Dr Zoe Richards

Qualifications

BSc (Hons), PhD

Research Areas

• Scleractinian coral taxonomy and molecular systematics
• Cnidarian biodiversity, biogeography and phylogeography
• Conservation biology and genetics
• Community and population ecology
• Benthic baseline biodiversity surveys and monitoring

Collections

Conducts and facilitates research on scleractinian corals, and other Cnidarians with a key focus on East Indian Ocean localities and tropical Australasia. 

Services (to other bodies)

Represents the Western Australian Museum at meetings, workshops and provides expert advice about the status, management and conservation of hard corals, coral reef ecosystems and benthic biodiversity more generally. Member of the IUCN Coral Specialist Group. Jointly appointed at Curtin University. 

Websites

Marine Life of the Kimberley Region

The Coral Compactus: Western Australia Hard Coral Genus Identification Guide Version 2

Exhibitions and Public Programs

Provide identifications and expert advice to the public, students, government departments and researchers on all aspects of coral biodiversity and coral reef science.  

Podcasts

The coral reef you didn’t know you needed to know about

Abrolhos Islands
 

Publications

Zoe’s full publication list can be found here.

Publications ‘2020-present’:
Book Chapters

1. Richards, Z. T., Stat, M., Heydenrych, M., & DiBattista, J. D. (2022). Environmental DNA for Biodiversity Monitoring of Coral Reefs. Coral Reef Conservation and Restoration in the Omics Age, 15, 203.

Peer-reviewed Articles

1. Richards, Z.T., Haines, L., et al., (in press) Deoxygenation following coral spawning and low-level thermal stress trigger mass coral mortality at Coral Bay, Ningaloo Reef. Coral Reefs.

2. Richards, Z.T., Pichon, M., Wallace, C. (in press). Biodiversity and biogeography of zooxanthellte corals in Australasia revisited based on new data from the Kimberley. Records of the Western Australian Museum.

3. Sacco, M., Mammola, S., Altermatt, F., et al. (2023). Groundwater is a hidden global keystone ecosystem. Global Change Biology, 30(1): e17066

4. Petrone, M. E., Parry, R., Mifsud, J. C. O., Van Brussel, K., Vorhees, I., Richards, Z. T., & Holmes, E. C. (2023). Evidence for an ancient aquatic origin of the RNA viral order Articulavirales. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(45), e2310529120-e2310529120.

5. Madin, J. S., McWilliam, M., Quigley, K., Bay, L. K., Bellwood, D., Doropoulos, C., ... & van Oppen, M. J. (2023). Selecting coral species for reef restoration. Journal of Applied Ecology, 60(8), 1537-1544.

6. Quek, ZBR., Jain, S. S., Richards, Z. T., Arrigoni, R., Benzoni, F., Hoeksema, B. W., ... & Huang, D. (2023). A hybrid-capture approach to reconstruct the phylogeny of Scleractinia (Cnidaria: Hexacorallia). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 107867-107867.

7. Takahashi, M., Saccò, M., Kestel, J. H., Nester, G., Campbell, M. A., Newton, J. P., ... & Allentoft, M. E. (2023). Aquatic environmental DNA: A review of the macro-organismal biomonitoring revolution. Science of the Total Environment, 873, 162322.

8. Carmignani, A., Radice, V. Z., McMahon, K. M., Holman, A. I., Miller, K., Grice, K., & Richards, Z. (2023). Levels of autotrophy and heterotrophy in mesophotic corals near the end photic zone. Frontiers in Marine Science.

9. Cannon, S. E., Donner, S. D., Liu, A., González Espinosa, P. C., Baird, A. H., Baum, J. K., ... & Wilson, S. K. (2023). Macroalgae exhibit diverse responses to human disturbances on coral reefs. Global Change Biology, 29(12), 3318.

10. Richards, Z. T., Kise, H., & West, K. M. (2023). The complete mitochondrial genome of the invasive cyanobacteriosponge Terpios hoshinota (Demospongiae, Suberitida, Suberitidae). Mitochondrial DNA. Part B, Resources, 8(2), 319.

11. Nester, G.M., Heydenrych, M.J., Berry, T.E., Richards, Z., Wasserman, J., White, N.E., De Brauwer, M., Bunce, M., Takahashi, M. and Claassens, L., 2023. Characterizing the distribution of the critically endangered estuarine pipefish (Syngnathus watermeyeri) across its range using environmental DNA. Environmental DNA, 5(1), pp.132-145

12. Zhang, J., Richards, Z. T., Adam, A. A., Chan, C. X., Shinzato, C., Gilmour, J., ... & Cooke, I. R. (2022). Evolutionary responses of a reef-building coral to climate change at the end of the last glacial maximum. bioRxiv, 2022-04.

13. Adam, A. A., Thomas, L., Underwood, J., Gilmour, J., & Richards, Z. T. (2022). Population connectivity and genetic offset in the spawning coral Acropora digitifera in Western Australia. Molecular Ecology, 31(13), 3533-3547.

14. Juszkiewicz, D. J., White, N. E., Stolarski, J., Benzoni, F., Arrigoni, R., Hoeksema, B. W., ... & Richards, Z. T. Phylogeography of recent Plesiastrea (Scleractinia: Plesiastreidae) based on an integrated taxonomic approach. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 172, 107469.

