Stories of science from the Australian Rivers Institute
"There has been a lot of focus on the challenge of managing overfishing with the controversial new documentary Seaspiracy on Netflix. But the overfishing issue isn’t as simple as the picture that documentary paints," Dr Chris Brown.
By Andria Ostrowski Read Time: 504 words, about 3 minutes. 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 [...]
Author: Author: PhD Alyssa Giffin Read time: 777 words about 6 minutes. Welcome to part three of the five-part Transition article series, the sequel to the Emergent series, that follows ARI’s Post-Doc Research Fellows as they navigate the next stage of their academic journey post-PhD. Take a journey with them and hear about some of [...]
Author: PhD Alyssa Giffin Read time: 703 words about 5 minutes. Welcome to part two of the five-part Transition article series, the sequel to the Emergent series, that follows ARI’s Post-Doc Research Fellows as they navigate the next stage of their academic journey post-PhD. Take a journey with them and hear about some of the [...]
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 [...]
By Dr. Eva McClure Read Time: 550 words, about 3 minutes. 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 software with the capacity [...]
By Dr Michael Sievers and Dr Mahua Roy Chowdhury Read Time: 481 words about 3 minutes. Royal Bengal Tiger. Photo: Unknown. 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. The Indian Sundarbans form part of [...]
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 [...]
Dr Ryan Pearson Read Time: 503 words about 3 minutes. The effects of COVID-19 on the world has been profound. We're now re-evaluating intergovernmental, trade and personal relationships, and rethinking our consumer needs. Environmental groups have been encouraging people to 'eat more fish' in response to this pandemic. Consumer surveys during the pandemic have also highlighted [...]
By Dr Michael Sievers Reading Time: 485 words about 3 minutes. Habitat degradation is a global crisis. Quantifying and evaluating habitat change and its impacts on ecosystem function is needed to inform management and conservation that ultimately safeguards biodiversity and human benefits. Many of these benefits in coastal ecosystems depend not only on habitat status, [...]
