The AUStralian Tidal Energy (AUSTEn) project was a three year project (2018 - 2020) funded by the Australian Renewable Energy National Agency (agreement number G00902) led by the Australian Maritime College (University of Tasmania), in partnership with CSIRO and University of Queensland. The project had a strong industry support (Atlantis Resources Limited, MAKO Tidal Turbines Ltd, Spiral Energy Corporation Ltd). The aim of the project was to assess the technical and economic feasibility of tidal energy in Australia, based on the best understanding of resource achievable. For further information and output of the project, please visit the AUSTEn project website www.austen.org.au.

Rock samples were dredged from seamounts in the southern Tasman Sea on the RV Investigator, voyage IN2018_V08

This record provides an overview of the scope and research output of NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Project A14 - "Identification of near-shore habitats of juvenile white sharks in Southwestern Australia". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- In early 2018, the CSIRO provided the first estimate of abundance for the southern-western adult white shark. Establishing an estimate of total abundance was not possible due to the lack of information of the juvenile life history stage in south-western Australia. The estimate of adult abundance also included trend (essentially zero or slightly negative), however, it was noted that to confirm the trend, a further decade of sampling would be required. This can be reduced if we identify near-shore habitats where juvenile white sharks from the southern-western population can be readily accessed. This pilot project will investigate credible anecdotal evidence of juvenile white sharks using near-shore habitat near the head of the Great Australia Bight, and inform future project development steps. The pilot project will include collaboration and the opportunity for capacity building with the Yatala Land Management group. The outcome of this pilot project will inform whether or not to proceed to future (on-water) activities. Planned Outputs • Spatial maps showing juvenile white-shark aggregation areas that include Australian marine park boundaries and zoning in jpeg format • Shapefile of juvenile white-shark aggregation areas provided to ERIN • High quality and project relevant images (still and video) suitable for communications purposes • Summary (and images) of opportunistic wildlife observations within the Great Australian Bight Marine Park (Commonwealth waters) • Final report

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are a keystone species in the Southern Ocean, but little is known about how they will respond to climate change. Ocean acidification, caused by sequestration of carbon dioxide into ocean surface waters (pCO2), is known to alter the lipid biochemistry of some organisms. This can have cascading effects up the food chain. In a year-long laboratory experiment adult krill were exposed to ambient seawater pCO2 levels (400 μatm), elevated pCO2 levels that mimicked near-future ocean acidification (1000, 1500 and 2000 μatm) and an extreme pCO2 level (4000 μatm). The laboratory light regime mimicked the seasonal Southern Ocean photoperiod and krill received a constant food supply. Total lipid mass (mg g -1 DM) of adult krill was unaffected by near-future levels of seawater pCO2. Fatty acid composition (%) and fatty acid ratios associated with immune responses and cell membrane fluidity were also unaffected by near-future pCO2, apart from an increase in 18:3n-3/18:2n-6 ratios in krill in 1500 μatm pCO2 in winter and spring. Extreme pCO2 had no effect on krill lipid biochemistry during summer. During winter and spring, krill in extreme pCO2 had elevated levels of omega-6 fatty acids (up to 1.2% increase in 18:2n-6, up to 0.8% increase in 20:4n-6 and lower 18:3n-3/18:2n-6 and 20:5n-3/20:4n-6 ratios), and showed evidence of increased membrane fluidity (up to three-fold increase in phospholipid/sterol ratios). These results indicate that the lipid biochemistry of adult krill is robust to near-future ocean acidification.

This record provides an overview of the scope and research output of NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Project D5 - "A standardised national assessment of the state of coral and rocky reef biodiversity". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- This project will involve integration of a national suite of reef biota Underwater Visual Census (UVC) monitoring datasets (Reef Life Survey (RLS), University of Tasmania (UTAS), Australian Institute for Marine Science (AIMS), Parks Victoria (PV), SA Department of environment, water and natural resources (DEWNR)) to provide a comprehensive update to the state of Australian Reefs report for the next national State of the Environment Report. Maps and indicator trends will show changes in the health of rocky and coral reefs nationally from 2005 to 2020. The update will include addition of a new index which summarises the population trajectories for 600-1000 reef species nationally. Individual species trajectories will provide the only threat status information for the majority of these species, assisting future listing of previously unassessed species if significant declines are detected. Planned Outputs • Maps and trends in SoE indicators • Raw data underlying SoE analyses (data use agreement must be signed with AIMS for access to that data) • Various scientific papers

Cyclone data was used to develop a spatial model using the intensity and to determine whether Sea Surface Temperature or Tropical Cyclone Heat Potential contributes to the North Indian Ocean cyclone intensity and, if so, how?

