A Donor Registry: Genomic Analyses of Seagrass Meadows Identifies Adaptive Genotypes for Future-Proofing.

Globally, anthropogenic climate change has caused declines of seagrass ecosystems necessitating proactive restoration approaches that would ideally anticipate future climate scenarios, such as marine warming. In eastern Australia, estuaries with meadows of the endangered seagrass s have warmed and acidified over the past decade, and seagrass communities have declined in some estuaries. Securing these valuable habitats will require proactive conservation and restoration efforts that could be augmented with restoration focussed on boosting resilience to future climate.

Cumulative effects of multiple stressors impact an endangered seagrass population and fish communities.

Coastal ecosystems are becoming increasingly threatened by human activities and there is growing appreciation that management must consider the impacts of multiple stressors. Cumulative effects assessments (CEAs) have become a popular tool for identifying the distribution and intensity of multiple human stressors in coastal ecosystems. Few studies, however, have demonstrated strong correlations between CEAs and change in ecosystem condition, questioning its management use.

The race for space: Modelling the landward migration of coastal wetlands under sea level rise at regional scale.

Globally, sea-level rise (SLR) is a major environmental challenge for coastal ecosystems. Of particular concern are the impacts on intertidal wetlands, the loss of which would have detrimental consequences for both human and ecological communities. On the south-east Australian coast, case studies suggest that the future of intertidal wetlands will greatly depend on landward migration as surface accretion may not keep up with the predicted SLR in many estuaries.

Decadal dynamics of subtidal barrens habitat.

Rocky reef barrens that are devoid of macroalgae can be created by various mechanisms, and are often maintained in the long-term by grazing urchins. The persistence of barrens varies greatly among locations, although few studies have investigated the stability of this habitat over multiple decades, particularly at large spatial scales. We used aerial images to test for differences in temporal trajectories of shallow (2-10 m) barrens at 21 sites (average size 12 ha) over 30 years across 500 km of coastline in New South Wales, Australia.

Morphological variation of a rapidly spreading native macroalga across a range of spatial scales and its tolerance to sedimentation.

Understanding how species' traits can shape winners and losers of environmental change can help resolve drivers of current community composition patterns and predict future drivers. Sedimentation is one of the main environmental stressors shaping coastal marine communities and tolerance of high sedimentation rates (e.g.

Habitat associations of an expanding native alga.

There are many examples of native macrophytes becoming locally dominant and spreading outside their traditional distributions, but the causes and impacts are often not understood. In New South Wales, Australia, the green alga Caulerpa filiformis is undergoing a range expansion and has transitioned from a subdominant to a dominant alga on several rocky shores around the Sydney coastline. Here we investigated relationships between established patches of C.

Differences in rocky reef habitats related to human disturbances across a latitudinal gradient.

This study tested for differences in the composition of intertidal and shallow subtidal rocky reef habitats subjected to a range of human pressures across ∼1000 km of coastline in New South Wales, Australia over 5 years. Percentage covers of habitats were sampled using aerial photography and a large grain size (20 m intertidal; 800 m subtidal) in a nested hierarchical design. Results were consistent with anthropogenic impacts on habitat structure only around estuaries with the most heavily urbanised or agriculturally-intense catchments.

Mechanisms influencing the spread of a native marine alga.

Like invasive macrophytes, some native macrophytes are spreading rapidly with consequences for community structure. There is evidence that the native alga Caulerpa filiformis is spreading along intertidal rocky shores in New South Wales, Australia, seemingly at the expense of native Sargassum spp. We experimentally investigated the role physical disturbance plays in the spread of C.

Comparing the invasibility of experimental "reefs" with field observations of natural reefs and artificial structures.

Natural systems are increasingly being modified by the addition of artificial habitats which may facilitate invasion. Where invaders are able to disperse from artificial habitats, their impact may spread to surrounding natural communities and therefore it is important to investigate potential factors that reduce or enhance invasibility. We surveyed the distribution of non-indigenous and native invertebrates and algae between artificial habitats and natural reefs in a marine subtidal system.

Extending the generality of ecological models to artificial floating habitats.

Marine assemblages on natural hard substrata are generally different from those on artificial habitats. There is, however, the potential for certain ecological processes to operate on both types of structures. On the sides of floating pontoons in Sydney Harbour, there were strong patterns of vertical distribution of sessile epibiotic organisms and molluscan grazers across relatively small spatial scales (in three defined zones, namely splash, shallow and deep).