A database of marine phytoplankton abundance, biomass and species composition in Australian waters

There have been many individual phytoplankton datasets collected across Australia since the mid 1900s, but most are unavailable to the research community. We have searched archives, contacted researchers, and scanned the primary and grey literature to collate 3,621,847 records of marine phytoplankton species from Australian waters from 1844 to the present. Many of these are small datasets collected for local questions, but combined they provide over 170 years of data on phytoplankton communities in Australian waters. Units and taxonomy have been standardised, obviously erroneous data removed, and all metadata included. We have lodged this dataset with the Australian Ocean Data Network (http://portal.aodn.org.au/) allowing public access. The Australian Phytoplankton Database will be invaluable for global change studies, as it allows analysis of ecological indicators of climate change and eutrophication (e.g., changes in distribution; diatom:dinoflagellate ratios). In addition, the standardised conversion of abundance records to biomass provides modellers with quantifiable data to initialise and validate ecosystem models of lower marine trophic levels

Biophysical Factors Affecting the Distribution of Demersal Fish around the Head of a Submarine Canyon Off the Bonney Coast, South Australia

We sampled the demersal fish community of the Bonney Canyon, South Australia at depths (100–1,500 m) and locations that are poorly known. Seventy-eight species of demersal fish were obtained from 12 depth-stratified trawls along, and to either side, of the central canyon axis. Distributional patterns in species richness and biomass were highly correlated. Three fish assemblage groupings, characterised by small suites of species with narrow depth distributions, were identified on the shelf, upper slope and mid slope. The assemblage groupings were largely explained by depth (ρw = 0.78). Compared to the depth gradient, canyon-related effects are weak or occur at spatial or temporal scales not sampled in this study. A conceptual physical model displayed features consistent with the depth zonational patterns in fish, and also indicated that canyon upwelling can occur. The depth zonation of the fish assemblage was associated with the depth distribution of water masses in the area. Notably, the mid-slope community (1,000 m) coincided with a layer of Antarctic Intermediate Water, the upper slope community (500 m) resided within the core of the Flinders Current, and the shelf community was located in a well-mixed layer of surface water (<450 m depth)

Biomass, lipid productivity and fatty acid composition of fresh water microalga Rhopalosolen saccatus cultivated under phosphorous limited conditions

This study reports the bioprospecting of microalgae as a potential feedstock for biomass and lipid production in the Central Queensland region, Australia. During the dry season of 2010, ninety water samples were collected from a range of water bodies across the Central Queensland region of Australia. These water bodies had pH ranging from of 5.8–8.8, electrical conductivity of 184–2351 μS cm−1 and water temperature between 17 and 21 °C. Strains of Rhopalosolen saccatus, Navicula sp. 1, Nitzschia pusilla and Navicula sp. 2 were identified positive for neutral lipid content. Among the strains R. saccatus had significantly high biomass (1.46 g L−1) and lipid content (0.20 g L−1) compared to other strains when cultivated for 22 d under standard nutrient growth media. When grown under limiting P conditions, biomass and total lipid across the treatments did not vary significantly from the control, although a few fatty acids such as C16:0, C16:1 and C18:3 increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05).The prevalent fatty acids in this study included C22:0 followed by C20:0 and C18:3, in decreasing order of concentrations.The pH varied from 6.84 to 9.87 across the growth trials and there was no significant correlation between pH, biomass, total lipid and P concentrations

Spatial and temporal variations in hydrrographical parameters in Talapady lagoon, southwest coast of India

77-79Spatial and temporal variabilities in hydrographical parameters were studied in Talapady lagoon, a tropical coastal lagoon located on the southwest coast of India. The lagoon was influenced by two adjoining water bodies, the Talapady river during the southwest monsoon (June-September) and the Arabian Sea during the rest of the year. Temperature, during this study, varied between 26.18 to 34.50°C, salinity from 0.2 to 18.5 × 10-3, dissolved oxygen from 3.90 to 6.20 ml.1-1, suspended particulate matter from 3.8 to 744.3 mg.1-1 and particulate organic carbon from 0.22 to 3.96 mg.1-1 . The nutrients studied included NH3-N (6.79 - 24.72 μg-at.1-1), NO2- N (0.1-9.8 μg-at.1-1), NO3-N (2.5-16.1 μg-at.1-1) , PO4-P (3.4-6 .5μg-at.1-1), and SiO3-Si (15.3- 132.9 μg-at.1-1). Temporal variations in the parameters studied were quite distinct with most parameters following a trimodal pattern, with peaks during premonsoon, monsoon and postmomsoon.</span

Population-specific shifts in viral and microbial abundance within a cryptic upwelling

International audienceCoastal upwelling systems play an essential role in bringing cold and nutrient-rich water into the euphotic zone, hence enhancing the biological productivity of the world's oceans. We describe a "cryptic" upwelling occurring in South Australian waters, in which cold upwelled waters do not reach surface waters and do not exhibit a sea surface temperature (SST) signature. Due to the wide continental shelf (ca. 100 km), upwelled waters form a sub-surface cold water pool and are forced north-west after a secondary event. Using flow cytometry we investigated the abundance and composition of viruses, heterotrophic bacteria and pico-phytoplankton within upwelling affected and unaffected waters. Our results identified the presence of upwelled waters at and below the Deep-Chlorophyll Maximum (DCM), where water temperature was at least 4 °C colder than surface waters. In contrast to previous studies, no significant differences were observed between upwelled and non-upwelled waters for most individual viral, bacterial and pico-phytoplankton sub-groups. However, one viral, one bacterial and two pico-phytoplankton sub-groups were significantly more abundant at the DCM. This indicates the presence of depth- and population-specific shifts in abundance and potential niche partitioning of these cytometrically-defined sub-groups that may be related to their host organisms and/or resource availability

Using design as boundary spanner object in climate change mitigation projects

Climate change is a growing concern for society and the focus of numerous research initiatives across multiple fields of science. These initiatives often need to capitalize on the cross-specialized knowledge contributed by researchers from very different fields. The diversity of worldviews among key stakeholders requires an effective overall design strategy acting as a boundary spanner object. This study presents an account of the issues faced by a multidisciplinary research project and discusses the suitability of a design approach to help address issues such as equality, empowerment, autonomy, creativity, performance, reduction of innovation cycle times and also provide for the necessary balance between control, speediness and flexibility.Validerad; 2010; 20100318 (biggan)</p

USING DESIGN AS BOUNDARY SPANNER OBJECT IN CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION PROJECTS

Climate change is a growing concern for society and the focus of numerous research initiatives across multiple fields of science. These initiatives often need to capitalize on the cross-specialized knowledge contributed by researchers from very different fields. The diversity of worldviews among key stakeholders requires an effective overall design strategy acting as a boundary spanner object. This study presents an account of the issues faced by a multidisciplinary research project and discusses the suitability of a design approach to help address issues such as equality, empowerment, autonomy, creativity, performance, reduction of innovation cycle times and also provide for the necessary balance between control, speediness and flexibility

Bar graphs of demersal fish richness and biomass collected from trawl shots at 4 depth strata (100 m, 200 m, 500 m, 1000 m) around the head of Bonney Canyon.

<p>Locations relative to the main canyon axis are represented by different shades of fill (black = west, grey = centre, white = west).</p

Results of two-way PERMANOVA test for differences in demersal fish community structure between four strata (depth) on three transects located on and either side of the central canyon axis (region).

<p>Results of two-way PERMANOVA test for differences in demersal fish community structure between four strata (depth) on three transects located on and either side of the central canyon axis (region).</p