AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Variation in the size and shape of limpets (Siphonaria diemenensis) on a rocky shore in Western Port Bay, Victoria

This study examined differences in the size and shape of Siphonaria diemenensis in the high and low intertidal zones on a rocky shore in Western Port Bay, Victoria. The tenacities of individual limpets and wave action in the 2 zones were also measured. All fieldwork was conducted at Griffith Point, San Remo between April and October 1987. 
It was found that limpets in the high shore were significantly taller and narrower than limpets in the low shore. For a given length, the tenacity at which the limpets adhered to the substrate was greater in the low zone compared to the high zone. Wave velocities were generally greater in the low zone which could explain the differences in size and shape and tenacity between the zones. However, a laboratory study demonstrated that the tenacities of limpets were much greater than the drag forces exerted on them by wave action. This study suggests that the differences between the high and low zone limpet populations can not be explained by wave action. Alternative explanations could be related to food availability, life-history patterns and desiccation.
The data collected from each component of this study are described in the related records.

Tags: 24 488001, Biosphere | Aquatic Habitat | Benthic Habitat | rocky intertidal, Biosphere | Aquatic Habitat | Coastal Habitat, Biosphere | Ecological Dynamics | Population Dynamics, Griffith Point, Oceans | Marine Biology | Marine Invertebrates | limpet, San Remo, Siphonaria diemenensis, Victoria, Western Port Bay
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Effects of sedimentation and the herbicide diuron on crustose coralline algae (CCA)

Experiments were conducted to determine the effects of sedimentation and the herbicide diuron on crustose coralline algae (CCA). Three species of CCA were subjected to exposure to sediments and one species to sediments and diuron individually and in combination. This research aimed to observe altered photophysiology, bleaching and survival.
Three species of CCA were collected from midshelf reefs along the Innisfail coastline, H. reinboldii, Neogoniolithon fosliei and Porolithon onkodes. P. Onokodes was also collected from Davies reef for the combined sediment and diuron experiments.
Variations in sediment type included estuarine sediment collected from the Herbert River and offshore sediment Otter Reef:
fine estuarine particle &amp;lt;63&amp;mu;m

medium-fine estuarine particle size 63-250&amp;mu;m

fine offshore sediment &amp;lt;63&amp;mu;m

fine calcareous &amp;lt;63&amp;mu;m derived from sawdust from cutting massive Porites corals

Diuron was prepared in a stock solution prior to experimentation, in addition to a carrier control treatment. Aquaria were positioned under 70% shading  outdoors, with a maintained temperature of 28&deg;C.
Pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry measured the photosynthetic efficiency of the CCA species following short term exposure of the CCA fragments to the four sediment types.  Constant fluorescence and maximum fluorescence were determined, as well as effective photosystem II quantum yields of light adapted CCA. Fragments were then placed in sediment-free aquaria for recovery.
Combined diuron and sediment exposure experiments were also conducted to determine whether sedimentation stress is altered by the presence of herbicide. One type of sediment was used (fine estuarine sediment) and four diuron concentrations of nominally 1, 3, 10, 30 &mu;g L&minus;1. Diuron stock concentrations were added to sediments 24hrs prior to CCA exposure, and then added to the experimental aquaria for up to 105 hours. At the pre-nominated exposure times, fragments were removed from the aquaria and responses of photosynthetic yields were measured.

Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Habitat map of seagrass cover derived from a supervised moderate-spatial-resolution multi-spectral satellite image, integrated with manual delineation and coincident field data, Moreton Bay, 2004

