Farewell from the Chair

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After almost five years as Chair of the Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI), having helped to guide the joint venture partnership Board through the Kimberley and Dredging Science Node projects and the Blueprint for Marine Science Initiative, I’m stepping down as Chair.      

I’m exceptionally proud to have been here during the Kimberley Marine Research Progam (KMRP) and the Dredging Science Node (DSN), to have been a part of the fabulous science that has been done and was shown at the 2017 WAMSI Research conference.

I’d like to pay tribute to Patrick Seares, who was CEO during the bulk of this time, for his strategic thinking, huge energy and enthusiasm and I know that the current CEO Dr Luke Twomey will use his considerable skills in guiding WAMSI well into the future.

It’s been a pleasure working with all the WAMSI partners. I greatly respected their ideas and considerable support for the notion and realisation of the marine science collaboration that is WAMSI.

A huge thanks also to the staff of WAMSI, who are the real backbone to facilitating the smooth running of this Institution. I give particular acknowledgement to Linda McGowan who has managed the WAMSI finances and contracts for many years. Her commitment to detail is invaluable.

I’d like to express my admiration to all of the scientists involved in the dredging and Kimberley science nodes and in particular the Node Leadership teams: Ray Masini, Ross Jones, Kevin Crane and Kevin McAlpine (DSN); and Stuart Field and Kelly Waples (KMRP).

As WAMSI moves forward, I’m leaving the Institution in very good hands with Peter Millington, who  is taking over as Chair from the first of January 2018.

As a long-standing WAMSI Board member and CEO of Chemcentre and previously Acting Chief Executive Officer of Fisheries, Peter is well known to most in the Western Australian marine science field.

I wish Peter and everyone else involved in WAMSI a long and successful future.

Naomi Brown
Chair WAMSI

 

Science priorities for estuary management in SW Western Australia

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A report presenting a prioritisation of the science and monitoring needs for southwest estuary management has been released by the Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI).

The Research and information priorities for estuary management in southwest Western Australia is the result of extensive consultation with estuary managers and researchers by the WAMSI Estuaries Science Steering Group.

 

 

The report identifies priorities under 11 key themes:

  1. Water quality
  2. Key habitats
  3. Biodiversity management
  4. The effects of catchment land use
  5. Coastal engineering and port development
  6. Sediment quality
  7. Human health
  8. Freshwater and hydrology
  9. Sustaining resources
  10. Socio-economic aspects
  11. Integrated system modelling

For each of these themes, research priorities and priorities that can be met with better use of current knowledge have been identified both for estuaries management as a whole and more specifically, for each of the seven southwest estuary systems.

“The purpose of this body of work is to assist researchers to focus on high impact studies, and to help plan a more strategic and collaborative approach to developing information for future management through independent peer reviewed science,” WAMSI General Manager Luke Twomey said.  

Executive Director of Environmental Protection Authority, Strategy and Guidance, from Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, Patrick Seares said the priorities should help guide the science activities that will be required to support effective policy initiatives such as the Regional Estuaries Initiative, Green Growth Plan for Perth-Peel and the Swan-Canning River Protection Strategy.

“Estuaries are a vital part of our landscape both socially and economically,” Mr Seares said. “As a community, we receive a wide range of benefits from estuaries – liveability of cities and towns, recreational opportunities, sacred sites, ports and harbours, bird sanctuaries, food resources, flood mitigation, and rich biological ecosystems. However, numerous pressures, associated primarily with catchment development and exacerbated by climate change, have resulted in impaired ecosystem health in several popular estuary systems.”

Principal Scientist, Rivers and Estuaries Division, at the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions Dr Kerry Trayler said the priorities reflected the need to respond to the increasing pressure on estuaries from Western Australia’s growing population.

“The challenge facing managers and scientists is to enable further population growth and associated economic activity in these popular areas of the State while maintaining, and in some cases revitalising, healthy estuaries as expected by communities,” Dr Trayler said. “This Report establishes the groundwork needed to consider the implications for management as we move forward.”

