australian institute of marine science

AIMS: Australia’s tropical marine research agency.

Australian Institute of Marine Science

OUR MISSION

To generate and transfer knowledge to support the sustainable use and protection of the marine

environment through innovative, world class scientific and technological research.

Photo: Dr Ray Berkelmans.

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FOREWORDAustralia’s coast and oceans contribute enormously to our identity as Australians. Our expansive ocean territory hosts some of the most iconic marine life and marine habitats on earth. With stewardship of these environments, which are a rich source of enjoyment, knowledge and wealth for all Australians, comes both responsibility and opportunity. What we do over the next decade will be crucial to ensuring the wellbeing of these magnificent national assets.

Internationally significant marine ecosystems and well established marine science capability provide the ingredients for Australia’s continued position as a world leader in tropical marine science. Established in 1972, the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) was one of the first marine science agencies to study the Great Barrier Reef and possesses some of the longest running records of changes in this complex ecosystem. Our research contributes to the management of our marine assets, supports the sustainable development of valuable marine industries, and is identifying key areas of concern and new research directions in marine systems. This research is also internationally recognised as evidenced by the elite position our scientific publications enjoy.

Despite our outstanding skill base, expert staff, and cutting-edge infrastructure, we cannot work in isolation to produce effective results for Australia. Our partnerships are an important part of ensuring that our research is transferred to the places where it can have the greatest impact. Through training and development of early career researchers we are making a contribution to the next generation of marine scientists.

In order to ensure that our research is meeting Australia’s needs, we participate in ongoing consultation with you, the users of our science. With your help, we are expanding our research capabilities and developing synergies that will deliver the highest quality and most relevant science possible. Our three Strategic Directions illustrate a path forward which takes into account Australia’s future needs and builds upon our existing capabilities and knowledge:

• understanding tropical marine ecosystems and processes;• understanding the responses of tropical marine systems to global

changes; and• supporting the sustainable development of tropical marine-based

industries.

We hope you will join us as we embark on a new decade of discovery, and a journey to lead tropical marine science in Australia into a bright and productive future.

Dr Ian Gould Dr Ian PoinerChairman of Council Chief Executive OfficerAustralian Institute of Marine Science Australian Institute of Marine Science


Australian Institute of Marine Science Strategic Directions

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“Australia’s oceans are not independent of the world’s oceans and atmosphere. Lessons learnt in Australia’s waters influence marine resource management in other countries. AIMS international engagement results in technology sharing and the transfer of knowledge between tropical marine nations and global industries, contributing to a better understanding of global marine processes.”Dr Ian GouldChairman of Council, AIMS

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AUSTRALIA’S TROPICAL OCEANS – TREASURE TROVES OF DIVERSITY

AND OPPORTUNITYAustralia’s tropical oceans are as vast as our continent. Underwater treasures such as the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Reef rank amongst the most highly valued ecosystems on the planet, attracting millions of visitors each year.

Our tropical oceans are a source of wealth generation for Australians and support key marine industries such as marine tourism, offshore oil and gas, aquaculture and fisheries. Despite this, much of Australia’s tropical ocean territory remains unexplored and poorly understood.

Given our ever changing environment and growing industries, science is essential to ensure Australia’s tropical oceans will continue to provide sustainable wealth and enjoyment for generations to come.

Reef tourism, offshore oil and gas, mining and aquaculture industries all benefit from AIMS research and independent scientific advice.

Australia’s marine industries are a fast growing sector of our economy which:

• adds almost $100 billion to the national economy;• employs over 1 million Australians;• earns almost $20 billion in exports; and• contributes almost $6 billion in taxes.



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AIMS supports environmental sustainability by assisting industries to minimise their environmental impacts on our oceans and by informing managers of our marine territories. We acquire knowledge to protect Australia’s valuable marine biodiversity and secure the economic wealth it generates. By understanding how marine organisms can adapt we can develop models to predict the impact of ocean warming and other threats on our tropical oceans. - Australia’s National Research Priorities, Commonwealth of Australia, 2003.


