsema, Chris & Kovacs, Eva & Vercelloni, Julie & Markey, Kathryn & Rodriguez-Ramirez, Alberto & Lopez-Marcano, Sebastian & Gonzalez-Rivero, Manuel & Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove & Phinn, Stuart. (2021). Fine-scale time series surveys reveal new insights into spatio-temporal trends in coral cover (2002–2018), of a coral reef on the Southern Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs. 40. 10.1007/s00338-021-02104-y

Cornwall, Christopher & Comeau, Steeve & Kornder, Niklas & Perry, Chris & van Hooidonk, Ruben & Decarlo, Thomas & Pratchett, Morgan & King, Kristen & Browne, Nicola & Carpenter, Robert & Diaz-Pulido, Guillermo & D'Olivo, Juan & Doo, Steve & Figueiredo, Joana & Fortunato, Sofia & Kennedy, Emma & Lantz, Coulson & McCulloch, Malcolm & Gonzalez-Rivero, Manuel & Lowe, Ryan. (2021). Global declines in coral reef calcium carbonate production under ocean acidification and warming. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 118. e2015265118. 10.1073/pnas.2015265118

Over 60 Publciations -> See more