Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: Le0668039
Funder
Australian Research Council
Summary
Sydney Harbour Institute of Marine Science (SHIMS) aquarium facility. With the global proportion of people living in cities now exceeding 50%, the Sydney Harbour Institute of Marine Science will champion the area of urban marine science. The proposed aquarium facility will support multidisciplinary research to find solutions for the environmental problems of marine habitats in urban areas. Research at SHIMS will examine how coastal environments are affected by human impacts, recreational fisheri ....Sydney Harbour Institute of Marine Science (SHIMS) aquarium facility. With the global proportion of people living in cities now exceeding 50%, the Sydney Harbour Institute of Marine Science will champion the area of urban marine science. The proposed aquarium facility will support multidisciplinary research to find solutions for the environmental problems of marine habitats in urban areas. Research at SHIMS will examine how coastal environments are affected by human impacts, recreational fisheries, invasive pests; develop novel technologies for detection of environmental and climate change; and provide management options to protect ports and harbours from threatening processes. The location in such a commercially and recreationally busy harbour provides excellent opportunities for research and education.Read moreRead less
Larval Dispersal And The Design Of Marine Reserve Networks: Benefits Within And Beyond Boundaries. Most marine organisms produce tiny offspring that are dispersed unknown distances by oceanic currents. Our present strategies to manage marine resources lack this vital piece of information. This study will apply two revolutionary techniques that finally enable us to determine how far marine larvae travel. Using the team that developed these techniques, field studies will for the first time measure ....Larval Dispersal And The Design Of Marine Reserve Networks: Benefits Within And Beyond Boundaries. Most marine organisms produce tiny offspring that are dispersed unknown distances by oceanic currents. Our present strategies to manage marine resources lack this vital piece of information. This study will apply two revolutionary techniques that finally enable us to determine how far marine larvae travel. Using the team that developed these techniques, field studies will for the first time measure both retention of fish larvae within marine protected areas and dispersal of larvae to adjacent fished areas on coral reefs. This information can be directly applied to optimize the size of reserves and their spacing in marine protected area networks.Read moreRead less
Climate change and coral reef communities: predicting and managing future impacts. Coral reefs are critically important for the goods and services they provide, but are facing considerable threat from sustained, ongoing climate change. Results from this project, and supplementary data from other researchers within the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, will help develop innovative strategies to manage the effects of climate change on coral reef ecosystems. There is no comparable te ....Climate change and coral reef communities: predicting and managing future impacts. Coral reefs are critically important for the goods and services they provide, but are facing considerable threat from sustained, ongoing climate change. Results from this project, and supplementary data from other researchers within the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, will help develop innovative strategies to manage the effects of climate change on coral reef ecosystems. There is no comparable team in the world that has the capacity or resources to rigorously integrate world-class research into knowledge-based management of coral reef ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Environmental management of coral reef resilience. The primary aim of this project is to provide the scientific evidence needed to effectively manage and protect reef resilience within the GBR Marine Park. We will develop and apply scientific tools for understanding the large-scale effect of multiple physical environmental stresses on coral populations. Furthermore, we will determine how fish communities influence the potential for coral reefs to remain healthy in the face of global change. Cent ....Environmental management of coral reef resilience. The primary aim of this project is to provide the scientific evidence needed to effectively manage and protect reef resilience within the GBR Marine Park. We will develop and apply scientific tools for understanding the large-scale effect of multiple physical environmental stresses on coral populations. Furthermore, we will determine how fish communities influence the potential for coral reefs to remain healthy in the face of global change. Central to this work will be an evaluation of the potential of No-Take Zones, a contemporary management tool, to promote resilience and the ability of coral reefs to cope with environmental change.Read moreRead less
The quality of seagrass as a dugong food resource: the importance of the effects of season and water depth. Australia has international obligations to conserve dugongs (sea cows). Dugongs rely on seagrasses for food. Knowledge of the abundance and quality of seagrasses, and how these change in response to the environment, is vital if dugong conservation is to have the necessary scientific basis. Research has focussed on intertidal seagrass as food for dugongs. However, deepwater seagrasses ....The quality of seagrass as a dugong food resource: the importance of the effects of season and water depth. Australia has international obligations to conserve dugongs (sea cows). Dugongs rely on seagrasses for food. Knowledge of the abundance and quality of seagrasses, and how these change in response to the environment, is vital if dugong conservation is to have the necessary scientific basis. Research has focussed on intertidal seagrass as food for dugongs. However, deepwater seagrasses are a mainstay of most significant dugong populations, such as the population in Hervey Bay, Queensland. This research will provide information on the effect of season and water depth on the quality of seagrasses as dugong food.Read moreRead less
