2017 WAMSI Research Conference

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The partners of the Western Australian Marine Science Institution are delivering two of the largest integrated marine research programs in Australia.

This conference showcased the science, findings, outcomes and products to managers, researchers, industry and government stakeholders.

2017 WAMSI Research Conference Presentations

Dredging Science Node

Day 1 – Wednesday 22nd November 2017

SESSION 1: Opening and keynote presentations

CHAIR: Naomi Brown

Time Presentation Speaker
9:15 Introduction and Welcome to Country. Dr Richard Walley OAM
9:30 Opening the 2017 WAMSI Research Conference. (audio) Minister Dave Kelly

Minister for Water; Fisheries; Forestry; Innovation and ICT; Science

9:40 WAMSI – Delivering research priorities for Western Australia (audio)

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

Naomi Brown, Chair WAMSI
9:50 Keynote Presentation – Building a Science and Knowledge base for Environmental Impact Assessment. (audio) Tom Hatton, Chair WA DWER
10:10 The power of collaborative science: an industry perspective (audio)

Presentation slides

Mike Utsler, Chief Operating Officer Woodside Energy

 

10:30 A NT perspective on managing dredging  (audio)

Presentation slides

Paul Vogel, Chair NT EPA

 

10:50-11:15 Morning Tea

 

SESSION 2: Overview and Pressure Field Characterisation and Prediction

CHAIR: TBC

11:15 Dredging Science Node – Purpose and pathways to adoption (audio)

Presentation slides

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

Ray Masini, DWER
11:45 Characterisation of dredging pressures in WA – review of the datasets from previous dredging related environmental monitoring programs

www.wamsi.org.au/coral-response-dredging

Ross Jones, AIMS

Rebecca Fisher, AIMS

Muhammad Abdul Wahab, AIMS

12:15 Generation and Transport of Dredge Plumes – Synthesis of knowledge and considerations for management  (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/characteristics-sediments

Chaojiao Sun, CSIRO

 

12:45-1:45 Lunch
SESSION 3: Ecological Response Prediction

CHAIR: TBC

 

1:45 Response of corals to dredging: hazard to risk

www.wamsi.org.au/coral-response-dredging

Ross Jones, AIMS
2:15 Defining thresholds and indicators of seagrass response to dredging – Synthesis of knowledge and considerations for management

www.wamsi.org.au/primary-producer-response-dredging

Paul Lavery, ECU
2:45 Defining thresholds and indicators of sponge response to dredging – Synthesis of knowledge and considerations for management

www.wamsi.org.au/filter-feeder-responses-dredging

Muhammad Abdul Wahab, AIMS
3:15-3:45 Afternoon Tea
SESSION 4: Environmental windows for critical ecological processes

CHAIR: TBC

3:45 Effects of dredging on coral reproduction – Thresholds and indicators and synthesis of knowledge and considerations for management  (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/dredging-pressures-coral

Andrew Negri, AIMS
4:15 Effects of dredging related pressures on critical ecological processes for finfish – Synthesis of knowledge and considerations for management (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/dredging-pressures-finfish

Euan Harvey

 

4:35 Effects of dredging related pressures on critical ecological processes for organisms other than fish or coral (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/dredging-pressures-other-organisms

Gary Kendrick, UWA

 

4:55 Dredging Science Node – An Overview: what we have learned (audio)

Presentation slides

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

Ray Masini, DWER
5:15 Close  

 

Day 2 – Thursday 23rd November 2017

SESSION 5: Pressure Field Characterisation and Prediction

CHAIR: TBC

9:15 Modelling far-field dredging generated sediment plumes – guidance for proponents and consultants

www.wamsi.org.au/characteristics-sediments

Paul Branson et al.

CSIRO)

09:45 Remote Sensing of Dredge Plumes – how and how not (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/characteristics-sediments

Peter Fearns et al.

Curtin University

10:00 Sediment deposition over benthic habitats – corrections for sediment transport models (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/characteristics-sediments

Ryan Lowe et al.

UWA

10:15 Continuous in situ monitoring of sediment deposition in shallow benthic environments (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/coral-response-dredging

James Whinney et al.

JCU

10:45-

11:15

Morning Tea
SESSION 6: Ecological Response Prediction (CORALS AND SEAGRASS)

CHAIR: TBC

11:30 Dredging and bleaching events (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/coral-response-dredging

Ross Jones et al.

AIMS

Laboratory experimentation on the effects of dredging on fertilisation, larval development and settlement of corals (audio)

Presentation slides

Video: Coral larvae settling on calcareous red algae

www.wamsi.org.au/dredging-pressures-coral

Gerard Ricardo, AIMS

Andrew Negri, AIMS

11:45 Predicting coral mortality based on water quality during dredging and deriving operational thresholds

www.wamsi.org.au/coral-response-dredging

Rebecca Fisher et al.