Links:

Thomson C, Kilminster K, Hallett C, Valesini F, Hipsey M, Trayler K, Gaughan D, Summers R, Syme G, Seares P (2017) Research and information priorities for estuary management in southwest Western Australia. Report prepared for the Western Australian Marine Science Institution, Perth, Western Australia, 87 pp.

WAMSI Estuaries project page: www.wamsi.org.au/estuary-science

Peel-Harvey Estuary

 

Category: 

Estuary Science

Kimberley moves on integrating Traditional Knowledge and science

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A three-year project that has broken down barriers to communication between Traditional Owners and scientists working on Country in the Kimberley was recognised as a significant step forward by members of the working group at the 2017 WAMSI Research Conference.

The Kimberley Indigenous Saltwater Science Project (KISSP) worked with Rangers from seven Kimberley Indigenous Native Title Saltwater groups as well as 103 Traditional Owners to develop protocols and guidelines that recognise how Traditional Knowledge can engage with and complement modern research and science.

The KISSP project made significant progress into delivering three key objectives:

  1. Integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and management practices into Kimberley marine conservation management.
  2. Developing standard and agreed community protocols.
  3. Developing a framework and protocols for standardising data collection, storage and monitoring, including the development of a pilot training package.

“If you think about CSIRO, AIMS and the Parks and Wildlife Service, there is a lot of marine research being undertaken in the Kimberley, and Traditional Owners just want to be respected and have some idea about it, know who is on their Country and what involvement the community will have in the research,” Project Leader Dean Mathews (Yawuru) explained.

Charles Darwin University and CSIRO researcher and working group member Beau Austin said there were a lot of practical, implied benefits from getting the collaboration between western scientists and Traditional Owners to work.

“For example, Indigenous Knowledge holders can see changes, threats and connections between things that scientists might not see and this can contribute to informing policy and decision making that can lead to better decisions, better policy and better management,” Dr Austin said.

Albert Wiggan, representing the Nyul Nyul people from the Dampier Peninsular north of Broome, described the two-year journey with the project as an, “opportunity to discover the potential and productive tools that can come from a relationship between science and Traditional Knowledge.”

Albert Wiggan, Deputy Project leader presenting the KISSP program out comes at the 2017 WAMSI Research Conference. Albert is a traditional Bardi, Nyul Nyul, and Kija man from the Kimberley who has been working as a Nyul Nyul Ranger for the last five years.

“It is important that we, as Indigenous people who are still connected with our land, develop the skills and capacity to work alongside science, so that we best look after the environment not just for ourselves but for everybody into the future,” Mr Wiggan said.

A six step approach to entering into collaborative research has been developed by Gina Lincoln from Mosaic Environmental Consultancy as part of the project outcomes. It addresses current shortfalls and provides consistency for researchers embarking on Kimberley coastal and marine research projects.

Six step approach to entering into collaborative research developed by Gina Lincoln from Mosaic Environmental Consultancy

“The key around this is the products that are coming out of the project and how they get taken up or implemented into management, especially around joint management with Traditional Owners in the Kimberley,” Mr Mathews said. “We also want to build capacity within the groups so, when a researcher leaves their research, they leave a legacy of their work, such as tools or methodologies so groups can continue monitoring the change in their Country over time.”

“At the end of the day we are working towards a common objective,” Mr Mathews said. “There’s policy and legislation, but if you look at our goal it’s about protecting and managing Country. We believe the group has developed strong momentum and that it is a model that will work.”

(L-R) WAMSI Kimberley Marine Research Program Node Leader Stuart Field (DBCA), KISSP Project Leader Dean Matthews (Senior Project leader Yawuru for the last 5 years working closely with the state in developing the Yawuru conservation estate plans and the Yawuru Marine Park Plan), Manager Land and Sea Unit at Nyamba Buru Yawuru Julie Melbourne, Rebecca Dobbs (UWA), Beau Austin (CDU/CSIRO) and WAMSI Kimberley Science coordinator Kelly Waples (DBCA).

Links:

KISSP Project page: www.wamsi.org.au/Indigenous-knowledge

The $30 million Kimberley Marine Research Program is funded through major investment supported by $12 million from the Western Australian government co-invested by the WAMSI partners and supported by the Traditional Owners of the Kimberley.

