%0 Report %D 2016 %T Analysis of Approaches for Monitoring Biodiversity in Commonwealth Waters - Field work report %A Althaus, Franziska %A Neville Barrett %A Jeffrey M Dambacher %A P Davies %A Renata Ferrari %A Jessica H. Ford %A Keith R Hayes %A Nicole A. Hill %A G.R. Hosack %A Renae Hovey %A Z Huang %A J Hulls %A T Ingleton %A Alan Jordan %A Gary A. Kendrick %A Johnathan T. Kool %A E Lawrence %A Leeming, Rhys %A Vanessa L Lucieer %A Hamish A. Malcolm %A Meyer, L %A Jacquomo Monk %A Scott L Nichol %A David Peel %A Nicholas R. Perkins %A Justy P W Siwabessy %A Sherlock, M %A Martin, Tara %A Maggie Tran %A Walsh, A %A Williams, Alan %X

The overall objective of this project was to contribute to a blue-print for a sustained national environmental monitoring strategy for monitoring biodiversity in the Commonwealth Marine Areas. The approach would apply to Key Ecological Features (KEFs) and the Commonwealth Marine Reserve (CMR) Network, focusing initially on the Southeast Marine Region. CMRs and KEFs are large, remote and poorly known, so this project focussed on identifying flexible, statistically robust approaches to survey design and data collection that could result in comprehensive descriptions of the surveyed area and at the same time provide a statistical baseline for future repeat surveys in the same area. Given the conservation status and values of these areas, non-destructive sampling tools were prioritized, including remote sensing using acoustics (e.g. multibeam) that provide information on seafloor characteristics (bathymetry, hardness and texture), and direct observation using video and camera stills, taken by towed units, autonomous units or baited units. The final report is of necessity highly technical, reporting on the design and analytical issues addressed by this project. This executive summary is designed to provide an overview of the project and highlight the key findings relevant to policy makers and managers, omitting most of the technical detail. Readers interested in technical detail are referred to the main body of this report or the many research papers resulting from this work that are listed at the end of this summary.

Three field programs were undertaken. The largest survey was for the Flinders Commonwealth Marine Reserve (CMR) located offshore, northeast of Tasmania. This provided a baseline of the continental shelf, in the multiple use zone of this reserve, on which future monitoring can be built, and provides an initial characterization of the upper slope areas in the same zone of this CMR. A smaller survey targeted at known shelf reefs features in the Solitary Islands Marine Park (SIMP) and Solitary Islands Marine Reserve (SIMR) was designed to address specific sampling issues including: extending State-based research to this Commonwealth KEF, comparing autonomous and towed platforms for capturing video imagery, and examining statistical issues associated with the use of baited underwater remote videos (BRUVs). The third survey in the KEF east of the Houtman-Abrolhos islands was an exploratory survey designed to identify whether coral-kelp and other shelf reef communities in the State MPA extended into this KEF, and explore whether seabird diet could be used as a reliable indicator of pelagic ecosystem health.


 

%8 01 May 2016 %G eng %0 Report %D 2016 %T Mapping shelf rocky reef habitats in the Hunter Commonwealth Marine Reserve %A P Davies %A T Ingleton %A Alan Jordan %A Neville Barrett %X

This report documents results of a targeted acoustic field survey of areas on the continental shelf of the Hunter Commonwealth Marine Reserve undertaken as part of Hub research to improve our understanding of the nature and distribution of shelf rocky reefs found within the reserve, and, by inference, are likely to be found in adjacent east Australian shelf waters. It was also intended to identify areas of reef habitat suitable for subsequent biological inventory and monitoring. Shelf rocky reefs are identified as Key Ecological Features (KEFS) within the Commonwealth marine bioregional planning framework, and improving the knowledge of the distribution of this KEF within the Hunter CMR, the only Temperate East region CMR with significant shelf representation, was identified as a high priority in a Hub planning workshop (Lucieer et al. 2015).

%8 30 Nov 2016 %G eng