A round 1.4m yellow buoy has been deployed in the Davies Reef lagoon as part of the sensor network infrastructure at Davies Reef in the central Great Barrier Reef off Townsville, Australia. The buoy is configured as a sensor-float with a Campbell Scientific logger, a spread-spectrum radio for communicating with the on-reef wireless network, a SeaBird Inductive modem and initially a surface mounted (30cm under the water surface) thermistor and bottom mounted SeaBird SBE39 (temperature and pressure). The project looks to deploy sensor networks at seven sites along the Great Barrier Reef to measure a range of physical parameters at a range of scales. The project will install communications, data and platform infrastructure that will support future sensor work looking at biological and chemical parameters. Wireless Sensor Networks Facility (formerly known as Facility for The Automated Intelligent Monitoring of Marine Systems (FAIMMS)), part of the Great Barrier Reef Ocean Observing System project (GBROOS) (IMOS)

This dataset provides information on coral survival and growth for eleven taxa at EcoRRAP sites across the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait (see SOP #14: Reef monitoring sampling methods | AIMS). This dataset was generated through the segmentation of coral colonies on EcoRRAP orthomosaics (EcoRRAP Benthic Orthomosaics - AIMS) using the software TagLab. Colonies of specific taxa were identified and digitised on orthomosaics generated from the first year of monitoring. Digitisation was either conducted manually or through the use of an AI classifier followed by manual verification. Colony segments were then transferred to the corresponding orthomosaic for the next time point and segments were refined to align with coral colony edges. Growth is recorded here as change in planar area of a colony between time points. This dataset also contains colonies whose species identification has been verified in the field by a coral taxonomist as well as colonies that have been sampled for genetic purposes. Digitised taxa include table Acropora (where possible, A. hyacinthus and A. cytherea were identified to species level), corymbose Acropora (where possible, A. millepora and A. tenuis were identified to species level), digitiate Acropora (where possible, A. humilis and A. gemmifera were identified to species level), Pocillopora verrucosa, Pocillopora damicornis, Stylophora pistillata, massive Porites, Goniastrea (where possible, G. edwardsi and G. retiformis were identified to species level), and Platygyra. Data is available for each year of monitoring in the form of .csv and .shp files. These files are available as individual years as well as in a joined form that links individual coral colonies across all time points.

Stereo Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (BRUVS) were successfully deployed and retrieved at each of the 3 shoals (Baracuda East , Goeree Shoal, Vulcan Shoal). Deployments were restricted to 250 m. In general 24 stereo BRUVS were deployed at each shoal. This project is a co-investment between PTTEPAA and AIMS, in order to build scientific knowledge on a number of shoal features in the area near Montara and was undertaken between 19/9/16 - 24/9/16.

Starting in the early 1980s, thirty-two permanent photographed sites were established by AIMS to learn about the dynamic behavior of coral communities in the full variety of reef-zones from sheltered nearshore reefs in turbid waters through to the slopes and surf zones of outer reefs, each of which has its own distinctive assemblage of corals. With allied field studies, it was established that in the last two decades of the 20th Century, GBR coral communities exhibited substantial resilience (in terms of restoration of prior percent cover and composition) following disturbances such as floods, crown-of-thorns starfish and cyclone-generated waves. There is presently little basis for setting resilience targets for coral reefs, especially in relation to the great variety of environmental settings and reef-types within the Great Barrier Reef. This project will help scientists provide a much stronger evidence base for the setting of targets and evaluating contemporaneous changes compared to more benign years of late last century. 5 sites at between 2 and 12m depth were established in 1981 at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, 30 km off the north Queensland coast. Images were taken at all sites on an annual basis, regularly from 1981 to 2007. Each site is represented by 30–36 1m2 images taken in a grid pattern, Specific years and image file names can be found in the Lizard File Index.xlsx attached below. The data from one of the 5 sites at Lizard Island was published by Wakeford et al. (2008), which included the application of a cellular automata model of CR Johns to investigate effects of inter-specific competition

