IMAS Metadata Catalogue
EXTREME WEATHER
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This dataset contains processed weather variables, extreme weather indices, to examine the influence of extreme weather events (EWEs) on the reproductive output of three marine predator species in Tasmania: Australian fur seals, short-tailed shearwaters, and shy albatross. The biological data themselves are not included in this submission, as they are owned and managed by the Marine Conservation Program (MCP), Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania, and the Friends of Maatsuyker Island (FOMI, Wildcare Inc.). Weather information was compiled from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), the BARRA2 atmospheric reanalysis dataset, and the CAWCR wave hindcast model. Daily summaries and synoptic observations were used to derive meteorological variables relevant to species’ breeding seasons, including temperature, rainfall, wind, solar radiation, wave energy, and derived measures such as wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) and apparent temperature (AT). Extreme weather indices were calculated following BOM definitions, using ≥30-year climatological baselines where available. Percentile-based indices were produced in both binary (occurrence) and continuous (magnitude) forms to characterise heatwaves, rainfall extremes, and other EWEs. The purpose of assembling these weather datasets and code is to provide a transparent, reproducible foundation for analysing environmental drivers of reproductive variability across marine predator species in Tasmania. This resource enables users to replicate the workflow used in the associated publication, and statistical analyses linking environmental extremes to breeding outcomes.
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Fixed position oxygen and water temperature logger data from the Macquarie Harbour World Heritage Area (WHA). Two Hobo oxygen data loggers are positioned at approximately 15 m depth at different sites within the WHA, with the intent of monitoring representative mid-bottom water oxygen values in the WHA as these were identified in previous studies to be naturally low due to limited seawater exchange at the harbour entrance, and thus likely to be most susceptible to anthropogenic factors that may increase oxygen demand and alter WHA conservation values. These values include core habitat of the Maugean Skate, a listed threatened species. This work is funded by WHA advisory board via the Nature Conservation Branch of DPIPWE and is part of a larger study being conducted by IMAS undertaking a biological baseline study of the biodiversity of the Macquarie Harbour WHA. This data spans 08/11/14 to present (most recent update 02/02/17).