15. Hobbs, J. P. A., Richards, Z. T., Popovic, I., Lei, C., Staeudle, T. M., Montanari, S. R., & DiBattista, J. D. (2022). Hybridisation and the evolution of coral reef biodiversity. Coral Reefs, 41(3), 535-549.

16. Thomas, L., Underwood, J. N., Rose, N. H., Fuller, Z. L., Richards, Z., Dugal, L., ... & Gilmour, J. P. (2022). Spatially varying selection between habitats drives physiological shifts and local adaptation in a broadcast spawning coral on a remote atoll in Western Australia. Science Advances, 8(17).

17. Muir, P. R., Obura, D. O., Hoeksema, B. W., Sheppard, C., Pichon, M., & Richards, Z. T. (2022). Conclusions of low extinction risk for most species of reef-building corals are premature. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 6(4), 357-358.

18. Bearham, D., Strzelecki, J., Hara, A., Hosie, A., Kirkendale, L., Richards, Z., ... & Keesing, J. K. (2022). Habitats and benthic biodiversity across a tropical estuarine-marine gradient in the eastern Kimberley region of Australia. Regional Studies in Marine Science, 49, 102039.

19. Dugal, L., Thomas, L., Wilkinson, S. P., Richards, Z. T., Alexander, J. B., Adam, A. A., ... & Gilmour, J. P. (2021). Coral monitoring in northwest Australia with environmental DNA metabarcoding using a curated reference database for optimized detection. Environmental DNA, 4(1), 63-76.

20. Evans, R. D., Thomas, L., Kennington, W. J., Ryan, N. M., Wilson, N. G., Richards, Z., ... & Tuckett, C. (2021). Population genetic structure of a broadcast‐spawning coral across a tropical–temperate transition zone reveals regional differentiation and high‐latitude reef isolation. Journal of Biogeography.

21. Wepfer, P. H., Nakajima, Y., Sutthacheep, M., Radice, V. Z., Richards, Z., Ang, P., ... & Economo, E. P. (2021). Inclusivity is key to progressing coral biodiversity research: Reply to comment by Bonito et al.(2021). Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 162, 107135.

22. Adam, A. A., Garcia, R. A., Galaiduk, R., Tomlinson, S., Radford, B., Luke, T., & Richards, Z. T. (2021). Diminishing potential for tropical reefs to function as coral diversity strongholds under climate change conditions. Diversity and Distributions, 27(11), 2245-2261.

23. Cvitanovic, C., Mackay, M., Kelly, R., Wilson, S. K., Waples, K., Nash, K. L., ... & Mathews, D. (2021). Thirty critical research needs for managing an ecologically and culturally unique remote marine environment: The Kimberley region of Western Australia. Ocean and Coastal Management.

24. Taninaka, H., Maggioni, D., Seveso, D., Huang, D., Townsend, A., Richards, Z. T., ... & Yasuda, N. (2021). Phylogeography of Blue Corals (Genus Heliopora) Across the Indo-West Pacific. Frontiers in Marine Science.

25. Richards, Z. T., Juszkiewicz, D. J., & Hoggett, A. (2021). Spatio-temporal persistence of scleractinian coral species at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs, 40(4).

26. Arrigoni, R., Huang, D., Berumen, M. L., Budd, A. F., Montano, S., Richards, Z., ... & Benzoni, F. (2021). Integrative systematics of the scleractinian coral genera Caulastraea, Erythrastrea and Oulophyllia. Zoologica Scripta.

27. West, K. M., Adam, A. A., White, N., Robbins, W. D., Barrow, D., Lane, A., & Richards, Z. T. (2021). The applicability of eDNA metabarcoding approaches for sessile benthic surveying in the Kimberley region, north-western Australia. Environmental DNA.

28. West, K., Travers, M. J., Stat, M., Harvey, E. S., Richards, Z. T., DiBattista, J. D., ... & Bunce, M. (2021). Large-scale eDNA metabarcoding survey reveals marine biogeographic break and transitions over tropical north-western Australia. Diversity and Distributions. 

29. West, K., Richards, Z.T., Harvey, E., Susac, S., Grealy, A., Bunce, M. (2020) Under the karst: Detecting hidden subterranean assemblages using eDNA metabarcoding in the caves of Christmas Island. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-78525 IF = 3.998
30. Preston, S., Richards, Z.T. (2020). Biological Consequences of an outbreak of growth anomalies on Isopora palifera at the Cocos Keeling Islands. Coral Reefs, 1-13. IF = 3.6

31. Wepfer, P. H., Nakajima, Y., Sutthacheep, M., Radice, V. Z., Richards, Z., Ang, P., …. Mitarai, S. (2020). Evolutionary biogeography of the reef-building coral genus Galaxea across the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 151. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106905 IF = 3.496

32. Underwood, J., Richards, Z.T., Berry, O., Oades, D., Howard, A., Gilmour, J. 2020. Extreme seascape drives local recruitment and genetic divergence in brooding and spawing corals in remote northwest Australia. Evolutionary Applications, in press. IF = 5.038

33. West, K.M., Stat, M., Harvey, E.S., Skepper, C.L., DiBattista, J., Richards, Z.T., Travers, M.J., Newman, S.J., and Bunce, M. 2020. eDNA metabarcoding surveys reveals fine-scale coral reef community variation across a remote, tropical island ecosystem. Molecular Ecology, DOI: 10.1111/mec.15382 IF = 6.131