A baseline survey of green (no-take) zoned sites and blue (open to fishing) sites in adjacent areas of the northern Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was carried out in December 2006. Three paired sites were surveyed in the Cairns region on deepwater shoals in the vicinity of Green Island and Michaelmas Reef (one green, one blue site off each), and Hastings (Green) and Oyster (blue) Reefs. Assessment of the fish communities was enumerated using baited underwater video sets (BRUVS) and habitat was characterised by towed video. Observations (690) identified 124 species from 33 families, of which 24 species were identified as targeted by fishers. Primary substrate (MudSand; Sand; SandCoarse; SandForams; SandHoles; Rubble; Rock; Bedrock; Reef); epibenthic classes (MacroAlgae; Seagrass; Burrowers; FilterFeeders; HardCoral; Isolates; None); and functional units (algae/invertebrates; corallivore; generalist carnivore; generalist; macrocarnivore; herbivore; invertebrate carnivore; macroinvertebrate; carnivore; piscivore; sponges/invertebrates; zooplanktivore) were recorded.Habitat mapping features assessed from towed video:Individual organisms: Anemone; Ascidian; Bryozoan; Crinoid; Gastropod; Holothurian; Hydroid; Icelet; Solitary Hard Coral; Solitary Soft Coral; Starfish; UrchinSubstrate: No Sediment; Soft Mud; Silt - Sandy mud; Sand; Coarse Sand; Sand Rubble Forams; Rubble, 5-50mm; Stones, 50-250mm; Rocks, > 250mm; ReefBenthic class: Seagrass (Sparse, Medium, Dense); Algae (Sparse, Medium, Dense); Whip Garden (Sparse, Medium, Dense); Gorgonian Garden (Sparse, Medium, Dense); Porifera (Sponge) Garden (Sparse, Medium, Dense); Hard Coral Garden (Flowerpots - Sparse, Medium, Dense); Live Reef Corals; Caulerpa; Halimeda; Bivalve Shell Beds; Tube Polychaete Beds; Burrowing Animals (Bioturbated Mud); Flora; null. To describe the fish fauna in relation to habitat and spatial and temporal variables on selected deep shoals of the GBRMP.To present baseline fish community data from BRUVS surveys of three pairs of 'blue' (open to fishing) and 'green' (closed to fishing) zoned shoals in the GBRMP. This is one component in a series of surveys conducted as part of this MTSRF project, see also separate metadata records on:Southern mid-shelf Shoals (East and West Warregos; Karamea and Barcoo Banks)Reef base shoals (Capricorn-Bunker, Pompey and Swains Groups) Shoals off Cardwell Magnetic Shoals (Townsville)Note that the 'Northern Shoals' of Cardwell, Cairns, and Magnetic Shoals have individual records as each region was analysed separately.Fish from the following taxonomic classes were recorded (note that not all species/families were recorded at all locations):Anguilliformes: Muraenidae (moray eels)Aulopiformes: Synodontidae (lizardfishes)Beryciformes: Holocentridae (squirrelfishes)Carcharhiniformes: Carcharhinidae (whaler sharks); Sphyrnidae (hammerhead sharks)Gasterosteiformes: Aulostomidae (trumpetfishes); Fistulariidae (flutemouths)Myliobatiformes: Dasyatidae (stingrays); Rajiformes: Rhinidae (shark rays); Stegostomatidae (leopard sharks)Orectolobiformes: Ginglymostomatidae (nurse sharks); Hemiscylliidae (catsharks); Myliobatidae (manta and eagle rays)Perciformes: Acanthuridae (surgeon-fishes); Apogonidae (cardinal fishes); Blenniidae (blennies); Caesionidae (fusiliers); Carangidae (trevallies); Chaetodontidae (butterflyfishes); Cheilodactylidae (morwongs); Echeneidae (suckerfishes); Ephippidae (batfishes); Haemulidae (sweetlips); Kyphosidae (drummers); Labridae (wrasses and tuskfish); Lethrinidae (sweetlip emperors); Lutjanidae (snappers and sea perches); Malacanthidae (tilefishes); Mullidae (goatfishes); Nemipteridae (threadfin bream); Pinguipedidae (grubfishes); Pomacanthidae (angelfishes); Pomacentridae (damselfishes); Rachycentridae (cobias); Scaridae (parrotfishes); Scombridae (mackerels and tunas); Serranidae (groupers and coral cods); Siganidae (rabbitfishes); Sparidae (sea breams); Sphyraenidae (barracudas); Zanclidae (Moorish idols)Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae (scorpionfish and lionfish)Squamata: Hydrophiidae (sea snakes)Tetraodontiformes: Balistidae (triggerfishes); Monacanthidae (filefishes and leatherjackets); Tetraodontidae (pufferfish).While not part of the designated objectives, fish size can be delineated from the stereo BRUVs tapes.

Water quality and zooplankton data were collected at Awarange Bay, South Sulawesi; Hurun Bay and Ayong Farm, Lampung during August 2006 and March 2007. Bathurst Island water quality and zooplankton data is held in the same database. To increase knowledge about the environmental effects of aquaculture in the tropics. Parameters measured: temperature, salinity, turbidity, nutrients, chlorophyll a, particulate nitrogen, particulate phosphorus and suspended solids concentrations.

