Predicting coastal ecological futures in an era of unprecedented change

Posted by Natasha Watson
On August 11, 2021

By Dr Chris Brown We are entering a new era of science where ecosystem change is uncharted by historical observations. Observations are the foundation of predictive science, so how can we predict a future that is outside the envelope of the environments? This is the question I will address in a new 2021 Australian Research Council Future Fellowship. Specifically, I will focus on predicting future change for coastal ecosystems. […]

Global Mangrove Alliance: The State of the Worlds Mangrove’s report

Posted by Natasha Watson
On July 26, 2021

The Global Mangrove Alliance have released their inaugural report, The State of the World’s Mangroves, a compilation of the most current information available on what we know about mangrove forests and what’s being done to reverse the downward trends impacting the forests and the local communities who depend on them. This publication represents a remarkable […]

Deep learning to detect animal behaviour

Posted by Natasha Watson
On June 9, 2021

By Ellen Ditria Studying and quantifying animal behaviour is important to understand how animals interact with their environments. However manually extracting and analysing behavioural data from large volumes of camera footage is often time consuming. Our new research shows how artificial intelligence can be a valuable tool to analyse underwater footage more effectively. Deep learning […]

Automated fish tracking for aquatic conservation

Posted by Natasha Watson
On May 28, 2021

By Sebastian Lopez Automated and remote techniques are becoming more common in management and conservation of the environment. These techniques can provide us with Big Data required to understand the complex interactions and behaviour that occur in the natural world. In marine ecosystems, the application of automated techniques is challenging due to the variable and […]

Mangrove Carbon Webinar and App

Posted by Natasha Watson
On April 28, 2021

You’re invited to watch our webinar featuring Dr Fernanda Adame, Associate Professor Dan Friess and Dr Chris Brown who discuss the importance of mangroves to the Blue Economy and demonstrate our new Mangrove Carbon App to predict future carbon emissions from mangrove loss. Webinar: Seeing into the future to reduce carbon emissions from mangrove loss […]

Filling gaps in global assessments of ecosystems to benefit coastal wetland conservation

Posted by Natasha Watson
On April 21, 2021

By Dr Chris Brown The conservation of coastal wetland ecosystems, seagrass, saltmarsh and mangroves, receives less attention than other higher profile coastal ecosystems, like coral reefs. In a new study we highlight how filling gaps in the assessment of coastal wetlands may help advance coastal wetlands. Ecosystem assessment frameworks, like the Ocean Health Index, the IUCN […]

Is the seagrass getting enough light? Computer says no!

Posted by Natasha Watson
On April 20, 2021

By Dr Ryan Pearson Highlights Seagrass is vital for fisheries, climate mitigation, and more. Human activities affect the light that seagrass needs to survive. Artificial intelligence can estimate light and inform ecological management. Our machine learning-derived submerged vegetation light model (SVLM) is >99% accurate. The SVLM can be used to adaptively manage submerged habitats. Seagrasses […]

Predicting carbon emissions from mangrove loss to count progress on climate change

Posted by Natasha Watson
On April 6, 2021

Mangroves are a blue carbon ecosystem and have among the highest carbon densities of any tropical forest. In a new study we show how action to prevent mangrove loss can contribute to reducing future greenhouse gas emission. Under the Paris Climate Agreement, nations need to show how they intend to reduce carbon emissions. Protection of mangroves is an important climate […]

An annotated fish dataset in unconstrained seagrass habitats for machine learning algorithms

Posted by Natasha Watson
On March 17, 2021

By Ellen Ditria A new data report and a publicly available dataset will allow further exploration of the use of computer vision techniques in aquatic environments. Computer vision techniques in ecology have gained much attention as they can quickly and accurately process images from videos. They allow scientists to monitor both individuals and populations at […]

Multiple stressors in coastal wetlands: shifting our focus to real world scenarios

Posted by Marina Richardson
On January 20, 2021

By Andria Ostrowski Vegetated coastal wetlands including saltmarshes, mangrove forests and seagrass meadows store large amounts of carbon, protect shorelines from storms and erosion, support enormous biodiversity and improve water quality by filtering nutrients, contaminants and sediments. Despite their ecological and economic importance, increasing human settlement and development along coastlines introduce stressors that […]