KELP RESTORATION
KELP RESTORATION
Focal region: Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia
Focal ecosystem: Rocky reefs/kelp forests
Deakin University, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, The University of Melbourne, and Parks Victoria are piloting innovative techniques to recover kelp forest habitats in Port Phillip Bay with funding from DEECA. Based at the Deakin Centre for Marine Science, Dr Paul Carnell and Dr Prue Francis, along with their research teams (Dr Jacqui Pocklington, Jasmine Bursic, Kaylah Gawne), head the kelp cultivation component of the project, which is the first on this species to be trialled in Victoria. Using best-practice methods, trials optimising growth in lab aquaria will allow kelplings with the best chance of survival to be outplanted at sites in Northern Port Phillip Bay. At these sites trials on restoration methods will also be conducted to inform larger scale restoration works in year two. Sites for planting will have their urchin populations managed to ease overgrazing pressure on these kelp habitats.
This work is a collaboration between the Blue Carbon Lab & SEA.Ed research groups, The University of Melbourne (National Centre for Coasts and Climate), The Nature Conservancy and Parks Victoria.
This project is funded by the Victorian Government’s Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action.
Download our FAQ on the Port Phillip Bay Golden Kelp Restoration Project.
Focal region: Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia
Focal ecosystem: Rocky reefs/kelp forests
New Deakin and University of Melbourne research has put a spotlight on the health of Port Phillip Bay, showing the effects of the millennium drought has almost wiped out kelp forests in the bay’s north. Lead author Dr Paul Carnell, an associate research fellow in the Blue Carbon Lab, said the drought’s decline in rainfall coupled with an increase in temperatures had coincided with an explosion in the numbers of destructive sea urchins in Port Phillip. The urchins had effectively marched across sections of the bay, eating everything in their path. The study, published in the journal Estuaries and Coasts, documents for the first time the loss of kelp forests in Port Phillip Bay over the past 60 years, using historical information and aerial photographs, along with new data collected by SCUBA divers. Dr Carnell said the data showed the health of Port Phillip Bay had declined dramatically over that time, with 90 per cent of kelp forests around Williamstown, Point Cooke and Beaumaris wiped out.
Focal region: Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia
Focal ecosystem: Rocky reefs/kelp forests
The objective of this project is to work with land managers and the community to develop effective solutions for the rehabilitation of reefs in Port Phillip Bay, and to mitigate future threats to kelp habitat and associated reef organisms. Over 90% loss of macroalgal cover at reefs in northern and western PPB has been caused by a changing climate and the overabundance of the native purple sea urchin. Deforestation of macroalgal beds can severely limit how temperate reefs perform ecologically important functions. This has flow on effects for the provision of services valued by humans, such as coastal protection and recreation. Utilising volunteer community groups, we have undertaken the first, reefscale experimental management program of urchins in Port Phillip Bay to reduce densities and to allow for restoration of habitat-forming seaweeds.
In collaboration with The University of Melbourne (National Centre for Coasts and Climate) and Parks Victoria, we have engaged with the Jawbone Marine Sanctuary Care Group, Marine Care Point Cook and other volunteers. Parks Victoria organized and ran a number of volunteer dive days each year in each of the two Marine Sanctuaries.
Focal region: Victoria, Australia
Focal ecosystem: Rocky reefs/kelp forests and seagrass meadows
Overabundant local and range-expanding native sea urchins present an ever-increasing threat to marine biodiversity in Victoria. Overgrazing by purple sea urchins is a significant threat to reef and seagrass biodiversity in Port Phillip Bay and Nooramunga. Range expansion of the black-spined sea urchin invading from NSW into eastern Victoria is resulting in extensive kelp bed loss with growing concerns of further spread into central and western Victoria. Currently there is little understanding of the scale of the problem, what management actions are most appropriate and where they should be targeted. This project will collate information on urchin biomass hotspots and the scale of barrens state-wide, use this information to inform population dynamics models of both species to identify sources and dispersal/invasion pathways, develop standard methods for culling and monitoring and implement a state-wide culling program.
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) (Point Cooke, Jawbone, Ricketts Point, Nooramunga, Beware Reef and Cape Howe) have been prioritised over other locations for the culling program as these areas have already been identified as having significant natural value and have minimal disturbances from other sources. In addition, in many of these MPAs the barrens are only discrete patches, therefore natural recovery can be expected to be greater than in areas of extensive barrens. Moreover, immediate action is needed to prevent expansion or new barren formation. The data from this project will be used to develop a decision-support framework, including scenario testing and estimating the cost benefits of different urchin management approaches and their site-specific suitability for each location, to help inform an urchin management plan for the state of Victoria.
This work is a collaboration between The University of Melbourne, Blue Carbon Lab and Parks Victoria.
This project is funded by the Victorian Government’s Biodiversity Response Planning program, with additional supporting contributions from the University of Melbourne and Deakin University.
Dr Paul Carnell (paul.carnell@rmit.edu.au)
Dr Jacqui Pocklington (Jacqui.pocklington@deakin.edu.au)