June 28, 2013

Newsletter: 

The NERP Marine Biodiversity Hub is developing a blueprint for monitoring marine ecosystems of Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The blueprint will identify a pathway and options for implementing marine monitoring to meet the needs of the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPaC). It will facilitate reporting on the State of the Environment, marine ecosystem health (as specified in Marine Bioregional Plans), and the Commonwealth Marine Network (CMR).

The blueprint builds on an approach for identifying ecosystem health indicators, developed jointly by the CSIRO and DSEWPaC, and implemented nationally with input from 63 regional experts in oceanography and marine ecology.

The national analysis focused around 31 Key Ecological Features (KEFs), identified by DSEWPaC for their outstanding contribution to the abundance and diversity of marine communities in Australia’s EEZ. It culminated in a series of KEF-specific indicators grouped into 23 categories, ranging from coral and invertebrates to predatory fish.  Indicators of pressure are also included.

Indicators were identified using model predictions of how KEFs would respond to natural and human-induced pressures, and then selected based on their predicted reliability to provide unambiguous signals of change.

Hub researchers have been looking at a range of logistical and statistical issues associated with sustained observation of KEF indicators, and how indicators and models can be used to guide the monitoring for CMR networks.

The practicalities and cost effectiveness of monitoring techniques were tested in pilot studies at the Flinders CMR (South-east Marine Region), the shelf KEF in the vicinity of the Solitary Islands CMR (Temperate East Marine Region) and the Oceanic Shoals CMR (North Marine Region), and the Houtman-Abrolhos KEF (South-west Marine Region).

Options and opportunities for analysing and presenting data are also being examined. These build on the existing initiatives, including the Australian Ocean Data Network and the Integrated Marine Observing System.

Hub researchers will be working with Parks Australia to understand and identify operational objectives for CMRs, with an initial focus on the implementation of the management plan for the South-east CMR network.

The national indicators, the conceptual analyses and national maps of marine pressures generated from a comprehensive collation of marine datasets, are outlined in six CSIRO reports published in November 2012.

The next step involves developing and implementing effective monitoring programs, and collating and analysing the data. The release of the monitoring blueprint for the EEZ is planned for late 2014.

 


Image:

An Australian Oceanic Blacktip shark, coming in for a closer look at the Stereo Imagery System for Shark and Tuna Analysis (SISSTAs). Image: UWA

 


Further reading

Project Summary: National Marine Ecological Indicators, Jeff Dambacher et al (2012)
National Indicators of Marine Ecosystem Health: Mapping Project, Keith Hayes et al (2012)
Ecological Indicators for the Exclusive Economic Zone of Australia's East Marine Region, Jeff Dambacher et al (2012)
Ecological Indicators for the Exclusive Economic Zone of Australia's North and North-west Marine Regions, Geoff Hosack et al (2012)
Ecological Indicators for the Exclusive Economic Zone of Australia's South-east Marine Region, Geoff Hosack et al (2012)
Ecological Indicators for Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone: Rationale and Approach with Application to the South-west Marine Region, Keith Hayes et al (2012)

Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPaC)
Parks Australia, DSEWPaC

 

Contact

Keith Hayes, CSIRO