%0 Report %D 2018 %T Field manuals for marine sampling to monitor Australian waters %A Rachel Przeslawski %A Scott D Foster %A Vanessa L Lucieer %A Jacquomo Monk %A Phil J. Bouchet %A Tim J. Langlois %A Andrew Carroll %A Joel Williams %A Neville Barrett %A Althaus, Franziska %A Beaman, Robin J. %A Berents, Penny %A Tom Bridge %A Malcolm R Clark %A Jamie Colquhoun %A Leanne M. Currey Randall %A Graham J. Edgar %A Fellows, Melissa %A Frid, Chris %A Friedman, Ariell %A Daniel C Gledhill %A Jordan S. Goetze %A David Harasti %A K.R. Hayes %A Nicole A. Hill %A G.R. Hosack %A Charlie Huveneers %A Ierodiaconou, Daniel %A T Ingleton %A Alan Jordan %A Gary A. Kendrick %A Kennedy, David M. %A E Lawrence %A Tom B. Letessier %A Linklater, Michelle %A Lowry, Michael %A Hamish A. Malcolm %A Jessica J. Meeuwig %A Scott L Nichol %A Tim O'Hara %A K Picard %A Alix Post %A Matthew J Rees %A Santana-Garcon, Julia %A Scott, Molly %A Justy P W Siwabessy %A Smith, Jodie %A Marcus Stowar %A Taylor, Matt %A Thompson, Christopher %A Maggie Tran %A Tyndall, Aaron %A Laurent, Vigliola %A Sasha Whitmarsh %K monitoring %K standard operating procedures %K survey methods %X

Australia has one of the world’s largest marine estates that includes many vulnerable habitats and a high biodiversity, with many endemic species crossing a wide latitudinal range. The marine estate is used by a variety of industries including fishing, oil & gas, and shipping, in addition to traditional, cultural, scientific and recreational uses. The Commonwealth government has recently established the Australian Marine Parks (AMPs), the largest network of marine protected areas in the world, complementing existing networks in State and Territory waters.

Monitoring the impacts of these uses on the marine environment is a massive shared responsibility that can only be achieved by making the best use of all the information that is collected. Australia now has a number of significant long-term marine monitoring and observing programs, as well as a national ocean data network. Without some common and agreed standards, much of the information collected will not be comparable with other areas or sectors. This may reduce its value to regional and national management, while the individual project or survey may lose the opportunity to interpret results in a regional or national context.

We have therefore developed a suite of field manuals for the acquisition of marine benthic (i.e. seafloor) data from a variety of frequently-used sampling platforms so that data can become directly comparable in time and through space, thus supporting nationally relevant monitoring in Australian waters and the development of a monitoring program for the AMP network. This objective integrates with one of the eight high-level priorities identified by the National Marine Science Plan (2015-25): the establishment of national baselines and long-term monitoring.


Related information

%8 01 Feb 2018 %G eng %0 Journal Article %J PLOS ONE %D 2015 %T Implications of sponge biodiversity patterns for the management of a marine reserve in northern Australia %A Rachel Przeslawski %A Alvarez, Belinda %A Johnathan T. Kool %A Tom Bridge %A M Julian Caley %A Scott L Nichol %E Bell, James %X

Marine reserves are becoming progressively more important as anthropogenic impacts continue to increase, but we have little baseline information for most marine environments. In this study, we focus on the Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve (CMR) in northern Australia, particularly the carbonate banks and terraces of the Sahul Shelf and Van Diemen Rise which have been designated a Key Ecological Feature (KEF). We use a species-level inventory compiled from three marine surveys to the CMR to address several questions relevant to marine management: 1) Are carbonate banks and other raised geomorphic features associated with biodiversity hotspots? 2) Can environmental (depth, substrate hardness, slope) or biogeographic (east vs west) variables help explain local and regional differences in community structure? 3) Do sponge communities differ among individual raised geomorphic features? Approximately 750 sponge specimens were collected in the Oceanic Shoals CMR and assigned to 348 species, of which only 18% included taxonomically described species. Between eastern and western areas of the CMR, there was no difference between sponge species richness or assemblages on raised geomorphic features. Among individual raised geomorphic features, sponge assemblages were significantly different, but species richness was not. Species richness showed no linear relationships with measured environmental factors, but sponge assemblages were weakly associated with several environmental variables including mean depth and mean backscatter (east and west) and mean slope (east only). These patterns of sponge diversity are applied to support the future management and monitoring of this region, particularly noting the importance of spatial scale in biodiversity assessments and associated management strategies.

