2016
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We have used a quantitative definition of marine heatwaves to detect all events which have occurred in 12 regions across the continental shelf off eastern Tasmania over 1993-2015. For each event in each region this atlas includes information on (i) event properties including intensity, duration and depth, (ii) maps of regional ocean circulation and ocean temperature during the event, and (iii) maps of regional atmospheric conditions during the event (air temperature and surface wind). Also provided are summary statistics including the typical conditions which give rise to marine heatwaves in each region and annual time series demonstrating interannual variability and long term trends in marine heatwave properties. Provided is a comprehensive document presenting the atlas and a set of CSV files containing the underlying data.
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The Marine Futures Project was designed to benchmark the current status of key Western Australian marine ecosystems, based on an improved understanding of the relationship between marine habitats, biodiversity and our use of these values. Approximately 1,500 km2 of seafloor were mapped using hydroacoustics (Reson 8101 Multibeam), and expected benthic habitats "ground-truthed" using towed video transects and baited remote underwater video systems. Both sources of information were then combined in a spatial predictive modelling framework to produce fine-scale habitat maps showing the extent of substrate types, biotic formations, etc. Surveys took place across 9 study areas, including the Capes region of southwest Western Australia. The area is one of the most diverse temperate marine environments in Australia. Warm, tropical waters of the Leeuwin Current mingle with the cool waters of the Capes Current, resulting in high finfish diversity, including tropical and temperate species, as well as internationally significant seagrass diversity with meadows occurring at depths greater than 40 metres. The region's geomorphology is complex with an array of intertidal and subtidal reef environments. Many marine plants and animals are endemic to the southern coast of Australia due to its long geographical isolation, with seagrass, algae and estuarine habitats functioning as spawning, nursery and feeding grounds for a wide range of invertebrates and fish. Significant numbers of marine mammals also frequent the area, including the blue whale, the largest of all marine creatures.
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This record provides an overview of the scope and research output of NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Project A3 - "A national assessment of population status of White Sharks". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- White sharks are listed as Vulnerable under the EPBC Act and the subject of a national recovery plan, yet there is still no effective way to assess their population status and thus no way of determining the efficacy of conservation actions. Recent debate due to various human-shark interactions has highlighted the need for further information. This Project provides a national assessment of white shark population size and status in order to establish the efficacy of existing recovery actions and provide a scientifically sound and rational basis from which to develop policies that balance conservation objectives and public safety. Planed Outputs • Tools to refine and integrate CK-MR, electronic tagging distribution and species demographic data for population assessments of a key threatened species at a national scale (combining knowledge developed under this project combined with similar techniques being applied under NESP to euryhaline sharks and planned for grey nurse sharks). • National estimates of (census) population size and trend for white sharks in Australian waters (western and eastern populations respectively) are established that fulfil the highest priority actions of the National Recovery Plan. • New genetic and statistical tools trialled for the estimation of historical population trend from contemporary tissue samples for key species for which other methods of population assessment are unreliable or unavailable. • Provide information that identifies movement corridors, hotspots and contributes to management strategies for top-order marine predators • Estimate juvenile white shark survival and abundance for input into integrated national population assessment models in order to refine population estimates. • National-level information on habitat use, behaviour and spatial dynamics of white sharks at various scales used to provide the scientific underpinning for government decisions and policies as well as provide for more informed public debate. • Identify national strategies to monitor white shark populations. • The project will provide peer-reviewed additions to the scientific literature that will add to the science-support for the development and implementation of policies to support the ecologically sustainable management of Australia’s marine environment.
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The Marine Futures Project was designed to benchmark the current status of key Western Australian marine ecosystems, based on an improved understanding of the relationship between marine habitats, biodiversity and our use of these values. Approximately 1,500 km2 of seafloor were mapped using hydroacoustics (Reson 8101 Multibeam), and expected benthic habitats "ground-truthed" using towed video transects and baited remote underwater video systems. Both sources of information were then combined in a spatial predictive modelling framework to produce fine-scale habitat maps showing the extent of substrate types, biotic formations, etc. Surveys took place across 9 study areas, including Jurien Bay. The Jurien Bay marine environment is highly diverse, and is home to a wide variety of species, including sea lions and sea birds on the many offshore islands. Limestone reef and seagrass habitats in the area support a diverse fish and invertebrate fauna, and a local crayfishing industry is based around the Western Rock Lobster (Panulirus cygnus).