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CHALLENGES FOR OUR MARINE ECOSYSTEMS

Our marine ecosystems face a number of real and imminent challenges. As Australia’s tropical marine research agency, the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) helps protect our tropical oceans and support sustainable marine industries through understanding and knowledge of our marine environment. Part of protecting marine systems relies on identifying the multiple causes, consequences and interactions of global change.

Understanding marine processes and the threats faced by marine systems, allows AIMS to contribute to the development of international best practice management of Australia’s marine resources.

Through innovative, world class, scientific and technological research, AIMS promotes healthy oceans and sustainable marine industries.

AIMS research programmes are driven by the needs of our stakeholders and Australia’s National Research Priorities.

Currentriskstotropicalmarinesystemsinclude:• Waterqualityandpollution;• Climatechange;• Urbangrowthandcoastaldevelopment;• Marinepestsanddiseases;• Illegalandunregulatedfishing;• Environmentaldegradation;and• Unsustainableexploitationofnatural

resources.

AIMS diver inspects the reef. Photo: AIMS Long-term Monitoring Team.


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“AIMSfutureeconomiccontributiontoAustraliawillcontinuetogrowasbenefitsfromitslong-termresearchcontinuetoberealised.”Duncan Buckeridge - Partner, Deloitte Australia and author of MarineImprint:thecrucialimpactof33yearsofAIMSresearchinthepublicinterest,2006.

People Scientific Capital Relationships

Foundations

DirectionsUnderstanding tropical

marine ecosystemsand processes

Understanding the responsesof tropical marine systems

to global changes

Supporting the sustainabledevelopment of tropicalmarine-based industries

Directions

Enhanced regional marine science skills for a competitive AustraliaGreater security and improved health of our iconic marine estates for future generations

Sustainable growth of key marine industries in tropical Australia

ResultsResults

Healthy oceans, environmental protection, sustainable economic development

Australia’s needAustralia’s need

• World-class scientific experts• Technological innovators• Cross-disciplinary teams• Diverse professional skills

• Cross-generational datasets and knowledge bases• Models spanning geographic, temporal and ecological scales• Ships and laboratories operating in Australia’s tropical oceans• Unique biological collections and databases

• Partnerships with users, stakeholders and scientific organisations• Effective science transfer• Research synergies

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AIMS STRATEGIC RESEARCH DIRECTIONS AIMS provides world leading science in areas of high priority for Australia. The Institute’s research supports marine managers and internationally competitive Australian industries by providing independent advice, essential knowledge and understanding of Australian tropical seas, coastal regions and their associated catchments. By building on our capabilities, AIMS will remain at the forefront of international marine science and decision making.

The Institute is focusing its research effort in three broad directions which are critical to meeting the challenges facing our marine ecosystems and the requirements of our stakeholders.

SomeoftheInstitute’sclientsinclude:• Government;• Marinemanagers;• Offshoreoilandgasindustry;• Tourismoperators;• Aquacultureindustry;• Biotechnologyindustries;• Educationproviders;and• Australiancommunity.


A slice of our climate history pictured within a coral skeleton. Photo: Eric Matson.


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Direction 1: Understanding tropicalmarine ecosystems and processes

Wise stewardship of our oceans is built on an understanding of marine ecosystems and their processes. Over half of Australia’s ocean territories are located in the tropics including: iconic marine ecosystems such as the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Reef, regions of significant economic activity such as the North-West Shelf and the Gulf of Carpentaria, culturally prized regions like the Torres Strait, and the relatively unexplored ecosystems of the Arafura and Timor Seas.

AIMS seeks to improve understanding of marine ecosystems and their underlying ecological processes, by conducting research in the following areas:

• Discovery,conservationandmaintenanceofbiodiversity;• Land-seainteractionsandecosystemconnectivity;• Disturbanceandrecoveryofmarinesystems;and• Ecosystembaselinesandtrajectories.