A supervised classification was applied to a Landsat TM5 image. This image was acquired on the 8th August 2004, 15 minutes after low tide. The image classification was applied on areas of clear waters up to three metres depth and for exposed regions of Moreton Bay. Field validation data was collected at 2800 survey sites by UQ, 18 Seagrass-Watch sites and 60 Port of Brisbane Corporation survey sites. GPS referenced field data were used as training areas for the image classification process. For this training the substrate DN signatures were extracted from the Landsat 5 TM image for field survey locations of known substrate cover, enabling a characteristic "spectral reflectance signature" to be defined for each target. The Landsat TM image, containing only those pixels in water &lt; 3.0m deep, was then subject to minimum distance to means algorithm to group pixels with similar DN signatures (assumed to correspond to the different substrata). This process enabled each pixel to be assigned a label of either seagrass cover (0, 1-25 %, 25-50 %, 50-75 % and 75-100 %). The resulting raster data was then converted into a vector polygon file. Species information was added based on the field data and expert knowledge.
Both polygon files were joined by overlaying features of remote sensing files with the EHMP field data to produce an output theme that contains the attributes and full extent of both themes. If polygons of remote sensing were within polygons of field data the assumption was made that the remote sensing polygon was showing more detail and the underlying field polygon was deleted.

Tags: Benthic habitat, Moreton Bay, Moreton Bay Marine Park, biota, ecology, estuarine, vegetation
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
The physical environment of Scott Reef, Western Australia (2003): North Scott Reef, North Transect (M)

Four instruments were deployed on the North Scott Reef, North Transect (M).Code: NSN4; Depth: 2.0m; Instrument: Odyssey; Serial #: 6556;Code: NSN3; Depth: 5.0m; Instrument: Odyssey; Serial #: 6568; Code: NSN2; Depth: 9.8m; Instrument: SBE39 PT; Serial #: 1062; File Name: NSN2tCode: NSN1; Depth: 13.8m; Instrument: SBE39; Serial #: 1054; File Name: NSN1t
 This deployment was a component of the "Physical Environment" sub-project of the project "Biological and Physical Environment at Scott Reef 2003"

Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Water movement in Exmouth Gulf

Water movement, due to tides and surface waves, is the basic forcing mechanism for nutrient fluxes, sediment dynamics and the fate of pollutants within the Exmouth Gulf. The dominant hydrodynamic process in this shallow basin is tidal motion, with a predominant semi-diurnal constituent. Large surface waves are only generated during tropical cyclones but their development is limited by water depth and bottom friction. Therefore, our hypothesis is that long-term water mass balance is predominantly governed by tidal motion and wind-induced currents. To estimate the water mass balance within the Gulf, field observation and numerical modelling were carried out in parallel. During the first stage of the field study, waves, wave-induced velocities and tidal elevations were measured at various locations in the Gulf. This study revealed that outside of cyclone episodes, wind-generated waves are only important at the entrance to the Gulf and wind-induced velocities are less than 0.5 m sec-'. The second stage of the field study involved measuring water velodties along sixteen transects widely distributed throughout the Gulf. Both vertical and horizontal velodties were recorded from the surface to the bottom at a resolution of 0.25 metres, every 10 seconds. Tidal elevations were aiso observed at two locations. The data collected during the field studies are now used for calibration of a computer model of tidal circulation in the Gulf. It is expected that this model will provide a long-term water mass balance for the Gulf and quanhfy the net fluxes of various suspended organic and non-organic substances into and out of the Gulf. The distribution of water flow intensity, also provided by the model, will indicate areas of potential erosion and areas vulnerable to potential pollution.

Tags: Marine Features (Australia) | Exmouth Gulf, WA, Oceans | Coastal Processes | Sea Surface Height, Oceans | Coastal Processes | Tidal Height, Oceans | Ocean Circulation | Ocean Currents, Oceans | Ocean Waves | Significant Wave Height, Oceans | Ocean Waves | Surf Beat, Oceans | Ocean Waves | Swells, Oceans | Ocean Waves | Wave Frequency, Oceans | Ocean Waves | Wave Height, Oceans | Ocean Waves | Wave Period, Oceans | Ocean Waves | Wind Waves, Oceans | Tides | Tidal Currents, Oceans | Tides | Tidal Height
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Saxitoxin in octopi from Cooke Point, Port Hedland, Western Australia

