Between 2009-2012, Geoscience Australia conducted three surveys to Joseph Bonaparte Gulf and the Timor Sea on the R.V. Solander, in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Science and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. The study areas overlapped the Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve and the carbonate banks and terraces within it. The surveys were conducted as part of the Australian Government's Energy Security Program (2007-2011) and the National Environment Research Program (2011-2015). On the surveys, a benthic sled was deployed to collect biological samples from the seafloor. Samples were sorted onboard according to phylum, photographed and then sent to taxonomists for species-level identifications. This catalogue includes all onboard photographs taken from identified samples. Sponges were the only group of which all samples were identified, but they include high proportions of unnamed or undescribed species. The catalogue also includes taxonomic identification sheets so that users can cross-reference the species names and images with location and depth.

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.

Time Series video to support Project C3 of the Marine Biodiversity Hub NESP programme 2015/2016. The video illustrates coastal change at the Southern end of Stradbroke Island QLD, using 118 Landsat observations from within the Australian Geoscience Data Cube (AGDC) from 1987-2016.

This dataset describes the relative abundance of an assemblage of commercially exploited demersal fishes in northwestern Australia, mapped over a 30 arc-minute (0.5 degree) spatial grid. The data cover the period 1997-2006 and are derived from an analysis of commercial landings available through the Sea Around Us Project (http://www.seaaroundus.org/). Further methodological details can be found in the following peer-reviewed publication, which applies the same analysis to a suite of mobile pelagic species: Bouchet PJ, Meeuwig JJ, Huang Z, Letessier TB, Nichol SL, Caley MJ, Watson RA. 2016. Continental-scale hotspots of pelagic fish abundance inferred from commercial catch records. Global Ecology and Biogeography. Below is a full list of species/genera/families considered, with their respective contributions to the total catch (%): -------------------------------------------------- Mustelus -- 26.1948% Platycephalidae -- 23.3191% Seriolella -- 10.8968% Sillaginidae -- 9.4242% Genypterus blacodes -- 5.8347% Pristiophorus -- 4.4934% Tetraodontidae -- 4.3235% Nemadactylus -- 4.2784% Squatinidae -- 3.6071% Mugilidae -- 3.181% Sparidae -- 2.7037% Chelidonichthys kumu -- 0.7146% Rajiformes -- 0.4497% Pterygotrigla polyommata -- 0.3911% Scorpaenidae -- 0.1292% Callorhinchus milii -- 0.0367% Rhombosolea -- 0.0046% Pleuronectiformes -- 0.0034% Leiognathidae -- 0.003% Lates calcarifer -- 0.0029% Ariidae -- 0.0025% Sciaenidae -- 0.0017% Nemipteridae -- 0.0014% Nemipterus -- 0.0014% Upeneus -- 0.001% Data will be attached to this record once analyses are completed, est. December 2016.

The phenotypic plasticity of habitat-forming seaweeds was investigated with a transplant experiment in which juvenile Ecklonia radiata and Phyllospora comosa were transplanted from NSW (warm conditions) to Tasmania (cool conditions) and monitored for four months. We used multiple performance indicators (growth, photosynthetic characteristics, pigment content, chemical composition, stable isotopes, nucleic acids) to assess the ecophysiology of seaweeds before and following transplantation between February 2012 and June 2012.

This record provides an overview of the scope and research output of the NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Project - "A national assessment of the 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.