reef watch community education in action
DESCRIPTION
Reef Watch Community Education in Action. Dr Sue Murray-Jones Reef Watch - Liaison Officer and Technical Advisor (Office for Coast and Marine, DEH). PREMISE: Volunteers can do good science! - importance of temperate reefs - introduce Reef Watch - describe methodology - limits and challenges. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Reef Watch
Community Education in Action
Dr Sue Murray-JonesReef Watch - Liaison Officer and
Technical Advisor(Office for Coast and Marine, DEH)
PREMISE:Volunteers can do good science!
- importance of temperate reefs- introduce Reef Watch - describe methodology- limits and challenges
- rocky shores accessible- well studied- lots of books, kits, material- lots of community action
Temperate reefs- subtidal less accessible- not as well studied- fewer books, kits, material- few community programs BUT- we know they are highly productive- key role in coastal processes- interest from divers- VERY expensive for researchers to work in subtidal
The Unique South
- very high biodiversity- extremely high endemism e.g.
85% of fish95% of molluscs90% of echinoderms (estimates from Poore 1991)
30% of Chlorophyta (green algae)75% of Rhodophyta (red algae)57% of Phaeophyta (brown) (Womersley 1991)
- more species of algae than the GBR has corals
Algal diversity
Region length #species
Southern Aust. 5,500 1,155NE N.America 8,000 399Pacific NWest 12,000 1,254Japan 6,500 1,452New Zealand 6,970 835
Why is this so?
- Current patterns- tropical influences- East Australian Current- Leeuwin Current- Antarctic influence
- Isolation
- Longest E-W temperate coastline
Reef Watch
- set up to monitor metro reefs- methodology and training developed- got community involvement, funding- raised awareness - events such as Marathon Dive- participate in Sea Week etc- ID workshops using scientific experts
Surveys
- visual fish census- quadrat counts- line intercept transects (LIT)- use of life form codes
Code DescriptionBRENC Brown encrusting algaeBRFOLI Brown foliaceous algaeBRLEATH Brown robust algae, large
flattened blades (muchbroader than thick), notmembranous but leathery
BRBRANCH Brown robust algae withhighly branched habit(blades not much broaderthan thick)
TURF Turfing algae (all colours)GMEM Green membranous algaeRCORAL Red coralline algaeRMEM Red membranous algae
Life Form Codes
- 1996 Adelaide University Botany Department - Reef Health Assessment - Development of LIT- use transect line, weighted ruler- record along transect using life form codes- simple- reproducible- directly comparable to U Adelaide/ EPA survey data
Line Intercept Transects (LIT)
LIT
Successful program - >80 participants in marathon dives- c. 300 divers have participated- developed a solid data base- interactive web site- developing web engine to generate reports- has been copied by other states- held up as a model in election policy statements
Limits
- some data quality problems (addressing)- resourcing- commitment in winter!- data is semi-quantitative- need more spatial cover/replication- need more temporal replication
Challenges
- funding (always)- need to find a way to run w/o paid project officer- insurance!!!- need to extend to less “interesting” areas eg seagrass, degraded reefs, estuaries- time
- involvement of trained scientists at all levels, e.g. development, analysis, training, dives- high quality training and ID workshops- lots of information eg training manuals, kits- lifeform codes- progression of skills
- basic fish census, quadrats- “graduate” to LIT
- liasion with Government, SARDI, Unis
Where to now? - expansion of programs - Feral and in Peril- “adopt a reef” program …. temporal repetition and ownership- devolving to local areas eg grants from Marion, Onka councils- expand to regions- add an intertidal component- Seagrass Watch- Blue Groper survey- fish biology workshop
Acknowledgements
- Coastcare & now Fishcare- active steering Committee, past, present and future- Jon Emmett, Sheralee Cox, Chris Ball- David Turner and Anthony Cheshire- SARDI- OCM