Octopus (Abdopus) sp. 5 were collected from a reef flat at Cooke Point, Port Hedland in northern Western Australia. The octopi had a body size of between 5-6 cm and tentacle span of between 20 and 30 cm.Specimens were euthanased by rapid decapitation, stored at -20°C and shipped frozen to the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Townsville. Three legs from each of the four individuals were pooled for toxin extraction. Each of the four samples was extracted with 80% ethanol, homogenised, sonicated three times for 10 minutes, then clarified by centrifugation. This process was repeated two additional times with fresh extraction solvent. For each of the four extracts, the three supernatants generated were pooled, filtered through 0.2 mm nylon filters and lyophilised. Dried extracts were reconstituted in 0.05 M acetic acid and passed through a centrifugal ultra-filter and the ultra filtrates then used for radio-receptor assay and preliminary chemical analysis.Quantitation of STX concentration equivalents (STXeq) with [³H]-STX radio-receptor assays using saxiphilin and voltage gated sodium channel, was performed and octopus extracts were assayed in triplicate for inhibition of STX binding in the sodium channel and saxiphilin assay.All sample extracts which competed with [³H]-STX in the radio-receptor assays were analysed by LC-FLD for STX, decarbamoylSTX, neoSTX, 11-hydroxysulphate STXs (GTX1-6), N-sulfocarbamoyl-11-hydroxy-sulphate STXs (C1-4), hydroxybenzoate STXs and TTX.Identification of suspect toxin peaks was undertaken by mass spectrometric analysis of separated toxins using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) performed in single ion monitoring (SIM) mode.
 Previous research indicates that Port Hedland on the north-west coast of Australia is a source of marine animals, encompassing a range of crustacea, gastropod and bivalve molluscs, which harbour both tetrodotoxin (TTX) and paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs). This study was undertaken as part of a renewed investigation into paralytic shellfish toxin distribution in benthic organisms in this region.
 This was the first time that saxitoxin had been reported from this family of predatory molluscs and highlights the need for greater public awareness of risks associated with consumption of previously unrecognised vectors of paralytic shellfish poisoning, such as octopus and other benthic feeders.

Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Diatom recovery from core MD88-784: Raw counts

Core MD88-784 was recovered during the French ASPARA IV cruise in 1988, aboard the Marion Dufresne. The core was located on the Tasman Fracture Zone of the Mid-Ocean Ridge, within the Polar Front Zone. 
Diatoms were found in abundance through the core, with a total of 57 diatom species and taxa recorded. This data set provides the raw diatom counts from sediment samples prepared every 10cm down the core.

Tags: 53001900, 53120000, Biosphere | Microbiota | Diatoms, Fragilariopsis kerguelensis, Thalassiosira lentiginosa, core_depth, taxonomic_group_count, taxonomic_name
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Key Ecological Features of the North-west Marine Region.

The North-west Bioregional Profile identifies a number of ecological features that are of conservation value because of the role they play in the environment of the North-west Marine Region. Key ecological features (KEFs) meet one or more of the following criteria:


a species, group of species, or a community with a regionally important ecological role (e.g. a predator, prey that affects a large biomass or number of other marine species);


a species, group of species, or a community that is nationally or regionally important for biodiversity;


an area or habitat that is nationally or regionally important for: 
a) enhanced or high productivity (such as predictable upwellings - an upwelling occurs when cold nutrient-rich waters from the bottom of the ocean rise to the surface);
b) aggregations of marine life (such as feeding, resting, breeding or nursery areas);
c) biodiversity and endemism (species which only occur in a specific area); or


a unique seafloor feature, with known or presumed ecological properties of regional significance.


KEFs have been identified by the Australian Government on the basis of advice from scientists about the ecological processes and characteristics of the area. A workshop held in Perth in September 2007 also contributed to this scientific advice and helped to underpin the identification of key ecological features. 
Thirteen KEFs have been identified in the North-west Marine Region:
Ancient coastline at 125 m depth contour
Ashmore Reef and Cartier Island and surrounding Commonwealth waters
Canyons linking the Argo Abyssal Plain and Scott Plateau
Canyons linking the Cuvier Abyssal Plain and the Cape Range Peninsula
Carbonate bank and terrace system of the Sahul Shelf
Commonwealth waters adjacent to Ningaloo Reef
Continental Slope Demersal Fish Communities
Exmouth Plateau
Glomar Shoals
Mermaid Reed and Commonwealth waters surrounding the Rowley Shoals
Pinnacles of the Bonaparte Basin
Seringapatam Reef and Commonwealth waters in the Scott Reef Complex
Wallaby Saddle
In order to create a spatial representation of KEFs for the North-west Marine Region, some interpretation of the information was required. DoE has made every effort to use the best available spatial information, and best judgement on how to spatially represent the features based on the scientific advice provided. This does not preclude others from making their own interpretation of available information.

