Integrated Reef Fish Monitoring Project (IMR)

The project focuses on monitoring reef fish assemblages in deep-water inter reef areas, inshore nursery grounds and fringing reefs of high continental islands. The surveys will first set monitoring baselines for offshore deep water inter-reefal fish communities beyond safe limits of SCUBA based surveys. Underwater Visual Census survey will occur on 8 island groups using transect based methods (Emslie & Cheal, 2018). Nursery seascapes will be surveyed with RUVS (non-baited BRUVS) and BRUVS to survey fishes various habitats (estuary, mangrove, seagrass, reef flat) in three seascape elements (coastal, inter-reef, and continental island).BRUVS and ROVs will be employed for data acquisition in three nodes, the northern, central and southern GBR. Sampling will be a spatially balanced design among different habitats (e.g. shoals, Halimeda banks, sponge gardens) as well as Marine Park zoning.

本项目聚焦于监测大型陆源岛屿的深水礁间区域、近岸育苗场以及岸礁生境中的礁栖鱼类群落。本次调查将首先为超出水肺潜水安全作业范围的远海深水礁间鱼类群落建立监测基线。水下视觉普查（Underwater Visual Census, UVC）将采用样带法（Emslie与Cheal，2018）对8个岛屿群展开调查。针对育苗景观，将采用RUVS（无饵BRUVS）与BRUVS（带饵远程水下视频系统，Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems）对三类景观单元（沿岸、礁间及陆源岛屿）内的河口、红树林、海草床、礁坪等多种生境中的鱼类开展调查。BRUVS与遥控水下机器人（Remotely Operated Vehicles, ROVs）将用于大堡礁（Great Barrier Reef, GBR）北、中、南三个区域节点的数据采集工作。采样将采用空间均衡设计，兼顾沙洲、钙扇藻滩、海绵花园等各类生境与大堡礁海洋公园分区类型。