This resource includes bathymetry data for Beagle Marine Park (Bass Strait) collected by Geoscience Australia (GA) and the Institute for Marine & Antarctic Studies (University of Tasmania; UTAS) during the period 17 - 26 June 2018 on the RV Bluefin. The survey was undertaken as a collaborative project funded through the National Environmental Science Program Marine Biodiversity Hub, with co-investment by GA and UTAS. The purpose of the project was to build baseline information for benthic habitats in the Beagle Marine Park that will support ongoing environmental monitoring within the South-east Marine Park Network as part of the 10-year management plan (2013-2023). Data acquisition for the project was completed during three separate voyages: Phase 1 - Seabed mapping by multibeam sonar; Phase 2 - Seabed imagery acquisition by Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, and sediment sampling; Phase 3 - Survey of demersal fish communities using Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUVs). This dataset from Phase 1 comprises 11 bathymetry grids derived from multibeam sonar data gridded at 1 m spatial resolution, covering a combined area of 364 km2. A detailed report on the survey is provided in: Falster, G., Monk, J., Carroll, A., Siwabessy, J., Deane, A., Picard, K., Dando, N., Hulls, J., Nichol, S., Barrett, N. 2019. Australian Marine Park Baseline and Monitoring Survey: Post Survey Report, Beagle Marine Park South-east Marine Park Network. Report to the National Environmental Science Program, Marine Biodiversity Hub.

This record provides an overview of the scope and research output of NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Project D6 - "Socioeconomic benchmarks". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- Social and economic values are key drivers for marine science and marine policy but are too rarely integrated with marine biodiversity monitoring programs. In close consultation with Parks Australia (PA) we will review existing metrics used to survey social and economic values associated with marine parks. This review will include consulting with national and international expertise and actively consulting with State and other Commonwealth agencies, some of whom are currently conducting reviews or have existing frameworks for surveying social and economic values (e.g Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI)). In collaboration with national partners and PA we will organise a national methods workshops to discuss and refine metrics and methods to quantify social and economic benchmarks for State and Australian Marine Parks (AMPs) and produce Standard Operating Procedure’s (SOP) relevant to AMPs taking into consideration the Department of the Environment and Energy’s (DoEE’s) environmental accounting processes and PA’s Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Improvement (MERI) framework. Planned Outputs • SOP for measuring social and economic metrics for AMPs • Final report on essential (key) AMP social and economic metrics • Summaries of research and surveys made available through the Marine Parks Science Atlas

This record provides an overview of the scope and research output of NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub project E7 - "Assessing the feasibility of restoring giant kelp beds in eastern Tasmania". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- This project will extend an externally funded project conducted through UTAS commencing in 2018 to select for thermally tolerant and low-nutrient-tolerant giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) genotypes, and to examine effects of acclimation of selected genotypes by pre-exposure to warm, nutrient-poor conditions. The proposed project will outplant pre-exposed selected genotypes of giant kelp as micro-sporophytes in an experiment with and without provision of an added source of nutrient. The work is designed to assess the feasibility of this approach as a means to develop minimum patch sizes for giant kelp that can be self-replacing and self-expanding, thus providing restoration and future climate-proofing options for this EPBC-listed marine community. Planned Outputs • Experimental data from macrocystis restoration • Final report

Data were collected from 28 artificial reefs varying in size and supporting different densities of transplanted kelp (Ecklonia radiata). We used rope fibre habitats (RFHs) attached to the benthos of the reefs and destructive sampling of understory algae to collect data on epifaunal invertebrates that naturally colonised the reefs (e.g. secondary productivity, species richness, Shannon diversity). The goal of the research was to understand how kelp structure influences the biodiversity and secondary productivity of epifauna.