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This record provides an overview of the scope and research output of NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Project A4 - "The status of human-shark interactions and initiatives to mitigate risk in Australia". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- Considerable political, public and media attention has recently been focussed on human-shark interactions, specifically surrounding shark attack and ways to mitigate this risk. Finding the most appropriate policy balance between conservation of sharks, maximising public safety and understanding the broader social and economic ramifications/drivers for doing so is a continuing challenge for Government. This project will review the status of human-shark interactions in Australia, provide a synthesis of current initiatives to reduce risk, review recent international efforts to address these issues and identify knowledge gaps to provide an informed base for determining the most appropriate future research and policy support. The project will develop a background document that: • Provides a synthesis of the current state of knowledge of shark-human interactions in Australia, focussing specifically on species such as white sharks, bull sharks and tiger sharks • Identifies what initiatives are currently underway nationally to address human-shark interactions including the status of current research as well as current management and policy initiatives. • Identifies technological developments within Australia and internationally in this space • Identifies lessons and experiences from these initiatives • Identifies issues and knowledge gaps • Provides guidance to the Department regarding further investment that is cognisant of State Government initiatives and requirements and ensure a coordinated national knowledge base for addressing these issues
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Shifts from productive kelp beds to impoverished sea urchin barrens occur globally and represent a wholesale change to the ecology of sub-tidal temperate reefs. Although the theory of shifts between alternative stable states is well advanced, there are few field studies detailing the dynamics of these kinds of transitions. In this study, sea urchin herbivory (a ‘top-down’ driver of ecosystems) was manipulated over 12 months to estimate (1) the sea urchin density at which kelp beds collapse to sea urchin barrens, and (2) the minimum sea urchin density required to maintain urchin barrens on experimental reefs in the urbanised Port Phillip Bay, Australia. In parallel, the role of one of the ‘bottom-up’ drivers of ecosystem structure was examined by (3) manipulating local nutrient levels and thus attempting to alter primary production on the experimental reefs. It was found that densities of 8 or more urchins m-2 (≥ 427 g m-2 biomass) lead to complete overgrazing of kelp beds while kelp bed recovery occurred when densities were reduced to ≤ 4 urchins m-2 (≤ 213 g m-2 biomass). This experiment provided further insight into the dynamics of transition between urchin barrens and kelp beds by exploring possible tipping-points which in this system can be found between 4 and 8 urchins m-2 (213 and 427 g m-2 respectively). Local enhancement of nutrient loading did not change the urchin density required for overgrazing or kelp bed recovery, as algal growth was not affected by nutrient enhancement.
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This record provides an overview of the scope and research output of NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Project B1 - "Road testing decision support tools via case study applications". No data outputs are expected for this project. -------------------- This project will deploy advances in decision-support to assist Commonwealth Marine Reserve managers progress the implementation of evidence-based adaptive management throughout the reserve estate. Two case studies will treat selected decision problems in detail. Specifically: • The identification of decision thresholds that may trigger a change in management, framed within Parks Australia’s performance monitoring template. • The prioritisation of information acquisition through research and monitoring. The two case studies involve coherent integration of ecological models, social and organisational value judgements, and economic analysis. Planned Outputs • Progress reports describing interim outcomes of the (a) decision thresholds and (b) research and monitoring prioritisation case studies. • At least two publications in high impact peer-reviewed journals. • Two final reports describing outcomes of the (a) decision thresholds and (b) research and monitoring prioritisation case studies. • At least two publications in high impact peer-reviewed journals. • Training and associated materials
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Coral community transect data collected concurrent with coral disease surveys in in the vicinity of Hoga Island in the Wakatobi Marine National Park, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Three replicate 20 m transects were collected by divers in each of reef flat, crest and slope habitats in 2005 (four sites, point intersect transect data), 2007, 2010 and 2011 (all six sites, line intersect transect data). For further detail see: Haapkylä, J., A. S. Seymour, J. Trebilco, and D. Smith. 2007. Coral disease prevalence and coral health in the Wakatobi Marine Park, south-east Sulawesi, Indonesia. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK 87:403. Haapkylä, J., R. Unsworth, A. Seymour, J. Melbourne-Thomas, M. Flavell, B. Willis, and D. Smith. 2009. Spatio-temporal coral disease dynamics in the Wakatobi Marine National Park, South-East Sulawesi, Indonesia. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 87:105–115. Haapkylä, J., J. Melbourne-Thomas, and M. Flavell. 2015. The association between coral communities and disease assemblages in the Wakatobi Marine National Park, south-eastern Sulawesi, Indonesia. Marine and Freshwater Research.
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Time Series video to support Project C3 of the Marine Biodiversity Hub NESP programme. The video illustrates coastal change at the Murray Mouth and Lower Lakes, SA using 104 Landsat observations from within the Australian Geoscience Data Cube (AGDC) from 1988-2013.
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White sharks are listed as vulnerable under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and actions to assist their recovery and long-term viability are prescribed in a national recovery plan for the species. A priority action is to develop an effective means of estimating the size of white shark populations and monitor their status (population trend). This would provide a scientific basis for assessing recovery actions, and for local policies governing human-shark interactions: an issue of significant public concern. NESP Project A3 provides a national assessment of the southern-western adult white shark population abundance and an update of the total eastern Australasian white shark population abundance and status in order to establish the efficacy of existing recovery actions and provide a scientifically sound and rational basis from which to inform policies that aim to balance conservation objectives and public safety. This record describes white shark distribution and movement through the use of acoustic and electronic tags fitted to approx. 70 animals. Tag detection data are continually uploaded to the IMOS Animal Tracking Facility (ATF) database. This data collection has been granted Protected Species Status and access to the data is currently restricted. Refer to the Point of Contact listed in this record for further information regarding access to data.