The value of community-based monitoring in marine protected areas

There is an increasing realisation of the importance of community or volunteer collected data for management programs that are otherwise limited by the availability of funds or resources. However, there are concerns regarding the reliability of scientific data collected by inexperienced people. We investigated the potential for community-based monitoring in Victoria&rsquo;s newly established system of Marine Protected Areas. The main objectives for the study were to 1) develop a template for the scientific monitoring of marine habitats suitable for community groups, 2) assess data quality and data integrity collected by community volunteers and 3) determine a sustainable model for ongoing community participation in monitoring marine habitats. Three different habitats (subtidal, intertidal, and seagrass) were investigated and data collected by volunteers across these habitats was compared to that collected by scientists. Reliability of data collected by volunteers was dependent on habitat type and the type of measurement the volunteers were required to make. Qualitative estimates made by volunteers were highly variable across all three habitat sites, compared to quantitative data collection. Subtidal monitoring had the greatest inaccuracy for data collection, whereas intertidal reef monitoring was most reliable. Sustainability of community-based monitoring programs is dependent on adequate training for volunteers and the development of partnerships to foster greater community engagement.<br /

Comparison of marine macrophytes for their contributions to blue carbon sequestration

Many marine ecosystems have the capacity for long-term storage of organic carbon (C) in what are termed &quot;blue carbon&quot; systems. While blue carbon systems (saltmarsh, mangrove, and seagrass) are efficient at long-term sequestration of organic carbon (C), much of their sequestered C may originate from other (allochthonous) habitats. Macroalgae, due to their high rates of production, fragmentation, and ability to be transported, would also appear to be able to make a significant contribution as C donors to blue C habitats. In order to assess the stability of macroalgal tissues and their likely contribution to long-term pools of C, we applied thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) to 14 taxa of marine macroalgae and coastal vascular plants. We assessed the structural complexity of multiple lineages of plant and tissue types with differing cell wall structures and found that decomposition dynamics varied significantly according to differences in cell wall structure and composition among taxonomic groups and tissue function (photosynthetic vs. attachment). Vascular plant tissues generally exhibited greater stability with a greater proportion of mass loss at temperatures &gt; 300 degrees C (peak mass loss -320 degrees C) than macroalgae (peak mass loss between 175-300 degrees C), consistent with the lignocellulose matrix of vascular plants. Greater variation in thermogravimetric signatures within and among macroalgal taxa, relative to vascular plants, was also consistent with the diversity of cell wall structure and composition among groups. Significant degradation above 600 degrees C for some macroalgae, as well as some belowground seagrass tissues, is likely due to the presence of taxon-specific compounds. The results of this study highlight the importance of the lignocellulose matrix to the stability of vascular plant sources and the potentially significant role of refractory, taxon-specific compounds (carbonates, long-chain lipids, alginates, xylans, and sulfated polysaccharides) from macroalgae and seagrasses for their long-term sedimentary C storage. This study shows that marine macroalgae do contain refractory compounds and thus may be more valuable to long-term carbon sequestration than we previously have considered

Disturbance alters ecosystem engineering by a canopy-forming alga

Canopy-forming fucoid algae have an important role as ecosystem engineers on rocky intertidal shores, where they increase the abundance of species otherwise limited by exposure during low tide. The facilitative relationship between Ascophyllum nodosum and associated organisms was explored using a frond breakage experiment (100%, 50%, 25%, 0% intact-frond treatments) in southern England, to assess the consequences of disturbance. Understorey substratum temperature was on average 3°C higher in 0% and 25% intact-frond treatments than in plots with 50% and 100% intact fronds. Light (as PAR during low tide) doubled in 0% intact-frond treatments in comparison to other treatments (which had similar light levels). Mobile invertebrate species richness declined by on average 1 species per m2 in the treatments with only 25% and 0% intact fronds, and the abundance of Littorina obtusata declined by 2.4-4.2 individuals per m2 in the treatments with 25 and 0% intact fronds. Sessile taxa, including Osmundea pinnatifida and encrusting coralline algae, declined by half on average in the 0% intact-frond treatment. These results suggest that the ability of Ascophyllum to mediate environmental conditions to the understorey is the mechanism responsible for species distributed in the understorey (autogenic ecosystem engineering). The results of this study imply that a pulse disturbance resulting in a 50% breakage of Ascophyllum fronds significantly increases temperature and decreases the abundance of mobile invertebrates usually associated with Ascophyllum. Sessile taxa associated with Ascophyllum can, however, withstand disturbances down to 25% intact Ascophyllum fronds.</p

