2018 Shark Bay Workshop

Description

A previous workshop and resulting publication focused on Shark Bay recommended a coordinated multi-institutional and multi-discipline approach to research (Kendrick et al. 2012). However, five years on there is little evidence of such a coordinated approach to research.

Given the changes that have already occurred and the scale of predicted further changes, a better understanding of the drivers of environmental changes on productivity is a critical step in being able to predict the ecological resilience of Shark Bay and adopt appropriate management strategies to minimise the impacts of environmental variations on natural resources and the industries that depend on them.

More than 70 science and industry experts joined forces in a workshop to examine the threats and prioritise the research needed to save its status.

Aims

• To develop a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan for the Shark Bay World Heritage Property
• To Move Towards a Climate Change Vulnerability Index For Shark Bay World Heritage Values

Methods

Workshop to address the questions:

• “Is our current understanding of the Shark Bay marine ecosystem, its productivity, and how it responds to the current stressors and future climate change, adequate?” and
• “Are our science, assessment tools and management settings still appropriate?”
• To undertake an information update and gap analysis to provide the basis for development of integrated research and management programs that informs key economic, social and ecological considerations associated with the Shark Bay marine ecosystem.
• To develop the capability to provide advice in relation to future environmental change for business and policy makers in the Shark Bay/Gascoyne region.

Presentations

1. Shark Bay Workshop Gary Kendrick Introduction
2. Shark Bay Workshop_Em Prof Di Walker_SBWH Values and risks
3. Shark Bay Workshop Chari Pattiaratchi oceanography
4. Shark Bay Workshop_Matthew-Fraser_SeagrassThreats
5. Shark Bay Workshop_Paul Lavery_Biological Resilience – Seagrass
6. Shark Bay Workshop_DBCA_Monitoring and Shark Bay Marine Park
7. Shark Bay Workshop_Erica Suosaari_Hamelin Pool Stromatolites
8. Shark Bay Workshop_Brendan Burns UNSW_Climate Change Threats in Microbialites
9. Shark Bay Workshop_Simon Allen_How will the iconic dolphins adapt?
10. Shark Bay Workshop_ Nick Caputi_Invertebrates
11. Shark Bay Workshop_Gary Jackson_Scalefish