Evolving coral reef conservation with genetic information

Targeted conservation and management programs are crucial for mitigating anthropogenic threats to declining biodiversity. Although evolutionary processes underpin extant patterns of biodiversity, it is uncommon for resource managers to explicitly consider genetic data in conservation prioritization. Genetic information is inherently relevant to management because it describes genetic diversity, population connectedness, and evolutionary history; thereby typifying their behavioral traits, physiological climate tolerance, evolutionary potential, and dispersal ability. Incorporating genetic information into spatial conservation prioritization starts with reconciling the terminology and techniques used in genetics and conservation science. Genetic data vary widely in analyses and their interpretations can be challenging even for experienced geneticists. Therefore, identifying objectives, decision rules, and implementations in decision support tools specifically for management using genetic data is challenging. Here, we outline a framework for eight genetic system characteristics, their measurement, and how they could be incorporated in spatial conservation prioritization for two contrasting objectives: biodiversity preservation vs maintaining ecological function and sustainable use. We illustrate this framework with an example using data from Tridacna crocea (Lamarck, 1819) (boring giant clam) in the Coral Triangle. We find that many reefs highlighted as conservation priorities with genetic data based on genetic subregions, genetic diversity, genetic distinctness, and connectivity are not prioritized using standard practices. Moreover, different characteristics calculated from the same samples resulted in different spatial conservation priorities. Our results highlight that omitting genetic information from conservation decisions may fail to adequately represent processes regulating biodiversity, but that conservation objectives related to the choice of genetic system characteristics require careful consideration

Application of ecosystem modelling for decision support in marine fisheries management in Vietnam

The Vietnamese marine ecosystem is under threat from a wide range of human activities including fisheries. These activities can change the structure and functioning of the marine ecosystem. To achieve more sustainable fisheries, an ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAFM) is needed. Therefore, the overarching aim of this thesis is to develop scientific tools that can support EAFM in the Vietnamese marine ecosystem. To do so, assessing fishing impacts on ecosystem structure and functioning of the Vietnamese marine ecosystem were performed using different methodologies. First, a time-series assessment of the fisheries was carried out based on reconstructed catch data (landing) between 1981 and 2012. Then, based on the landing data, fishery-based indicators were used to assess the impacts of fishing on the structure of the entire Vietnamese marine ecosystem. Next, inverse models and Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) model were used to evaluate fishing effects on fish communities. Of those, the inverse models were performed to investigate human-induced changes on the functioning of fish communities in the Vietnamese coastal ecosystem. The EwE modelling tool was used to predict ecosystem-level consequences of various fishing scenarios, taking into account the trophic interactions and ecological, social and economic constraints of the Vietnamese coastal fisheries. The present results demonstrated that the Vietnamese ecosystem has experienced changes and stress the need for a closer inspection of the ecological impact of fishing

Seafloor Positioning across Juna de Fuca Ridge

The experiment represents a partnership that includes contributions from the USGS, the University of Hawaii; the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS); the DMA; the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD); and the U.S. Navy Submarine Group One.The results of an analysis of a complex data set acquired during the United States Geological Survey's Marine Crustal Deformation Study are presented. The experiment, which commenced in the spring of 1992 in a region of the Pacific known as the Juan de Fuca ridge, represents a first attempt to locally monitor plate dynamics in the marine environment using a network of tripod-mounted, dual-frequency acoustic transponders. The aim is to collect over a period of years time-series measurements of extension rates along the southern Juan de Fuca ridge. In addition, by collecting a combination of Global Positioning System satellite tracking data, low- frequency acoustics data, and water column pressure, conductivity, and temperature at depth, it was possible to extend geodetic control from land onto the seafloor. The methods to accomplish this latter goal of the experiment are described, as well as the final results. Baseline comparisons between several of the solutions obtained during this analysis are presented along with recommendations for additional data collection and analysis.The data were collected as part of an experiment in marine geodynamics conducted by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) with support from the University of Hawaii; the Naval Postgraduate School; the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA); the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD); and the U.S. Navy Submarine Group One

MISI and Landsat ETM+: Thermal calibration and atmospheric correction

Two new remote sensing instruments were used for the first time this past summer, both with novel thermal imaging capabilities. NASA\u27s Landsat ETM+ (Enhanced Thematic Mapper+), the latest in the series of Earth imaging satellites, has both higher radiometric and spatial resolution than ever before. RIT\u27s MISI (Modular Imaging Spectrometer Instrument) is an airborne sensor with a unique thermal spectrometer. The images from both will be used for a wide variety of applications. The purpose of this research is three-fold; to ensure MISI thermal imagery is calibrated by developing a laboratory calibration process, to develop techniques to remove the effects of the atmosphere being imaged, and to ensure that Landsat thermal imagery is calibrated by using the calibrated MISI imagery. Although we failed to successfully calibrate MISI in the lab, using ground truth the instrument was empirically calibrated to within O.5K. Two different atmospheric correction techniques, a multiple-altitude technique and a multi-band technique, were used on the calibrated imagery and found to successfully predict ground temperature to within 1.4K and O.8K, respectively. To verify the Landsat calibration, MISI images were projected to space-reaching radiance to compare with Landsat. Although over the three collects this summer, we did find a consistent difference between MISI and Landsat (RMS ofO.6K) more data must be taken before we are convinced that Landsat\u27s calibration coefficients need updating. This being the inaugural flight seasons for both instruments makes much of this data very preliminary but the tools are in place for future flight seasons

Socio-ecological dynamics in mollusc fisheries: a case study from the Keppel Bay Islands, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Samantha Aird investigated the dynamics in the use of molluscs by the Woppaburra People over a 5000-year period. High-resolution datasets and Woppaburra traditional ecological knowledge identified the sustained seasonal use of a gastropod species – the Moon Turban. Results are being used to improve fisheries and cultural heritage management