Stories of science from the Australian Rivers Institute
“With fisheries for example, seagrasses provide nursery habitat for juvenile fish and foraging grounds for about 25% of the world’s biggest fisheries. "We identified associations between pressures and measured changes in seagrass extent and found that seagrasses are especially under threat from poor water quality and destructive fisheries like trawling."
By PhD candidate Ellen Ditria, Reading Time: 452 words, about 2 minutes. Fish IDing Sample. Photo: Global Wetlands Project. Deep learning has fast become recognised as a powerful data processing tool for ecologists faced with vast amounts of image-based data. The ability of deep learning to accurately detect target species in videos and images unlocks [...]
Rivers, lakes, and wetlands support extraordinary diversity. Such bodies of water host more species per square kilometre than forests or oceans. Yet they are losing this biodiversity two to three times faster than forests and oceans. Populations of freshwater animals, including river dolphins, sturgeon, beavers, crocodiles, and giant turtles, have already plummeted by 88%.
By Dr Mischa Turschwell Read Time: 342 words about 2 minutes. Mangrove forest conservation is increasingly attracting international interest. That’s because mangroves support incredible biodiversity, enhance fisheries, protect vulnerable coastal communities from storms, and reduce climate change by storing carbon. Lone Mangrove Sunset. Photo: Unknown. Unfortunately, mangrove forests remain one of the worlds most threatened ecosystems. Pressures from forest fragmentation, climate change, increasing exploitation [...]
By Melanie Roberts and Fernanda Adame Article Read Time: 524 words about 3 minutes. The 2019 Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report from the Australian Government Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority identifies the risk of nutrient runoff from catchments for the reef as Very High, the same rating as the 2014 and 2009 reports. --- This [...]
By Professor Michele Burford Reading Time: 537 words, about 3 minutes. Algal blooms are a major issue for water security globally and in Australia. We have seen the damage algal blooms have had on Murray-Darling Basin and the issues Florida have had with the recent 'red tide' epidemic. As our climate changes, we can expect [...]
Catchment to Coast 