The Douglas Shire Water Quality Improvement Project (WQIP) was established to assist the Shire and its residents in maintaining the health of regional marine habitats bordering the Shire through adoption of land use practices which minimize runoff of sediment, nutrients and other pollutants into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. This report provides a summary of current and historical water quality and reef coral cover data collected by AIMS and Sea Research in the Douglas Shire region. It provides a summary of both the current state of coastal water quality and reefs in the Douglas Shire region, and historical data showing the extent of natural variability in these characteristics and what trends are occurring. The AIMS Long-term Monitoring Project has been undertaking surveys of regional reefs since 1985 to follow changes in coral cover and track the abundance of crown-of-thorns starfish. Results of all of these surveys can be viewed on: http://www.aims.gov.au/reef-monitoring. Additional surveys of nearshore coastal reefs in Douglas Shire have been carried out by Sea Research, a local environmental consultancy firm with funding from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). The AIMS Biological Oceanography Group carried out twice-yearly surveys of water quality off Douglas Shire and Cairns since 1989. This sampling program provides the longest and most comprehensive monitoring of water quality in Great Barrier Reef coastal waters at that time. For the Douglas Shire WQIP, these surveys were augmented by water quality sampling at seven coastal reefs sites over sixteen months, including two wet seasons.

This study examined the effects of microhabitat features on the survival of Acropora tenuis spat in a year-long experimental field deployment of two types of artificial settlement devices. Fragments of mature gravid Acropora tenuis (Dana 1846) colonies were collected from Backnumbers Reef on the central mid shelf of the Great Barrier Reef ahead of coral spawning in Nov 2018. The corals were transported back to the Australian Institute of Marine Science National Sea Simmulator (SeaSim) facility and kept in temperature controlled outdoor aquaria. Egg-sperm bundles were collected during spawning from six colonies and cross-fertilized. Larvae were maintained in the culture tank until used in the experiment. Two types of experimental settlement devices—lattice-grids and grooved-tiles—were designed and manufactured to test larval settlement choice and post-settlement survival. Prior to settlement, all experimental devices were conditioned in the SeaSim for approximately 4 weeks to develop a biofilm and recruit crustose coralline algae (CCA) for larval settlement induction. Eight days after fertilization larvae were left to settle on the devices for 4 days. Images of the lattice-grids and grooved-tiles racks were taken 9 and 11 days after larval introduction (approx. 5-7 days after settlement). The settlement devices were then deployed at Backnumbers Reef onto three replicate racks on a shallow, central mid-shelf reef of the Great Barrier Reef. Survival of A. tenuis recruits was tracked by assessment of in situ images, taken on SCUBA, of the upper- and under-sides of each device. Images were taken at 41, 95, 185, 246, and 311 days and then imaged again upon retrieval from the field on 16th December 2019 at the final time point of 376 days post settlement.

Aim To provide a better understanding of the regional biodiversity found throughout the Kimberley, identify and characterise in finer detail the major habitat types in selected coastal areas such as Camden Sound Marine Park and Bonaparte Archipelago. Four major ship-based surveys of subtidal seabed were completed in the Southern (Camden Sound), Central (Bonaparte Archipelago) and Northern (Eclipse Archipelago) Kimberly regions, to provide a representative benthic biodiversity assessment along the Kimberley ria coast. Survey methods included multibeam to characterise the seabed, Smith McIntyre grab samples to determine the nature of sediments, towed video observations of the abundance (as %cover) and diversity of benthic biota, and benthic sleds to collect biological specimens for taxonomic identification. Outcomes A habitat map identifying the mixed benthic assemblages throughout the Kimberley and a better understanding and appreciation of the importance of marine biodiversity in the Kimberley (including number of species and identification of species new to science and/or new to the region). Where possible field data was collated and combined into ESRI GIS shapefiles or georeferenced raster layers.

ssddata is an R package of Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) benchmark datasets that can serve as a reference standard for testing and evaluation. The package includes a range of data sets sourced from the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (ccme), the Australian Institute of Marine Science (aims), the CSIRO (csiro), and the Australian and New Zealand water water quality guideline website (angz), as well as anonymous datasets supplied by the Department of Agriculture Water and Environment and other parties (anon). The source of each dataset are indicated using a pre-fix in the data name (e.g. ccme, aims, etc), with the actual chemical name following (e.g. ccme_boron). Please see the GitHub page more info information.