Building effects of marine pests into nutrient management strategies. The input of nutrients has long been a key management focus for coastal waters, and the organisms living in soft sediments play a very important role in the removal of nutrients from these waters, thereby reducing the risk of environmental degradation. In recent years, marine pests have emerged as a major threat, with the potential to alter the abundances of a wide range of native organisms. Nutrients and pests have largely ....Building effects of marine pests into nutrient management strategies. The input of nutrients has long been a key management focus for coastal waters, and the organisms living in soft sediments play a very important role in the removal of nutrients from these waters, thereby reducing the risk of environmental degradation. In recent years, marine pests have emerged as a major threat, with the potential to alter the abundances of a wide range of native organisms. Nutrients and pests have largely been treated as independent threats, but pests could interfere with denitrification processes. We will test whether this occurs, and provide key information for managers devising nutrient management strategies.Read moreRead less
Biomarkers of Heavy Metal Stress in Mangrove Ecosystems. Australia has the third largest area of mangroves internationally and these systems are highly productive as primary producers, habitat and nursery area for many juvenile commercial fish species. The consequences of local destruction of mangroves through human impacts are lower fish productivity and loss of water quality. The validation of predictive early warning biomarkers of heavy metal stress in mangroves would provide a powerful manag ....Biomarkers of Heavy Metal Stress in Mangrove Ecosystems. Australia has the third largest area of mangroves internationally and these systems are highly productive as primary producers, habitat and nursery area for many juvenile commercial fish species. The consequences of local destruction of mangroves through human impacts are lower fish productivity and loss of water quality. The validation of predictive early warning biomarkers of heavy metal stress in mangroves would provide a powerful management tool that would enable evidence of pollutant exposure and accurate 'early-warning' indication of biological/environmental effects, allowing effective remedial action and protection of estuarine waters and resources both nationally and internationally. Read moreRead less
Incorporation of vulnerability and irreplaceability into marine protected area planning. The primary national benefit will be to better safeguard biological diversity by reducing extinction risk for marine species. This will be achieved through analysis of factors affecting extinction risk, and through the development of protocols to improve the siting of marine protected areas for conservation outcomes. A more effective National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas will be achieved t ....Incorporation of vulnerability and irreplaceability into marine protected area planning. The primary national benefit will be to better safeguard biological diversity by reducing extinction risk for marine species. This will be achieved through analysis of factors affecting extinction risk, and through the development of protocols to improve the siting of marine protected areas for conservation outcomes. A more effective National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas will be achieved through decreased extinction risk and lower opportunity costs. In addition, a quantitative baseline dataset will be obtained for evaluating long-term changes in threatened marine species populations, and the effectiveness of future management actions aimed to safeguard threatened species.Read moreRead less
Optimizing the allocation of resources for defending marine protected areas against invasive species. The National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas contributes directly to the protection of marine biodiversity, and to Australia's international obligations under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. Non-indigenous species have potential to undermine native biodiversity in marine protected areas across Australia. By identifying the most effective strategies for dealing with pot ....Optimizing the allocation of resources for defending marine protected areas against invasive species. The National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas contributes directly to the protection of marine biodiversity, and to Australia's international obligations under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. Non-indigenous species have potential to undermine native biodiversity in marine protected areas across Australia. By identifying the most effective strategies for dealing with potential incursions of non-indigenous species in Victorian marine national parks and sanctuaries, the project will make a valuable contribution to the viability of local marine ecosystems and the maintenance of biodiversity. Furthermore, it will provide a template to aid similar decision-making in other marine protected areas around the country.Read moreRead less
Effectiveness of temperate Australian marine protected areas as tools for biodiversity conservation and informing fisheries management. The effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs) for biodiversity protection and informing fisheries management will be investigated at a continental scale for the first time. Communities of fishes, invertebrates and plants at >100 sites within MPAs in WA, NSW and Tasmania will be studied from prior to fisheries protection, with changes over time compared with ....Effectiveness of temperate Australian marine protected areas as tools for biodiversity conservation and informing fisheries management. The effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs) for biodiversity protection and informing fisheries management will be investigated at a continental scale for the first time. Communities of fishes, invertebrates and plants at >100 sites within MPAs in WA, NSW and Tasmania will be studied from prior to fisheries protection, with changes over time compared with changes at fished reference sites. This study represents a human predator exclusion experiment with a scale sufficiently large to distinguish general patterns from among site specific and species specific variability. It will provide management authorities with information crucial to determining MPA number, size and configuration.Read moreRead less