AIMS

12:00 Measurement and modelling of key demographic processes in corals of the Dampier Archipelago (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/coral-response-dredging

Russ Babcock et al.

CSIRO

12:15 Natural dynamics and seasonality of tropical seagrasses and recovery mechanisms of seagrass following disturbance – implications for environmental impact assessment

www.wamsi.org.au/primary-producer-response-dredging

Paul Lavery ECU

Mat Vanderklift et al.

CSIRO

12:30 Genetic variability within seagrass and implications for recovery potential (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/primary-producer-response-dredging

Kathryn McMahon et al.

ECU

12:45-

1:45

Lunch
SESSION 7: Ecological Response Prediction (SEAGRASSES, SPONGES and )

CHAIR: TBC

1:45 Thresholds and indicators of seagrass response to dredge pressures (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/primary-producer-response-dredging

Gary Kendrick, UWA

John Statton, UWA

 

2:00 The influence of light quality on seagrasses (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/primary-producer-response-dredging

Simone Strydom, ECU

 

2:15 Sponges of the Pilbara – a biodiversity hotspot (audio)

(Presentation slides)

Video 1: Sponges dominate filter feeder communities in the Pilbara

Video 2: Sponge Gardens of Ningaloo Reef

www.wamsi.org.au/filter-feeder-responses-dredging

Muhammad Abdul Wahab

AIMS

Jane Fromont et al.

WA Museum

 

2:30 Comparisons of benthic filter feeder communities before and after a large-scale capital dredging program

www.wamsi.org.au/filter-feeder-responses-dredging

Muhammad Abdul Wahab,

AIMS

2:45-3:15 Afternoon Tea
SESSION 8: Ecological Response Prediction (CORAL EARLY LIFE HISTORY STAGES)

CHAIR:

Sub-lethal indicators of dredging pressures – mucous sheet production in Porites corals (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/coral-response-dredging

Pia Bessell-Browne et al.

UWA

Specific and interactive effects of total suspended solids, light attenuation and sediment deposition on adult corals (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/coral-response-dredging

Pia Bessell-Browne et al.

UWA

3:15 Coral reproduction in Western Australia (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/dredging-pressures-coral

James Gilmour, AIMS

Russ Babcock, CSIRO

3:45-4:00 Close of Conference and Closing Remarks Naomi Brown, WAMSI Chair

 

Kimberley Marine Research Program

Day 1 – Tuesday, 28 November

Session 1, Chair: Luke Twomey, WAMSI

Opening and keynote presentations

P/P Presentation Speaker
9:00 Introduction and Welcome to Country. (audio) Dr Len Collard
9:15 Opening Address  (audio)

Presentation slides

Chris Tallentire MLA

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Water; Fisheries; Forestry; Innovation and ICT; Science

9:35 WAMSI – Delivering research priorities for WA (audio) Dr. Luke Twomey,

WAMSI CEO

9:50 Keynote Presentation – The importance of science for conservation management 

(audio)

Professor Chris Doepel PSM, Deputy Chair Conservation Commission
10:15 Morning Tea
Session 2

The Kimberley Marine Research Program

Chair: Stuart Field, DBCA

11:00 Kimberley Node Overview (audio)

Presentation slides

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

Stuart Field, WAMSI and DBCA
11:20 Living on the Edge: Understanding the adaption and acclimation of nearshore turbid-zone corals to extreme environmental conditions (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/geomorphology

Mick O’Leary, Curtin
11:40 Physical drivers of reefs in the Kimberley (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/benthic-community-production

Ryan Lowe, UWA
12:00 Kimberley seabed biodiversity (audio)

Presentation slides

Video: Camden Sound Solander Tow 060 hard bottom diverse ff

www.wamsi.org.au/benthic-community-production

Karen Miller, AIMS
12:30 Lunch
Session 3

Productivity in the Kimberley

Chair: Kelly Waples, DBCA

13:30 Reef production and nutrient uptake (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/benthic-community-production

Renee Gruber, UWA
13:40 Benthic primary productivity: production and herbivory of seagrasses, macroalgae and microalgae (audio) (audio of Q&A)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/seagrass

Gary Kendrick, UWA
13:55 The magnitude and importance of herbivory in the Kimberley (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/seagrass

Gary Kendrick, UWA
14:05 Remote Sensing (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/remote-sensing

Peter Fearns, Curtin
14:25 Afternoon Tea
Session 4

Ecological processes of the Kimberley

Chair: Stuart Field, DBCA

15:20 Recruitment and herbivory in the southern Kimberley (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/key-ecological-processes

Martial Depczynski, AIMS
15:40 Going with the flow: genomic insights into ecological connectivity in the Kimberley (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/ecological-connectivity