Category:

Kimberley Marine Research Program

Kimberley Marine Research Conference to share insight into pristine and extreme environment

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The WAMSI Kimberley Marine Research Conference (WA State Library 28-29 November) is all about emphasising the impact of science, from sharing the many new findings uncovered by the research program through to ensuring that science is best used by managers for the conservation and management of Australia’s far northwest marine environment.

We have invited government, Traditional Owners and industry stakeholders to discuss their marine research priorities and why these are important for  management of the marine environment. Researchers will present the results of their Kimberley science projects highlighting the foundational datasets that have been collected to underpin marine park, healthy country and marine resource management, detailing the ecosystem functioning and describing current and potential future human impacts, including climate change, in order to predict how management can support conservation in the region.

To wrap up we’ll hear from natural resource managers about the application of this information through joint management practices and conservation efforts.

The Kimberley Marine Research Program has provided us with an unprecedented insight into one of the most pristine and extreme environments in the world. Five years ago we didn’t know if marine life there was barely surviving or thriving. Our program has shown that many species have adapted over time and some have developed a high tolerance to the extreme conditions.

However, we’ve also found that some species are not immune to the  pressures associated with ocean warming, changes in rainfall and human development of the terrestrial and marine environments and we now have the baseline information and the tools to better compare and advise on the effectiveness of conservation efforts.    

The KMRP Conference program and abstracts can be found at www.wamsi.org.au/wamsi-research-conference-2017

 

Dr Stuart Field, KMRP Node Leader

Dr Kelly Waples, KMRP Science Coordinator

 

Links:

www.wamsi.org.au/kimberley-marine-research-program

www.wamsi.org.au/kmrp/kimberley-marine-research-node-projects

www.wamsi.org.au/kmrp-research-articles

The $30 million Kimberley Marine Research Program is funded through major investment supported by $12 million from the Western Australian government co-invested by the WAMSI partners and supported by the Traditional Owners of the Kimberley.

Category: 

Kimberley Marine Research Program

Dredging Science Node Conference: Results to inform management decisions

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The end-of-program 2017 Dredging Science Node Conference brings together the results of one of Australia’s largest and most successful single issue marine research programs in the context of the environmental impact assessment and management process in WA together with an industry perspective.

Dredging is required to develop and maintain ports that are vital to WA’s economy. In 2011-2012 alone, the Environmental Protection Authority assessed four development proposals in the Pilbara with a combined dredged volume of about 130 million cubic metres. The dredging was forecast to take years to complete and in the worst case could cause the permanent loss of about 25km2 of benthic communities. These predictions were based on a range of assumptions and carried significant uncertainty and risk for the environment and for proponents, and little was being done to improve the situation. 

In recognition of the critical importance of this issue in WA and the need for it to be addressed, proponents of new dredging projects were required by government as a condition of approval to contribute funds to research specifically designed to reduce uncertainty. The Dredging Science Node was established by the State Government in collaboration with industry to pool these funds for world-class marine research to:

‘Enhance capacity within Government and the private sector to predict and manage the environmental impacts of dredging in tropical regions of Western Australia.’

The results have been designed to assist regulators and proponents of dredging projects in WA and other tropical regions of Australia and abroad. It’s also hoped the information will be useful for private organisations and individuals with an interest in WA’s marine environment. 

The results are being presented under three key aeas:

  1. physical processes that generate and transport dredged sediment to better quantify the ‘pressure fields;
  2. the responses of key biological assemblages to dredged generated sediments to establish ‘pressure:response’ relationships to inform impact prediction and monitoring/management; and
  3. identifying the timing/locations of key ecological processes, such as reproduction, so that critical environmental windows of sensitivity are known and can be considered in the design and execution of dredging programs.

The outputs directly relevant to predicting and managing dredging in northwest Western Australia (NWWA), involve:

  • benchmarking current knowledge through reviews of relevant scientific literature and reports;
  • analysing available data to characterise actual pressure fields in terms of intensity, duration and frequency, to guide the selection of realistic ranges for pressure parameters for use in experiments;
  • identifying species for use in experiments relevant to NWWA; and
  • using relevant sediments types, including red pindan soils and relevant particle size classes.

