Australian Marine Scientists Map Sea Shelf

Scientists from five research agencies have pooled their skills and resources to compile a directory of life on Australia’s continental shelf.

AsianScientist (Mar. 29, 2011) – Scientists from five research agencies have pooled their skills and resources to compile a directory of life on Australia’s continental shelf.

During the Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities (CERF) Marine Biodiversity Hub’s three year program, they compiled existing biological survey datasets, mapped 1868 square km of seabed with multibeam sonar, recorded 171 km of underwater video, and collected nearly 1000 samples of seabed sediments and marine life.

The scientists identified 37 environmental factors that shape seabed life, such as depth, oceanography, type of seafloor, food availability, and strength of currents and waves.

Statistical modeling was then used to predict seabed biodiversity, at a scale of one square km, across more than two million square km of the continental shelf.

Genetic techniques were used to examine the links between biodiversity in different areas, and economic studies examined new options for biodiversity management.

The program also completed finer scale mapping of previously unknown areas of the seabed in four important areas around Australia: Jervis Bay, Lord Howe Island, Southern-eastern Tasmania and Carnarvon Shelf.

Hub director, Professor Nic Bax of CSIRO and the University of Tasmania, said the new maps and knowledge highlight the complex patterns of biodiversity across Australia’s shelf habitats, while emphasizing how much more we need to know.

Some of the maps have already been used by the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (SEWPaC) to improve its understanding of Australia’s oceans as part of the marine bioregional planning process.

All of the new information will be incorporated into the Australia Ocean Data Network and the Atlas of Living Australia to improve access to essential information on Australia’s biodiversity.

The Marine Biodiversity Research Hub brought together the University of Tasmania, CSIRO, Geoscience Australia, the Australian Institute of Marine Science, and Museum Victoria under the Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities program. The CERF program is administered by SEWPaC.

To read more, visit their website at the Marine Biodiversity Research Hub.

(Source: Eric G Matson, Australian Institute of Marine Science)

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Source: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
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