ResultThis research will augment informed decision-making as Australia continually improves the management of its tropical marine ecosystems.

“AIMS work in monitoring the effects of the Zoning Plan and water quality provides critical support to the management of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.” Virginia ChadwickChair, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, 1999-2007


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Direction 2: Understanding the responses of tropical marine systems to global changes

Escalating human influences through greenhouse gas emissions, population growth, land and resource use, are changing global ocean processes and functions. Through cross-disciplinary research we seek to understand the response of tropical marine ecosystems to current and future global changes. AIMS has identified the following key research areas as central to understanding and forecasting the impacts of global change on marine systems:

• Responses,adaptationandresilienceofcoralreefsandothermarineecosystemsto climate change;

• Changesinland-seainteractionsinAustralia’scoastalzone,especiallythosethat affect water quality;

• Riskmappingand thedevelopmentof future scenariosand theirprojectedimplications; and

• Understandingtheconsequencesofoceanacidification.

ResultThis research will differentiate between changes resulting from human influences and natural variation, enhancing our understanding of the causes and effects of change. Historical analyses, long-term data sets, better measurements of ecosystem parameters, data integration and modelling will improve predictions of how Australia’s tropical marine territories will respond to global change.

“Rising sea temperatures and changes to ocean chemistry pose major threats to the continued existence of current coral reefs.”Dr Janice LoughClimatologist, AIMS

Long-living corals record global changes in the environment: Photo: Eric Matson.


Australianoil&gasproductionexceeds$15billion/yearfroma$40billionassetbase.Plansexistfora230%growthinoilproductionfromnorthwestAustraliabetween2006&2011.Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (2006)

“Withalong-termoutlookofdecreasedrainfallandreducedagriculturaloutput,aquaculture,withanunlimitedsupplyofseawater,shouldhaveanincreasinglyimportantroleinfoodproduction.”Dr Michael HallAIMS Aquaculture Scientist

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Direction 3: Supporting the sustainable development of tropical marine-based industries

Australia’s tropical marine ecosystems support valuable and rapidly growing marine and coastal industries including offshore oil and gas, tourism, aquaculture, mineral refining as well as environmental services and technologies. Continued growth is driving rapid expansion in the development of these industries. Users of marine resources and environmental managers need independent scientific information to improve certainty in decision-making regarding the sustainable use and protection of these resources.

AIMS research in the following areas will address this key challenge by:

• Understandingenvironmental risksforthe oil and gas industry as well as the tourism sector;

• Supporting Australia’s aquacultureindustry; and

• Identifying environmental indicators,developing methods to measure marine impacts and pinpointing thresholds of concern.

ResultThis research will enable evidence-based decision-making so that human endeavours can progress with acceptable impact on the ecosystems that sustain them.

“AIMS research informs tourism operators on current issues in our tropical waters. Real-time knowledge of the GBR made possible by the AIMS sensor network, will be used to plan activities and to ensure sustainable operations.”Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators

Experiments reveal how marine organisms respond to change, enabling improved management. Photo: Dr Ray Berkelmans.


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FOUNDATIONSAIMS is one of the world’s most productive and innovative marine research agencies and is known for its unique capacity to investigate and integrate a diverse array of marine science topics ranging from marine microbiology to the study of ecological processes of entire ecosystems.

Internationally renowned staff, highly specialised facilities to support research excellence and key partnerships position the Institute as a global leader in tropical marine science. These are the foundations upon which AIMS will build to deliver strategic research outcomes for Australia and abroad.

AIMS research will contribute to the maintenance of healthy oceans, support environmental protection and underpin sustainable economic development of tropical marine resources.

Foundation 1: Our people

Our staff are our key resource. We draw on the full spectrum of our staff’s skills and experience by fostering:

• A culture of creativity, innovationand commitment;

• Staffinvolvementandastrongclientfocus;• Effective and efficient management practices that recognise and reward

achievements;• Careerdevelopmentstrategies;• Equalemploymentopportunities;• Healthyandsafeworkingenvironment;and• Excellentinternalandexternalcommunication.