%B PLOS ONE %V 10 %P e0141813 %8 25 Nov 2015 %G eng %U http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0141813 %N 11 %! PLoS ONE %R 10.1371/journal.pone.0141813 %0 Journal Article %J PLoS ONE %D 2014 %T Variable responses of benthic communities to anomalously warm sea temperatures on a high-latitude coral reef %A Tom Bridge %A Renata Ferrari %A Bryson, Mitch %A Renae Hovey %A Will F. Figueira %A Williams, Stefan B. %A Oscar R. Pizarro %A Harborne, Alastair R. %A Byrne, Maria %E Valentine, John F. %X

High-latitude reefs support unique ecological communities occurring at the
biogeographic boundaries between tropical and temperate marine ecosystems.
Due to their lower ambient temperatures, they are regarded as potential refugia for
tropical species shifting poleward due to rising sea temperatures. However, acute
warming events can cause rapid shifts in the composition of high-latitude reef
communities, including range contractions of temperate macroalgae and bleachinginduced
mortality in corals. While bleaching has been reported on numerous highlatitude
reefs, post-bleaching trajectories of benthic communities are poorly
described. Consequently, the longer-term effects of thermal anomalies on highlatitude
reefs are difficult to predict. Here, we use an autonomous underwater
vehicle to conduct repeated surveys of three 625 m2 plots on a coral-dominated
high-latitude reef in the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia, over a fouryear
period spanning a large-magnitude thermal anomaly. Quantification of benthic
communities revealed high coral cover (.70%, comprising three main
morphospecies) prior to the bleaching event. Plating Montipora was most
susceptible to bleaching, but in the plot where it was most abundant, coral cover did
not change significantly because of post-bleaching increases in branching
Acropora. In the other two plots, coral cover decreased while macroalgal cover
increased markedly. Overall, coral cover declined from 73% to 59% over the course
of the study, while macroalgal cover increased from 11% to 24%. The significant
differences in impacts and post-bleaching trajectories among plots underline the
importance of understanding the underlying causes of such variation to improve
predictions of how climate change will affect reefs, especially at high-latitudes.

%B PLoS ONE %V 9 %P e113079 %8 11 Feb 2016 %G eng %U http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113079 %N 11 %! PLoS ONE %R 10.1371/journal.pone.0113079 %0 Journal Article %J ICES Journal of Marine Science %D 2012 %T Submerged banks in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, greatly increase available coral reef habitat %A Harris, Peter T. %A Tom Bridge %A R J Beaman %A Webster, J. M. %A Scott L Nichol %A Brendan P Brooke %K benthic habitats %K Biodiversity %K Great Barrier Reef %K mesophotic %K refugia %K submerged banks %X

Anthropogenic global ocean warming is predicted to cause bleaching of many near-sea-surface (NSS) coral reefs, placing increased importance on deeper reef habitats to maintain coral reef biodiversity and ecosystem function. However, the location and spatial extent of many deep reef habitats is poorly known. The question arises: how common are deep reef habitats in comparison with NSS reefs? We used a dataset from the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) to show that only about 39% of available seabed on submerged banks is capped by NSS coral reefs (16 110 km2); the other 61% of bank area (25 600 km2) is submerged at a mean depth of around 27 m and represents potential deep reef habitat that is spatially distributed along the GBR continental shelf in the same latitudinal distribution as NSS reefs. Out of 25 600 km2 of submerged bank area, predictive habitat modelling indicates that more than half (around 14 000 km2) is suitable habitat for coral communities.

%B ICES Journal of Marine Science %U http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/11/28/icesjms.fss165.short?rss=1 %! ICES Journal of Marine Science %R 10.1093/icesjms/fss165