The following major outcomes were achieved:

  • Improved understanding of near-field and far-field source terms, their usage in environmental impact assessment, how they can be better estimated and expressed, and recommendations for continual improvement
  • Guidance on contemporary approaches to predicting the pressure fields associated with dredging; including background conditions, deposition and resuspension
  • Quantification of the temporal and spatial patterns in the intensity, duration and frequency of turbidity and suspended sediment pulses associated with actual dredging campaigns in NWWA and flow on effects to light availability and sediment deposition
  • Quantification of changes in light quality and quantity underneath plumes and development of an in situ sediment deposition sensor
  • Guidance on contemporary approaches to sediment transport modelling including; the importance of bathymetry resolution, efficacy of 2D vs 3D models, nearfield modelling and far field modelling; accounting for the effects of benthic communities on sediment deposition and resuspension; remote sensing of turbid plumes for model validation, environmental management and compliance reporting
  • Corals – the relative significance of suspended sediment concentrations, light attenuation and sediment deposition on the health and survival of five coral taxa, with differing morphologies and commonly occurring in NWWA; critical thresholds of sediment deposition and light availability based on laboratory experiments and analyses of industry monitoring data on coral health, survival and recovery potential; bioindicators of dredging-related stress
  • Seagrass – knowledge of the spatial and temporal patterns in seagrass biomass including seasonality, inter-annual variability and recruitment processes for three commonly occurring species in NWWA; the relative significance of sediment deposition and light attenuation associated with dredging plumes on seagrass health; thresholds of sediment deposition and light-related effect and mortality; bioindicators of dredging-related stress
  • Sponges – characterisation of the sponge taxa present in NWWA through analysis of museum records and field collections, development of field guides for sponge identification in NWWA; the relative significance of suspended sediment concentrations, light attenuation and sediment deposition on the health and survival of five sponge taxa, with differing morphologies, nutritional pathways and commonly occurring in NWWA, based on laboratory experiments, field studies and analyses of industry monitoring data on sponge health the prevalence of phototrophic sponges; bioindicators of dredging-related stress
  • Coral spawning – temporal environmental windows of key life cycle processes in NWWA; understanding the pathways by which dredging generated turbidity and sediment deposition affects coral reproduction, fertilisation, larval development and settlement; critical suspended sediment concentration thresholds of effect for impact prediction and dredging management
  • Temporal environmental windows of sensitivity for macroalgae, fish and invertebrates that allow projects to be planned to avoid periods that are critical to their health and survival.

The work of the Node has improved knowledge about how the activity of dredging can affect marine biological communities, focussing on where this information was needed most – the Pilbara region of WA. This allows:

  • proponents to make predictions with greater confidence than before;
  • the community and the EPA to consider and assess the environmental consequences and acceptability of those impacts with greater confidence; and
  • projects to be planned and managed more efficiently and in turn deliver better environmental outcomes.

This is also expected to improve the cost-effectiveness and timeliness of key approvals and regulatory processes.

The next step is to work with key stakeholders to further consolidate research findings with practical experience and prepare a set of clear guidelines and protocols for conducting pre-development surveys, impact prediction and monitoring/management.

It is expected that adoption of more consistent approaches to prediction, monitoring and reporting will generate useful information for proponents and regulators of future proposals and provide a framework for continual improvement over time.

The DSN Conference program and abstracts can be found at www.wamsi.org.au/wamsi-research-conference-2017

 

Dr Ray Masini, Node Leader – Policy

Dr Ross Jones, Node Leader – Science

 

Links:

www.wamsi.org.au/dredging-science-node

www.wamsi.org.au/dredging-science-node/dsn-reports

www.wamsi.org.au/dsn-research-articles

 

The WAMSI Dredging Science Node is made possible through $9.5 million invested by Woodside, Chevron and BHP as environmental offsets. A further $9.5 million has been co-invested by the WAMSI Joint Venture partners, adding significantly more value to this initial industry investment. The node is also supported through critical data provided by Chevron, Woodside and Rio Tinto Iron Ore.

