Reef Life Survey

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Reef Life Survey
File:Reef Life Survey logo.png
Abbreviation RLS
Purpose Marine life monitoring programme
Location
  • Hobart
Region
 Tasmania
Website reeflifesurvey.com

Reef Life Survey is a marine life monitoring programme[1] based in Hobart, Tasmania. It is international in scope, but predominantly Australian, as a large proportion of the volunteers are Australian. Most of the surveys are done by volunteer recreational divers, collecting biodiversity data for marine conservation. The database is available to marine ecology researchers, and is used by several marine protected area managements in Australia,[2][3] New Zealand, American Samoa and the eastern Pacific.

Function

Reef Life Survey provides data to improve biodiversity conservation and the sustainable management of marine resources. They collect and curate biodiversity information at spatial and temporal scales beyond those possible by most scientific dive teams which have to work with limited resources, by using volunteer recreational divers trained in the RLS survey procedures.[1][4] The University of Tasmania houses and manages the RLS database, and the data is freely available to the public for non-profit purposes through public outputs, including their website.

History

Reef Life Survey was started by researchers at the University of Tasmania and initially funded by the Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities (CERF) Program. This program is the core activity of the Reef Life Survey Foundation Incorporated – a not for profit Australian organisation.[1]

Personnel

Reef Life Survey includes a volunteer network of recreational scuba divers, trained in the relevant skills, and an Advisory Committee. The advisory committee is made up of managers and scientists who use the collected data, and representatives of the recreational diver network.[5]

Procedures

File:Diver swimming a transect for Reef Life Survey PB164699.JPG
Diver swimming a transect for Reef Life Survey

Standard survey procedures are used matched to a variety of habitat topographies, and using simple equipment - waterproof clipboard with records sheet, underwater camera, and 50m surveyor's tape measure. The surveys are typically repeated at irregular intervals at listed sites, identified by GPS location, transect depth and direction, and are usually conducted as a pair of transects in opposite directions from the nominal position, at approximately constant depth. Data collected includes fish counts by visual census in a 5m x 5m corridor on both sides of the transect line (Method 1), mobile invertebrate counts in a 1m corridor on both sides of the line (Method 2), and photo-quadrats at 2.5m intervals along the 50m transect line. Manufactured debris may also be recorded. Off transect observations of interest are recorded separately (Method 0). Numbers and size class are recorded for fish, just numbers for most invertebrates.[6]

Data

Since 2006, divers have collected data for RLS from over 40 countries. As of September 2013, more than 3500 species have been recorded from over 6000 surveys.

Expeditions

A circumnavigation of Australia by volunteer citizen scientists aboard the sailing catamaran Reef Dragon left Port Davey, Tasmania, on February 16, 2013 on an counterclockwise journey around the continent of Australia and ended in February 2014 in Prince of Wales Bay, Hobart. During the voyage a marine baseline of reef biodiversity for the new Commonwealth Coral Sea Marine Reserve network was established.[7][8][9]

  • Reef Dragon at moorings at Leigh, NZ PA252525.JPG

    Reef Dragon moored at Leigh between survey trips. New Zealand, November 2012

  • Diver preparing to dive on RLS survey PA262752.JPG

    Volunteer diver preparing for a survey dive from the Reef Dragon

  • Diver swimming a transect for Reef Life Survey PB164684.JPG

    Swimming a transect for Reef Life Survey, Mayor Island, New Zealand, 2012

  • Reef Dragon in Hobart at the end of the circumnavigation P2184613.JPG

    Reef Dragon in Hobart at the end of the circumnavigation of Australia

Publications

  • Global conservation outcomes depend on marine protected areas with five key features[10]
  • Systematic global assessment of reef fish communities by the Reef Life Survey program[11]
  • Exploited reefs protected from fishing transform over decades into conservation features not otherwise present in the seascape.[12]
  • Ecological effects of marine protected areas on rocky reef communities: a continental-scale analysis.[13]
  • Integrating abundance and functional traits reveals new global hotspots of fish diversity[14]

See also

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Staff, RLS website home page http://reeflifesurvey.com/
  2. ↑ Staff, Parks Victoria: Reef Life Survey http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/park-management/environment/research-and-scientific-management/marine-monitoring/reef-life-survey
  3. ↑ Staff, Natural Resources Kangaroo Island: Reef life surveys http://www.naturalresources.sa.gov.au/kangarooisland/coast-and-marine/coast-marine-program/reefs
  4. ↑ Emily Gertz, Popular Science, 02-18-2014: Vast Underwater Survey Identifies Five Keys to Conserving Ocean Life http://www.popsci.com/article/science/vast-underwater-survey-identifies-five-keys-conserving-ocean-life
  5. ↑ Staff, RLS website: About RLS http://reeflifesurvey.com/about/about/
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Bruce Mounster, Mercury, February 20, 2014. Researchers map life under the sea http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/researchers-map-life-under-the-sea/story-fnj4f7k1-1226832033602
  8. ↑ Andrew Darby, Sydney Herald, February 21, 2014: Reef audit finds big fish lost http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/reef-audit-finds-big-fish-lost-20140220-3342f.html
  9. ↑ Staff, University of Tasmania website: Twelve months at sea, 12,000 nautical miles: our citizen scientists get a real taste of Reef Life http://www.utas.edu.au/latest-news/utas-homepage-news/twelve-months-at-sea,-12,000-nautical-miles-our-citizen-scientists-get-a-real-taste-of-reef-life
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Edgar G.J., Barrett N.S. and Stuart-Smith R.D. (2009). Exploited reefs protected from fishing transform over decades into conservation features not otherwise present in the seascape. Ecological Applications, 19(8), 2009:1967–1974.
  13. ↑ Edgar, G.J. and Stuart-Smith, R.D. (2009). Ecological effects of marine protected areas on rocky reef communities: a continental-scale analysis. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 388:51-62 doi:10.3354/meps08149
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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