Applications of unmanned aerial vehicles in intertidal reef monitoring

Monitoring of intertidal reefs is traditionally undertaken by on-ground survey methods which have assisted in understanding these complex habitats; however, often only a small spatial footprint of the reef is observed. Recent developments in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) provide new opportunities for monitoring broad scale coastal ecosystems through the ability to capture centimetre resolution imagery and topographic data not possible with conventional approaches. This study compares UAV remote sensing of intertidal reefs to traditional on-ground monitoring surveys, and investigates the role of UAV derived geomorphological variables in explaining observed intertidal algal and invertebrate assemblages. A multirotor UAV was used to capture &lt;1&thinsp;cm resolution data from intertidal reefs, with on-ground quadrat surveys of intertidal biotic data for comparison. UAV surveys provided reliable estimates of dominant canopy-forming algae, however, understorey species were obscured and often underestimated. UAV derived geomorphic variables showed elevation and distance to seaward reef edge explained 19.7% and 15.9% of the variation in algal and invertebrate assemblage structure respectively. The findings of this study demonstrate benefits of low-cost UAVs for intertidal monitoring through rapid data collection, full coverage census, identification of dominant canopy habitat and generation of geomorphic derivatives for explaining biological variation

New resource for population genetics studies on the Australasian intertidal brown alga, Hormosira banksii: isolation and characterization of 15 polymorphic microsatellite loci through next generation DNA sequencing

The Australasian fucoid, Hormosira banksii, commonly known as &lsquo;Neptune&rsquo;s necklace&rsquo; or &lsquo;bubbleweed&rsquo; is regarded as an autogenic ecosystem engineer with no functional equivalents. Population declines resulting from climate change and other anthropogenic disturbances pose significant threats to intertidal biodiversity. For effective conservation strategies, patterns of gene flow and population genetic structure across the species distribution need to be clearly understood. We developed a suite of 15 polymorphic microsatellite markers using next generation sequencing of 53&ndash;55 individuals from two sites (south-western Victoria and central New South Wales, Australia) and a replicated spatially hierarchical sampling design. We observed low to moderate genetic variation across most loci (mean number of alleles per locus =3.26; mean expected heterozygosity =0.38) with no evidence of individual loci deviating significantly from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Marker independence was confirmed with tests for linkage disequilibrium, and analyses indicated no evidence of null alleles across loci. Independent spatial autocorrelation analyses were performed for each site using multilocus genotypes and different relatedness measures. Both analyses indicated no significant patterns between relatedness and geographic distance, complemented by non-significant Hardy-Weinberg estimates (P &lt; 0.05), suggesting that individuals from each site represent a randomly mating, outcrossing population. A preliminary investigation of population structure indicates that gene flow among sites is limited (FST = 0.49), however more comprehensive sampling is needed to determine the extent of population structure across the species range (&gt;10,000 km). The genetic markers described provide a valuable resource for future population genetic assessments that will help guide conservation planning for H. banksii and the associated intertidal communities

BioTIME: A database of biodiversity time series for the Anthropocene.

MotivationThe BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community-led open-source database of biodiversity time series. Our goal is to accelerate and facilitate quantitative analysis of temporal patterns of biodiversity in the Anthropocene.Main types of variables includedThe database contains 8,777,413 species abundance records, from assemblages consistently sampled for a minimum of 2 years, which need not necessarily be consecutive. In addition, the database contains metadata relating to sampling methodology and contextual information about each record.Spatial location and grainBioTIME is a global database of 547,161 unique sampling locations spanning the marine, freshwater and terrestrial realms. Grain size varies across datasets from 0.0000000158 km2 (158 cm2) to 100 km2 (1,000,000,000,000 cm2).Time period and grainBioTIME records span from 1874 to 2016. The minimal temporal grain across all datasets in BioTIME is a year.Major taxa and level of measurementBioTIME includes data from 44,440 species across the plant and animal kingdoms, ranging from plants, plankton and terrestrial invertebrates to small and large vertebrates.Software format.csv and .SQL