Category: 

Dredging Science

Nesting Sea Turtles in the Kimberley: KMRP Presentation

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Dr Scott Whiting, DBCA

Dr Tony Tucker, DBCA

Dr Nicky Mitchell, UWA

Blair Bentley, UWA

Dr Oliver Berry, CSIRO

Dr. Kellie Pendoley, Pendoley Environmental

Dr. Nancy FitzSimmons, Griffith Univ.

www.wamsi.org.au/marine-turtles#presentations

Kimberley Marine Research Program (KMRP) scientists recently presented the findings of their project to determine key biological indices required to understand and manage nesting sea turtles along the Kimberley coast.

As part of the WAMSI KMRP, supported by the Kimberley Science and Conservation Strategy, scientists from Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA), UWA and CSIRO have been working with Traditional Owners to better understand nesting sea turtles in the Kimberley.

The Kimberley region is one of few places in Australia where a knowledge gap remains for a basic understanding of marine turtle nesting biology. The females are most accessible when they come ashore to lay eggs and predictable because individuals show strong fidelity to rookeries. This fidelity also drives spatial differentiation and allows DNA analyses to define connectivity and management units.

With such an extensive regional scale project spanning 12000 kilometres of coastline we also identified climate change as a major environmental driver of potential population change. Climate change also has potential to modify beach habitat through sea level rise and increased storm events and incubation parameters are changed by rising thermal conditions.

Turtle sex is determined by incubation temperature of the beach sand and warmer temperatures may skew sex ratios towards females or even hotter temperatures to lethal levels. 

The Kimberley has existing Indigenous custodians of land and sea that reside along the coast or in regional urban communities. These groups hold a wealth of knowledge about the natural environment and are committed to its management. These groups were integral to this project.

These presentations discuss four major project components: investigating distribution and seasonality of nesting; defining management units using genetics; identifying critical incubation indices affected by climate change impacts; and developing two-way communication and collaborative partnerships with Indigenous groups through planning, onground work, training and information exchange. A key component to the research was the participation by 11 Indigenous groups.

Some of the main findings discussed include:

  • Over 85% of all nesting beaches were surveyed across the Kimberley by aerial survey and onground visits
  • Nesting hot spots were identified for winter and summer nesting seasons
  • New flatback genetic stocks were identified and green turtle stocks were better defined
  • Pivotal temperatures and lethal incubations thresholds were identified for green and flatback turtles
  • Extensive collaborative field work resulted in an enhanced working relationship across multiple groups.
  • Strategic regional and community management objectives were integrated to identify potential long-term monitoring locations and methods.

 

The KMRP Marine Turtle presentations can be also be found on the Marine Turtle project page at: www.wamsi.org.au/marine-turtles#presentations

The $30 million Kimberley Marine Research Program is funded through major investment supported by $12 million from the Western Australian government co-invested by the WAMSI partners and supported by the Traditional Owners of the Kimberley.

Category: 

Kimberley Marine Research Program

Australia’s northern seagrasses – resilience in the face of dredging

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WAMSI Dredging Science Node researchers recently presented at the Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research Symposium.

The presentations, as part of ECU Research Week, brought together the combined knowledge on Australia’s northern seagrasses and their resilience in the face of dredging.

The WAMSI Dredging Science Node Presentations are available at www.wamsi.org.au/primary-producer-response-dredging#Presentations

 

 

The project page for the WAMSI Dredging Science Node Primary Producer response to Dredging can be found at: www.wamsi.org.au/primary-producer-response-dredging

 

The WAMSI Dredging Science Node is made possible through $9.5 million invested by Woodside, Chevron and BHP as environmental offsets. A further $9.5 million has been co-invested by the WAMSI Joint Venture partners, adding significantly more value to this initial industry investment. The node is also supported through critical data provided by Chevron, Woodside and Rio Tinto Iron Ore.