“TheAustralianInstituteofMarineScienceranksinthetop1%ofresearchinstitutionsintheworldinthefieldsofEnvironment&EcologyandPlant&AnimalScience.”Thomson Institute for Scientific Information

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“Sciencequality,userneed,independenceandtheeffectivedeliveryanduptakeofoursciencearethefoundationsofourrelationshipswithstakeholdersandpartners.”Dr Ian PoinerCEO, AIMS


“Auniqueaspectofourresearchistheabilitytorecordthepropertiesoftropicalmarineecosystemsoverlargespatialandlongtemporalscales.”Dr Peter DohertyResearch Director, AIMS

Biologicalcollections:• Coralcores;• Biodiversitylibrary;• Biochemicallibrary;• Fishlarvae;and• Sedimentcores.

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Foundation 2: Scientific capital

Our research assetsInformation that spans decades is a powerful tool in any field of science. This type of data allows scientists to distinguish natural changes from those caused by human activities.

AIMS long-term datasets contain centuries-worth of information about Australia’s tropical marine ecosystems and capture the recent evolution of human practices. These continually growing data libraries are created from human measurements of our oceans or may be extracted from environmental records like those found in coral skeletons.

Specialised databases secure these valuable assets for future generations and enable scientists to search for hidden patterns of change in our oceans.

Our scalable models of Australia’s tropical oceans project impacts and simulate changes that have occurred in the past and may occur in the future. Visualisation then enables people to understand marine processes and make informed decisions.

AIMS unique ability to access all of Australia’s tropical oceans allows our researchers to collect extensive biological and geological samples not accessible to others.

AIMS license to operate allows the Institute to acquire knowledge of many tropical marine ecosystems which are outside the operating

limits of other agencies. This information is made available to stakeholders and decision makers.

Some of our nationally valuable assets include:• Twodecadesofwaterqualitymeasurementsfromthe

Great Barrier Reef;• Fifteen years of field measurements of coral reef

health from the Great Barrier Reef;• Over a decade of measurements of biodiversity, ecological change and

oceanography at Scott Reef off North-West Australia;• Two decades of biodiversity sampling from around the continent for

biodiscovery; • Coralcoresthatrecordenvironmentalconditionsoverthelast600yearsfrom

the Great Barrier Reef to Western Australia; and• Integratedoceanographicmodelsofprocesses ranging inscale fromsingle

reefs to the entire ecosystems such as the Great Barrier Reef.


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Our technologyInnovative marine research requires innovative technology. AIMS continually develops novel technologies to progress its research. By using existing technology in new ways and by designing new purpose-built technologies, AIMS maintains its position at the forefront of tropical marine research.

Marine-based biotechnology, as well as observational and communication technologies are developing rapidly and can be applied to meet the challenge of observing, measuring, managing and sustaining our marine environment.

AIMS has identified the following new technologies as key to achieving significant advances in marine science:

• Real-timeoceanmeasurementslinkingbiologicalandphysicalprocesses;• Molecularandgenetictoolsforunderstandingbiodiversityandecosystems;and• In-seavisualisationandautomatedintelligentmonitoringofmarinesystems.

AIMS innovative use of technology is transforming the way in which scientists study the oceans. By providing more complete and up to date information about ocean processes, AIMS is expanding scientific understanding of our tropical marine environment.

“AIMSreal-timeoceansensorsystemsprovidevitaldataforrisk,resilienceandresponseassessmentsoftheGreatBarrierReefandothermarineecosystems.”Dr Russell ReicheltChairman and Chief Executive, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

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“Transformational marine science is the innovative application of technology and ideas to achieve revolutionary advances in marine science.” Dr Jim PeacockAustralia’s Chief Scientist

Getting science out of the lab and into the sea. Photo: Eric Matson.


