AMSA 2023 Rottnest Student Workshop
15 minutes presentation winner and runner up: Nico Fassbender and Thomas Tothill
MFL | June 2023
News
Highlights
The 2023 AMSA Student Workshop on Rottnest Island was held from the 21st to the 23rd of June.
The workshops were attended by University students pursuing higher degrees, along with guest speakers who specialize in Marine Science.
Well done to Nico Fassbender and Thomas Tothill for receiving first and second place in the 15-minute presentation at the 2023 AMSA Rottnest Student Workshop. We would also like to congratulate Julien Magne for being the runner-up in the 5-minute category.
Abstracts
01
The Predator, the Prey, and the Polyp
Nico Fassbender
Coral reefs are degrading at unprecedented rates globally. There is a greater need than ever to understand how their compromised health affects reef-associated species. Reef sharks as coral reef top predators may face a particularly dire future if their foraging habitats, along with their associated prey, continue to decline. Here, we used seabed baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVS) to define a first benchmark for reef associated shark species at two sites in Seychelles. Over 180 hours of BRUVS footage was collected in the Amirantes Islands and around the north-western side of Mahé. We identified 12 species of shark and over 250
species of fish across a range of habitat types including lagoons, channels, fore-reefs and seagrass flats. The BRUVS data will be combined with 3D photogrammetry models of the reef and we will add movement and faecalDNA prey data collected from 50 reef sharks into our final model to pinpoint conservation priority areas for these threatened predators.
02
Principles and Pragmatism: Conservation approaches in a cross-cultural world
Thomas Tothill
Equitable and ethical inclusion of Indigenous people’s ways of knowing and doing in conservation science is a growing, yet challenging, field of work. In principle, a two-way or pluralistic approach to science is best practice, where both western and Indigenous worldviews are represented through co-developed research questions and co-delivered results.
In practice, however, this approach has its challenges. My experiences collaborating with the Esperance Tjaltjraak Native Title Aboriginal Corporation on Sea Country research programs for two years has highlighted how the current western scientific framework often does not allow the time and/or space for a true two-way approach. The constrained funding of conservation sciences and tight turnarounds for reporting or publishing often does not allow the time for relationships between researchers and Indigenous communities to be built nor does it give the space for the practicing of cultural protocol on Country.
Although challenges may persist in the practical application of cross- cultural collaborations, the planning and budgeting of research projects needs to consider the additional time required for equitable engagement and relationship building with Indigenous partners at all stages of research. A shift in the current approach to conservation sciences will allow the time and space for alternative worldviews to be equitably represented in research projects. Equitable and ethical inclusion of Indigenous people’s ways of knowing and doing in conservation science is a growing, yet challenging, field of work. In principle, a two-way or pluralistic approach to science is best practice, where both western and Indigenous worldviews are represented through co-developed research questions and co-delivered results. In practice, however, this approach has its challenges.
My experiences collaborating with the Esperance Tjaltjraak Native Title Aboriginal Corporation on Sea Country research programs for two years has highlighted how the current western scientific framework often does not allow the time and/or space for a true two-way approach. The constrained funding of conservation sciences and tight turnarounds for reporting or publishing often does not allow the time for relationships between researchers and Indigenous communities to be built nor does it give the space for the practicing of cultural protocol on Country. Although challenges may persist in the practical application of cross-cultural collaborations, the planning and budgeting of research projects needs to consider the additional time required for equitable engagement and relationship building with Indigenous partners at all stages of research. A shift in the current approach to conservation sciences will allow the time and space for alternative worldviews to be equitably presented in research projects.
03
Trends in fish assemblages through time in two marine protected areas, Western Australia
Julien Magne
This study uses mid-water BRUVS as a sampling tool to compare two geographically close offshore marine parks in South-west Australia. Taxonomic regression, abundance, fork length and biomass were measured in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022 at Geographe site and 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022 at Gracetown. For all four of these metrics, we analysed trends through time, and using species abundance for each survey we established changes in species composition through the years and location. Trends and fish and shark assemblages in Geographe pointed toward an improvement from a human induced degraded ecosystem prior to the marine park establishment. Gracetown study site however did not have clear ecological response and pointed to both improvement and degradation of the ecosystem. Both parks are relatively recent, therefore, we recommend continuing monitoring and adapted management in future years to further assess the benefits of these parks
Rottnest island - credit: Nico Fassbender