Category: 

Dredging Science

Integrating science into marine conservation management

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Kimberley Marine Research Program Science Coordinator, Dr Kelly Waples highlighted the success of the program in integrating science into conservation management decisions presented at the 22nd Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals in NovaScotia.

Dr Waples from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions used the WAMSI Dugong project lead by CSIRO’s Dr Peter Bayliss as an example.

 

 

Dr Bayliss also shared results from the dugong project with:

– Parks and Wildlife and Indigenous rangers in Broome – the presentation is available at www.wamsi.org.au/dugong#Presentations

– Science on the Broome Coast hosted by the Roebuck Bay Working Group;

– Wunambal Gaambera Traditional Owners in Kalumburu; and

– Parks staff in Kununurra.

 

ABSTRACT: Integrating science into marine conservation management: a knowledge exchange framework that enhances the delivery of science into management action.

Kelly Waples, Peter Bayliss and Stuart Field

The integration of science into conservation management decisions remains a significant challenge in the marine environment. Coupled with a decline in funding, the emphasis on the delivery of relevant and applicable research has never been greater. The Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI), a joint venture partnership of state, federal, industry and academic institutions, is addressing this need through a collaborative approach to research program development and delivery. This has included development of an operational framework to enhance knowledge exchange and associated application of science outcomes into management decisions and actions. The framework recognises barriers that limit knowledge uptake and addresses these through a process that starts with the development of a science strategy outlining critical information gaps through to ensuring research findings are interpreted relative to management needs and are accessible in a format, including associated products and tools, which can be used by managers. This ensures the greatest impact of research findings through their incorporation into policy, guidelines and operational actions. The process relies on considerable end-user involvement through open and ongoing dialogue between scientists and managers, driven by an intermediary with an understanding of the needs of both parties.

The WAMSI Kimberley Marine Research Program is an example of the successful application of this process. Comprising 25 multi-disciplinary projects, the KMRP was designed to characterise the marine environment, ecological processes and human pressures to support the management of newly established marine parks across the Kimberley jointly managed with Traditional Owners. We will use the dugong distribution and abundance project as an example of the knowledge exchange process. This project addressed specific management questions, incorporated traditional knowledge and participation in fieldwork and has produced baseline data on species distribution and movement and a monitoring protocol that will be used in marine park planning and on ground management.   

Waples K, Bayliss P, Field S. (2017)  Integrating science into marine conservation management: a knowledge exchange framework that enhances the delivery of science into management action. 22nd Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals. (Abstract) (Presentation Slides)

 

Dr Kelly Waples presents at the Marine Mammals Conference in Nova Scotia

 

The $30 million Kimberley Marine Research Program is funded through major investment supported by $12 million from the Western Australian government co-invested by the WAMSI partners and supported by the Traditional Owners of the Kimberley.

Category: 

Kimberley Marine Research Program

Study uncovers northwest transition zone for Australian reef fish

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Research has shown that a stretch of ocean surrounding the tip of the Dampier Peninsula, 200 kilometres north of Broome, acts as an invisible genetic barrier for a popular harvested tropical fish known as the stripey snapper.

The findings highlight the importance of the transition zone at the border of the Kimberley and Canning marine bioregions as a consideration for fisheries management. 

The barrier spans a 180 kilometre stretch of ocean at the southern border of the Kimberley bioregion that coincides with the mouth of King Sound, which experiences the largest tropical tidal range and fastest tidal currents in the world.

The collaborative project for the Western Australian Marine Science Institution’s Kimberley Marine Research Program, was led by Curtin University researcher Dr Joseph DiBattista and Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s Dr Michael Travers together with CSIRO’s Dr Oliver Berry. The results have been published in the international journal Molecular Ecology.

“These results are important for managing harvest of the stripey snapper (Lutjanus carponotatus), because we had assumed that they moved easily between the Pilbara and Kimberley regions, but it appears that they do not,” Dr DiBattista said.

“We know that the fish must rarely move between the Kimberley and Pilbara because they have strong genetic differences between those regions,” Dr Berry said.

 The researchers were surprised at how narrow the barrier was.

