Marine Futures Project Biodiversity Team

Brief description

The biodiversity team consists of scientists from UWA, the Western Australian Museum and the Department of Fisheries. The team includes Professor Jessica Meeuwig (UWA), Professor Gary Kendrick (UWA), Associate Professor Euan Harvey (UWA), Dr Timothy Langlois (UWA), Alison Sampey (WA Museum), Dr Jane Fromont (WA Museum), Dr Fred Wells (Department of Fisheries), and Dr Lynda Bellchambers (Department of Fisheries). The primary focus of the team is to undertake biodiversity surveys which provide information on the plants and animals inhabiting a range of habitats. The development of habitat maps is the first phase in the marine futures project and consists of hydroacoustic surveys, towed video surveys and habitat classification. The Hydroacoustic surveys are marine surveys that collect seafloor contours (bathymetry) and the texture of the substrate. The underwater towed video sampling is undertaken following the hydroacoustic survey to 'ground truth' or interpret the signals from the hydroacoustic surveys. Some of the ‘rough’ habitat types (e.g. sand versus reef) can be identified from the hydroacoustic survey. However, the visual images from the towed video surveys take the habitat definition to the next level. The spatial modelling team, based at UWA, use both the data from the hydroacoustic survey and the towed video survey to develop fine-scale habitat maps. The biodiversity surveys are spatially referenced to the habitat maps. Hence one of the key outputs of the group will be the information on distribution and abundance of marine organisms in particular habitats. The main methods used to sample select biodiversity attributes at each of the sites are Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems (BRUVS), Research trawls and Drop camera (photoquadrat) sampling. From this information, regional groups and managers will be able to better understand the characteristics of the marine resources. In addition, when combined with habitat maps this data also provides a benchmark of marine ecosystem health. Resource managers will then be able to more effectively look at setting future targets relating to this baseline and implement actions to assist in managing the marine environment.