Oliver Berry, CSIRO
16:00 Historical reconstructions of water quality in the Kimberley using sediment records (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/sediment-record

John Keesing, CSIRO
16.20 Climate change as registered by Sr/Ca, Li/Mg, d11B and B/Ca systematics in an ~100-year old Porites coral from the thermally extreme Kimberley region of northwestern Australia (audio)

Presentation Slides

Heat tolerance of Kimberley corals and impacts of the 2016 marine heatwave on coral reefs in the inshore Kimberley region Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/calcification

Malcolm McCulloch, UWA

 

Day 2 – Wednesday, 29th November 2017

Session 1

Best practice indigenous engagement for healthy country management

Chair: Stuart Field, DBCA

9:00 Invited Speaker – People and Saltwater Country in the Kimberley

(Video presentation)

Presentation slides pdf

www.wamsi.org.au/indigenous-knowledge

Dean Mathews, Yawuru and Albert Wiggin, Nyul Nyul
  (Video of presentation)

Using a Multiple Evidence Based approach to mobilise Indigenous knowledge and science

Using social values to inform marine spatial planning

Presentation slides

Invited speakers – Working together on country for healthy country and MPA management Presentation slides pdf

A Regional Framework for Saltwater Monitoring in the Kimberley Presentation slides pdf

www.wamsi.org.au/indigenous-knowledge

Beau Austin, CDU

 

Jennifer Munro, DBCA

 

Dean Mathews, Yawuru

 

Rebecca Dobbs, UWA and Albert Wiggin, Nyul Nyul

10:15 Morning Tea
Session 2

Marine fauna of the Kimberley

Chair: Kelly Waples, DBCA

10:45 Key biological indices required to understand and manage nesting sea turtles along the Kimberley coast (video of presentation)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/marine-turtles

Scott Whiting, DBCA

Tony Tucker, DBCA

Oliver Berry, CSIRO

Integrating Indigenous knowledge and survey techniques to develop a baseline for dugong management in the Kimberley (video of presentation)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/dugong

Peter Bayliss, CSIRO
  Modelling the spatial distribution of humpback whales in the Kimberley region of Western Australia (video of presentation)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/humpback-whale-monitoring

Michele Thums, AIMS
  Relative abundance, population genetic structure and passive acoustic monitoring of Australian snubfin and humpback dolphins in regions within the Kimberley (video of presentation)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/dolphins

Josh Smith, Murdoch/Simon Allen UWA, Chandra Salgado Kent, Curtin
  Saltwater crocodiles in the Kimberley (video of presentation)

www.wamsi.org.au/saltwater-crocodiles

Danny Barrow, DBCA
12:00 Lunch
Session 3

Physical and biological processes and what we have learned from modelling

Chair: Stuart Field, DBCA

13:00 What is modelling and why do we care? (video of presentation)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/modelling-future-kimberley-region

Matt Hipsey, UWA and Fabio Boschetti, CSIRO
13:20 Physical oceanographic dynamics in the Kimberley (video of presentation)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/oceanographic-dynamics

Greg Ivey, UWA
13:35 Terrestrial-Ocean Linkages: the role of rivers and estuaries in sustaining marine productivity in the Kimberley (video of presentation)

www.wamsi.org.au/land-ocean-linkages

Nicole Jones, UWA and Andrew Revill, CSIRO
13:50 Biogeochemistry (video of presentation)

 

www.wamsi.org.au/biogeochemical-processes

Matt Hipsey, UWA
14:05 Opposite polarities of ENSO drive distinct patterns of coral bleaching potentials off WA coast (video of presentation)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/climate-change

Ming Feng, CSIRO
14:20 Knowledge Integration and Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) Modelling (video of presentation)

www.wamsi.org.au/modelling-future-kimberley-region

Fabio Boschetti, CSIRO
14:40 Afternoon Tea
Session 4

Science for ongoing management – how will we use what we have learned

Chair: Luke Twomey, WAMSI

15:10 Invited Speaker: Kimberley Marine Protected Areas (audio)

Presentation slides

Kathleen Lowry, DBCA
15:45 Is the Kimberley coast still a pristine wilderness? (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/human-use

Lynnath Beckley, Murdoch
16:00 Research and monitoring in the Kimberley – setting priorities for the future (audio)

Presentation slides

Tom Holmes, DBCA
16:15 Navigating knowledge currents in Kimberley Saltwater Country (audio)

Presentation slides

www.wamsi.org.au/indigenous-knowledge

Beau Austin, CDU, Dean Mathews, Yawuru  and Albert Wiggin, Nyul Nyul
16:40 Collaborating in science into the future (audio) Patrick Seares, OEPA
  Closing Remarks and Close of Conference (audio) Luke Twomey, WAMSI