Tags: Biodiversity, Conservation, Marine Planning, Marine Planning Regions (Australia) | North-west
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
IMOS - Autonomous Underwater Vehicles - SIRIUS, CAMPAIGN: GREAT BARRIER REEF, FEBRUARY 2011

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) Sirius (IMOS Platform code: SIRIUS) was deployed in the Great Barrier Reef in February 2011.
In the Great Barrier Reef the program is focused on seagrass beds in the middle of the GBR lagoon to understand how their abundance is affected by upwelling coming through the Magnetic and Palm Passages and on deepwater coral reefs on the outer GBR.  Although there is extensive monitoring of shallow water reefs along the extent of the GBR, there has been relatively little opportunity to monitor deeper reefs. Understanding the nature of these deepwater reefs may provide important insights into the resilience of the GBR to stresses such as changing temperatures, ocean acidification, cyclones and nutrient influx from the coast.  Surveys of the seagrass beds in the lagoon, which were designed to revisit sites surveyed using towed video ten years ago, and at Myrmidon Reef on the outer GBR were completed during July 2011 to establish benthic reference sites in this area.

Tags: AUV | Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, CTD (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth Profilers), Cameras | Still Cameras - underwater, Current Meters/Profilers | Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), Data Loggers, Digital Imaging (acquisition and/or analysis), Field Surveys | Underwater Surveys, Fluorometers, Marine Features (Australia) | Great Barrier Reef, QLD, Oceans | Bathymetry | Seafloor Topography, Oceans | Bathymetry | Water Depth, Oceans | Ocean Chemistry | Carbon Dioxide, Oceans | Ocean Chemistry | Chlorophyll, Oceans | Ocean Chemistry | Nutrients, Oceans | Ocean Chemistry | Organic Matter, Oceans | Ocean Chemistry | Oxygen, Oceans | Ocean Optics | Fluorescence, Oceans | Ocean Optics | Turbidity, Oceans | Ocean Temperature | Water Temperature, Oceans | Salinity/density | Conductivity, SONAR, Seabed vehicles, Turbulence Sensors, altitude, concentration_of_coloured_dissolved_organic_matter, depth, heading, latitude, longitude, mass_concentration_of_chlorophyll_in_sea_water, optical_backscatter, platform_pitch_angle, platform_roll_angle, sea_water_salinity, sea_water_temperature
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Ichthys Gas Field Development - Coral and other benthic primary producer (BPP) assemblages.

The marine ecology studies will provide detailed mapping of the coral and other benthic primary producer (BPP) assemblages in subtidal and intertidal areas around Browse Island, the Maret Islands and surrounding islands of the Bonaparte Archipelago. The regional data will provide a broader base against which to assess the significance of potential impacts to marine benthic habitats around the Maret Islands. The studies will be sufficient to support a benthic primary producer habitat assessment in accordance with Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) Guidance Statement 29 (Environmental Protection Authority 2004a) and to provide guidance on the management measures required to meet the EPA objective of maintaining the abundance, diversity, geographic distribution and productivity of BPPs. 
The objectives of the marine ecological studies are to: 
- Map the intertidal and subtidal marine habitats around the Maret Islands including those in potential development areas and at reference islands;
- Describe the physical structure (geology and sedimentology) of intertidal and subtidal features that support the biological assemblages;
- Identify the conservation significance and environmental sensitivities of subtidal and intertidal assemblages in areas potentially affected by the proposed development (in the context of the West Kimberley bioregion and other reference sites);  Determine the spawning period(s) for major coral taxa in the Maret Islands area;  Assess genetic connectivity between corals around Browse Island and in other parts of the offshore coral province;
- Determine the species richness, assemblage composition and significance of deepwater (&gt;200 m water depth) infauna communities in areas to be drilled;
- Assess the likelihood of the occurrence of endemic marine subtidal and intertidal fauna; and
- Search for small Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC)-listed fish in intertidal habitats.  
LOCATIONS: West Montalivet, East Montalivet, Albert, Berthier, Bigge, Lamarck and Browse Islands and Rob Roy Reef.