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Townsville

Perth

Darwin

Our infrastructureSpecialised marine facilities and state-of-the-art science infrastructure enables AIMS to conduct relevant, influential science and supports its continued role as a global leader in tropical marine research.

Our laboratories in Townsville, Darwin and Perth provide central locations from which to study all of Australia’s tropical ecosystems. Our science infrastructure includes:

• Biosecuremolecular,microbialandchemistrylaboratories;• A fleet of purpose built research vessels to explore all Australian tropical

marine territories (RV CapeFerguson, RV Solander, RV Apollo, RV Aquila,RV Capricornus);

• Acoordinatednetworkofweatherstations,sensorsandmooringsprovidingreal-time data from Western Australia’s marine ecosystems to the Great Barrier Reef;

• AIMS-designed,precisioncontrolledseawaterfacilities;and• Specialistworkshopstodesignandbuilduniquemarineresearchinstruments.

AIMS has the expertise and capability to explore and understand the marine environment through studies ranging from regional ship-based investigations to molecular and microbial analyses.

LocationoftheInstitute’smajoractivitiesandfacilities


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Foundation 3: Our relationships

AIMS research connects environmental managers, universities, industries, government and communities. Collaboration with other national and international organisations is important to us and ensures that our outputs are greater than could be achieved by a single agency.

Impact and uptakeAIMS research informs resource management, supports industry development, and impacts decision makers. Our science deliveries have made significant contributions to Australia:

• 25yearsofAIMSresearchdataandscientificexpertisewasintegratedintotherezoning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan (2004) which provided increased protection of representative habitats (areas) within the Park;

• Fundametalunderstandingofnewenvironmentsbeingexploredbythegrowingoil and gas industries to minimise their potential impacts;

• AIMStechniquesforsurveyingcoralreefandmangroveecosystemshavebeenadopted by the United Nations Environment Program and are part of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network;

• Organisations such as GBRMPA continue to use AIMS data which can bedelivered using initiatives like the GBR Ocean Observing System;

• 15yearsofresearchonthehealthoftheGreatBarrierReefandtheimpactsofrunoff led to the development of the joint Australian Government - Queensland Government Reef Water Quality Protection Plan and the development of new water quality standards which have had positive effects on the tourism industry; and

• Selective prawn breeding technology transferred to the Australian PrawnFarmersAssociationledtoadvancementsinblacktigerprawndomestication,improving productivity and profitability of this industry.

Strategic alliancesbetween agenciesarrangements that allow AIMSto broaden its capabilities,range and impact.

Joint venturesformal arrangements inplace to provide certainty.

Research collaboratorsenhance ideas, skills,

infrastructure and capacityto solve complex

problems.

Stakeholder groupsprovide input to

research directionsetting and facilitate

transfer of knowledge.

Strong networks and co-investment :builds critical mass, enhances science capacity, improves use of science

infrastructure and collectively leads to enhanced science outcomes.

Australia’s need for tropical marine research


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THE WAY FORWARD

The future of our nation’s tropical marine ecosystems is uncertain. Pollution, development, disease, and climate change are changing our oceans and new marine resources and opportunities are continually being discovered. The strategic research directions designed by AIMS in consultation with clients, research partners, Government stakeholders and the Australian community, represent the pathway towards understanding these changes and sustaining and protecting Australia’s marine environment. World class staff, cutting edge infrastructure, research assets, novel technologies, and well developed relationships with our partners will help AIMS to lead the way forward for tropical marine science in Australia.

© Australian Institute of Marine Science, 2007

Townsville, QueenslandPMB No 3, Townsville MC Qld 4810Telephone (07) 4753 4444Facsimile (07) 4772 5852

Darwin, Northern TerritoryPO Box 40197 Casuarina NT 0811Telephone (08) 8920 9240Facsimile (08) 8920 9222

Perth, Western AustraliaBotany Biology Building (M096)The University of Western Australia35 Stirling HighwayCrawley WA 6009Telephone (08) 6488 4580Facsimile (08) 6488 4585

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