“The transition between fish that have the genetic fingerprints of the Pilbara and the genetic fingerprints of the Kimberley occurs over a very narrow region near the mouth of King Sound,” Dr Berry explained. “Fish that are found within this region are a mix, but outside of that region they are distinctive.”

“This study will improve management of this and potentially other reef fish species across northwestern Australia as it highlights the importance of the techniques used in this research to provide outcomes relevant to management, particularly for species with broad ranges such as the recreationally harvested stripey snapper,” Dr Travers said.

 

Map of sampling sites (yellow dots) for Lutjanus carponotatus across the entire sampling range in Northwestern Australia. The Holloway Current is the dominant current affecting coastal waters of the Kimberley, Canning, and Pilbara bioregions and the Leeuwin Current significantly impacts the Ningaloo and Shark Bay bioregions (adapted from Sprintall et al. 2002; Domingues et al. 2007; D’Adamo et al. 2009; Schiller 2011). Illustration of L. carponotatus © R.Swainston/www.anima.net.au.

 

It’s the first time that scientists have examined how far Kimberley marine animals and plants move.

The research also investigated movement in six other marine species including damselfish, corals, seagrasses and trochus shells.

The final results will be presented at the 2017 WAMSI Research Conference by project leader Dr Oliver Berry (CSIRO) in November.  

Links:

The $30 million Kimberley Marine Research Program is funded through major investment supported by $12 million from the Western Australian government co-invested by the WAMSI partners and supported by the Traditional Owners of the Kimberley.

Category: 

Kimberley Marine Research Program

Dredging Science: Understanding how low light levels can affect coral health

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Research has confirmed that some coral and important reef building algae can sustain being exposed to low light conditions for up to 10 consecutive days before their health is critically affected.

The findings have important implications for the environmental impact assessment and management of dredging operations, which cause sediment plumes.

The results of the Western Australian Marine Science Institution’s Dredging Science Node research, conducted in specially developed tank systems at the AIMS National Sea Simulator (SeaSim), have been published in Scientific Reports.

Lead researcher Pia Bessell-Browne from The University of Western Australia Oceans Institute, Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis and Australian Institute of Marine Science said corals and important reef building algae are particularly susceptible to light limitation resulting from elevated sediment particles in the water column which can be generated by naturally occurring events, such as cyclones, as well as coastal development activities such as dredging.

 

Experimental tank set up at the AIMS National Sea Simulator used to determine the impacts of 6 light levels on both coral and algal health. (SeaSim)

 

“This study has determined light levels that need to be maintained in order to reduce negative impacts on the health of coral and reef building algae,” Ms Bessell-Browne explained. “When corals do not receive adequate light, the algae that live within their tissues and provide them with up to 90 per cent of their daily energy requirements leave, meaning the corals are without their main food source and can starve if this condition is maintained over extended time frames.”

A range of low light levels were investigated and their impacts on several species of corals, along with juvenile corals and a species of reef building algae were determined.

 

Photographs of representative A. millepora and P. acuta fragments after 30 d of exposure to the six daily light integral (DLI) irradiance treatments of ~0, 0.02, 0.1, 0.4, 1.1 and 4.3 mol photons m−2 d−1 (Bessel-Browne et al., (2007))

 

“The results demonstrate that both corals and algae are sensitive to exposure to low light conditions for more than 10 consecutive days,” Ms Bessell-Browne said. “Juvenile and adult corals have similar low light tolerance, while the reef building algae is more sensitive to the low light conditions than the corals.”

The thresholds determined by these research findings are expected to contribute to the environmental impact assessment and management of dredge programs where these coral and algae species occur in the field.

Bessell-Browne P, Negri A.P., Fisher R, Clode P.L., Jones R (2017) Impacts of light limitation on corals and crustose coralline algae Scientific Reports doi:10.1038/s41598-017-11783-z

 

The WAMSI Dredging Science Node is made possible through $9.5 million invested by Woodside, Chevron and BHP as environmental offsets. A further $9.5 million has been co-invested by the WAMSI Joint Venture partners, adding significantly more value to this initial industry investment. The node is also supported through critical data provided by Chevron, Woodside and Rio Tinto Iron Ore.

Category:

Dredging Science