Webinar: Mapping Northern Australia’s hidden reefs

Reef areas are of high conservation value because they support a much higher density of marine species than typical marine environments. For this reason, environmental managers and regulators need a reliable national map of these habitats, to have confidence in those maps, and an understanding of their limitations. This webinar will discuss the research being undertaken within NESP 2 for tropical hidden rocky (3.17) and shellfish reefs (4.13) in northern Australia. These projects have used satellite imagery and ground-truthing to fill knowledge gaps in rocky and shellfish reef systems in remote, highly turbid waters of northern Australia. This webinar will present the findings of these projects and the potential applications of this advance in information and mapping.

Presentation 1 – Identifying unmapped reefs of the northern Australian seascape

Project lead Dr Eric Lawrey will discuss the findings and uses of delivering datasets of reef boundaries, satellite imagery optimised for the marine environment, and geomorphic and benthic habitat maps for shallow clear reefs. This project used satellite imaging techniques to map northern Australian regions, using methods consistent with existing reef mapping of the Great Barrier Reef, Torres Strait, and the Coral Sea. These products are targeted at assisting with the planning and evaluation of coastal development in northern Australia, helping ensure that sensitive, high-value habitats are identified and considered in development proposals or Park conservation.

Presentation 2 – Assessing and mapping northern Australia’s endangered shellfish reefs

Project researcher Dr Marina Richardson will discuss the project's findings and assess the current status of tropical oyster (also called shellfish) reefs across Northern Australia. This project undertook full assessments of reef condition at selected sites to develop rapid assessment methods suitable for estimating oyster populations, supported biodiversity, habitat preferences and settlement substrates to inform future management, monitoring, and conservation status of tropical oyster reefs.