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 […]

Global Trends in Mangrove Forest Fragmentation

Posted by Marina Richardson
On December 21, 2020

Dale Bryan-Brown finished his PhD this year under the supervision of GLOW Director Professor Rod Connolly and Research Leader Dr. Chris Brown investigating global trends in mangrove forest fragmentation. His research paper was a finalist for the best student paper award in the 2020 Australian Rivers Institute Awards at Griffith University. Watch his presentation below […]

New funding to support a synthesis of mangrove threats, governance, and conservation outcomes.

Posted by Marina Richardson
On December 11, 2020

By Dr Mischa Turschwell & Dr Dominic Andradi-Brown Mangrove forests are critical ecosystems that support threatened species and provide vital ecosystem services including the provision of habitat for fishes and other marine species, protecting shorelines from erosion and the storage and sequestration of carbon, a process critical in the fight against climate change. Despite the […]

Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Citizen Science can Supercharge Ecological Monitoring

Posted by Marina Richardson
On October 19, 2020

Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Citizen Science can Supercharge Ecological Monitoring By Dr. Eva McClure People often imagine the future of technology, and science fiction has depicted many dystopian futures where artificial intelligence (AI) has taken over human civilisation. While AI surpassing human cognition is still in the realms of science fiction, AI technology and […]

How can computer vision supercharge fish connectivity research?

Posted by Marina Richardson
On October 13, 2020

By Sebastian Lopez-Marcano (@seabassphd) Studying animal movement is crucial. Animal movement research is conducted to monitor ecosystem health, understand ecological dynamics and address management and conservation questions. In marine environments, there are different methods to measure fish movement. From nets, tags and statistical modelling, the use of different techniques are providing us with new information […]

Cautious optimism for the mighty Indian Sundarbans mangrove forest

Posted by Marina Richardson
On September 14, 2020

Cautious optimism for the mighty Indian Sundarbans mangrove forest By Dr Michael Sievers and Dr Mahua Roy Chowdhury Despite historic clearing and an Endangered status, there are positive signs when it comes to one of the largest mangrove ecosystems in the world. The Indian Sundarbans form part of one of the world’s largest mangrove forests. […]

Automated fish identification and abundance using artificial intelligence

Posted by Ellen Ditria
On June 26, 2020

By Ellen Ditria While running video footage fresh from your underwater camera into a computer that automatically identifies species and determines abundance may seem like wishful thinking for ecologists, successes in recent research shows we’re close to having an accessible tool for researchers. The use of camera technology in aquatic sciences has increase rapidly over […]

Data Science: The new language of ecologists

Posted by Ellen Ditria
On June 24, 2020

By PhD candidate Sebastian Lopez-Marcano Read Time: 416 words about 3 minutes. Data creates magic. In ecology, data is necessary to make targeted management decisions. New tools (i.e. deep learning / computer vision) are allowing data to be processed at vast rates which is making data more accessible and useful. However, converting raw data into meaningful insights for ecological research can be challenging. Data nodes. Photo: Akamai. Through the years, ecologists have become familiar […]

Computer Vision Resources: Fish Classification Datasets

Posted by Ellen Ditria
On June 17, 2020

by Sebastian Lopez Computer vision is transforming the collection and processing of digital imagery for ecology and conservation. In aquatic environments, computer vision tools for automatic fish identification are heavily sought after, but robust and open-access fish datasets are hard to find. Here, I share some of the most used, open-access and updated fish datasets […]

Building a sustainable future for seagrass ecosystems

Posted by Ellen Ditria
On June 9, 2020

Seagrass ecosystems are among the most productive on the earth, providing a huge diversity of ecosystem functions and services that directly benefit humans. Despite this, seagrass habitats are usually overshadowed by some of the more charismatic ecosystems such as bright, colourful coral reefs. A report led by UNEP released on World Oceans Day has assembled […]