Tags: Biosphere | Aquatic Habitat | Benthic Habitat, Biosphere | Zoology | Corals, Environmental Impact Assessment, Field Surveys | Biological Surveys, Ichthys Gas Field Development
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Effects of Sabella spallanzanii physical structure on soft sediment macrofaunal assemblages: effects on existing assemblages

The introduced European polychaete Sabella spallanzani  has become a dominant feature of sub-tidal habitats in south-eastern Australia.  This study examines the physical effects of Sabella spallanzanii on macrofaunal assembleges of soft sediments. The effects of S. spallanzanii on:  i) existing macrofaunal assemblege; ii) distribution of larvae and iii) colonisation of macrofauna were tested in sub-tidal soft sediments at Clifton Springs, Bellarine Peninsula, Port Phillip Bay, Victoria.     This dataset gives the macrofauna assemblege of soft sediment cores collected from five replicate plots, in each of four experimental treatments:  i) Real Sabella, a clump of 15 S. spallanzanii individuals transplanted from the surrounding region; ii) Mimic Sabella, a clump of 15 S. spallanzanii mimics;  iii) Control, undisturbed sediment without S. spallanzanii and  iv) Disturbed Control, disturbed sediments without S. spallanzanii.  Plots containing real and mimic Sabella were used to test if changes in the assemblage of macrofauna in the presence of Sabella could be attributed to physical effects alone.  A comparison of control and disturbed sediments was used to test if the disturbance created when transplanting Sabella into experimental plots contributed to any observed changes in the macrofauna assemblage. 
Comparisons between Real (RS) and Mimic Sabella (MS), and Control (C) and Disturbed Control (DC) treatments were found not to differ significantly for any of the individual taxa or combined groups. Consequently, data from RS and MS treatments were pooled and compared against pooled data from C and DC treatments.  This analysis found that the presence of Sabella reduced the abundance of harpacticoid copepods, cumaceans and ostracods by more than 50% compared with numbers found in sediment without Sabella.  Collectively these taxa made up 80% of the total numbers of individuals in soil cores; as such the total number of individuals was also significantly reduced by the presence of Sabella.

Tags: 22 000000, 22 083031, 23 199000, 23 236005, 23 315005, 24 000000, 27 100000, 27 254000, 28 090000, 28 401000, Bellarine Peninsula, Biosphere | Aquatic Habitat | Benthic Habitat, Biosphere | Ecological Dynamics | Population Dynamics, Biosphere | Zoology | Crustaceans, Biosphere | Zoology | Invertebrates, Bivalvia, Cumacea, Electroma georgiana, Gastropoda, Harpacticoida, Mysella donaciformis, Oceans | Marine Biology | Marine Invertebrates, Oceans | Marine Sediments | Bioturbation, Ostracoda, Phyoxocephalidae, Polychaeta, Port Phillip Bay, Sabella spallanzanii, larvae, subtidal, taxonomic_group_count
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network
Water and sediment quality within the Ningaloo Marine Park and Muiron Islands Marine Management Area

This project will undertake water and sediment quality surveys at appropriate control sites and in areas of the reserves that are, or may have been, exposed to contaminant inputs, particularly in relation to the diffuse or direct entry of wastewater, hydrocarbons and anti-fouling materials. Site selection has been based upon Cary and Grubba (2000) who incorporated 33 coral monitoring sites along the coastline from Bundegi Reef in the north (Exmouth Gulf) to Bills Bay in the South.  These sites were established to monitor the impact of both broad scale human influences from large shore-based developments and also localised human activities including campsites, mooring areas, dive sites and boat ramps. A further three sites were added to this list to include the Muiron Islands Marine Management Area. Limited resources only allow a single survey to be undertaken to generate a baseline index of contamination.

Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network