habitat mapping
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This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub project "Mapping critical Australian sea lion habitat to assess ecological value and risks to population recovery". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- Populations of the endangered Australian sea lion have declined by >60% over the last 40 years. There is a marked uneven distribution in abundance and trends across the species range, suggesting that localised risk profiles from threats vary at small spatial scales. Fine scale differences in habitat use are thought to underpin these differences, yet knowledge about the species dependency on key habitats and their vulnerability to human impacts is limited. This project will deploy underwater cameras onto sea lions to identify and map their critical habitats, assess their ecological value and identify risks to populations. Results will improve our understanding of threats to sea lion populations and support future conservation actions to recover the species. Outputs • Tracking data from sea lion-deployed tags: location, depth, time, temperature, light, acceleration [dataset] • Timestamped video footage from sea lion-deployed cameras [dataset] • Final project report [written]
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This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub Research Plan 2024 project "Enhancing monitoring approaches to evaluate the abundance, life history and critical habitats of the endangered Australian sea lion". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- The Australian sea lion (ASL; Neophoca cinerea) is Australia’s only endemic pinniped. Populations have declined by more than 60% over the last 40 years to extremely low levels, leading to its endangered status. Known threats to the species include fisheries bycatch, disease, pollution, entanglement in marine debris, and climate change. Improving our understanding of the species’ abundance, life history and critical habitats is essential for evaluating these threats and guiding recovery actions but is challenging due to the species’ unique life-history and breeding biology, longevity, demersal foraging behaviour and occupancy of remote breeding habitat. This project aims to improve the monitoring and inform the management of Australian sea lions by developing cost-effective methods for acquiring abundance data from under-surveyed regions impacted by anthropogenic pressures. To do so, it will: • Apply drones to enhance monitoring at suitable breeding and haul-out sites • Develop efficient techniques to process and analyse demographic data so that survival and reproductive success estimates from a microchipped population at Seal Bay can be routinely updated; and • Continue to deploy underwater cameras on sea lions to identify and understand critical habitats and risks. Findings from these activities will underpin the National Recovery Team conservation efforts, in line with the Australian Government's Threatened Species Action Plan and Healthy Country plans. Outputs • Qualitative and qualitative spatial assessments of breeding sites from helicopter surveys in Recherche Archipelago [dataset] • Drone-collected photogrammetry, FLIR, thermal imaging and LiDAR data [dataset] • Demographic results from analysis of Seal Bay microchipping program [dataset] • Tracking data from sea lion-deployed tags: location, depth, time, temperature, light, acceleration [dataset] • Timestamped video footage from sea lion-deployed cameras [dataset] • Short non-technical summaries to distil the key findings and take-home messages [written] • Final project report [written]
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This record details the mapping of marine 'landforms' (geomorphic features), 'substrate type', and 'ecosystems' classified using multibeam echosounder and marine LiDAR data for the Commonwealth Solitary Islands Marine Park (SIMP) during 2022-23. Mapping was conducted using multibeam echosounder (MBES), towed-video and sediment surveys. A bathymetry mosaic was generated using data sourced from the NSW DCCEEW bathymetry mosaic (https://datasets.seed.nsw.gov.au/dataset/aa8f268e-a23d-4d27-b046-f60c45f8349b), updated with MBES data collected within SIMP in 2023. Coupled with sediment sampling and towed video surveys, the data was used to: 1) ground-truth the MBES data, 2) map the extent and characterise the diversity of unconsolidated seabed types; and, 3) map the extent of rocky reefs and characterise sessile invertebrate diversity within these reef-dominated areas. Seabed ‘landforms’ were derived from the bathymetry mosaic using the Seabed Landforms Classification Toolbox (Linklater et al. 2023). Landform features were subsequently grouped into 'hard' and 'soft' features according to the Seamap Australia National Benthic Habitat Classification Scheme (Lucieer et al. 2019), and additionally labelled with depth zonation to conform to the NESP Natural Values Common Language (Hayes et al. 2021). This package contains a synthesised seabed classification dataset, with three additional contextual datasets: • ‘Marine geomorphology, ecosystems and substrates’ defines seabed landforms, and reef and sediment areas delineated by depth intervals (10 m increments). See also https://datasets.seed.nsw.gov.au/dataset/f0e83f61-3790-4707-8dfe-2e505fbf3fd3 • ‘Bathymetry sources’ outlines the source coverages of the input bathymetric mosaic (also appended to the synthesised seabed classification dataset described above). See https://dx.doi.org/10.26186/149091 for access to bathymetry and backscatter survey data. • 'Towed video substrate classification' provides point classifications of the primary seabed substrate from still images derived from towed videos. See https://squidle.org/geodata/explore#map for annotated imagery. • 'Sediments retrieval' provides the location and associated metadata of sediment grabs. See https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/69869 for access to the analysed sediment data in the MARS database. The 'Lineage' section of this record provides full methodology and a data dictionary. Surveys were funded by Parks Australia's Director of Marine Parks (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water) and completed under contract to the New South Wales Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. References: Lucieer, V., Barrett, N., Butler, C. et al. (2019). A seafloor habitat map for the Australian continental shelf. Sci Data 6, 120. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-019-0126-2 Hayes, K.R., Dunstan, P., Woolley, S. et al. (2021). Designing a targeted monitoring program to support evidence based management of Australian Marine Parks: A pilot on the South-East Marine Parks Network. Report to Parks Australia and the National Environmental Science Program, Marine Biodiversity Hub. Parks Australia, University of Tasmanian and CSIRO, Hobart, Australia, https://www.nespmarine.edu.au/system/files/Hayes%20et%20al_SS2_M8_D7_M4_Designing%20a%20targeted%20monitoring%20program%20to%20support%20evidence-based%20management%20of%20AMPs.pdf. Linklater, M, Morris, B.D. and Hanslow, D.J. (2023). Classification of seabed landforms on continental and island shelves. Frontiers of Marine Science, 10, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1258556.