Research interests

• Ecosystem based fisheries management
• Impacts of fishing on estuarine and marine ecosystems
• Experimental marine ecology
• Ecological risk assessment methods

Background

Karen Astles is a Research Scientist in the Aquatic Ecosystems Unit of NSW DPI, based at the Cronulla Fisheries Research Centre of Excellence. She is a marine ecologist with over 20 years experience working in temperate estuarine and marine systems.  She has also worked in freshwater fish ecology. Karen joined NSW DPI in 1994 (known then as NSW Fisheries). Karen has worked in university research and as an environmental consultant. Karen does research on ecological risk assessment, ecological indicators for the impacts of fishing on marine ecosystems and assessing the vulnerability of estuarine habitats to the effects of climate change.

Qualifications

• B.Sc. – University of Sydney, 1984
• M.Sc. Experimental Marine Ecology – University of Sydney, 1991

Current projects

• Vulnerability assessment of estuarine habitats to the effects of climate change in the lower Hawkesbury estuary
• Clarence River Estuarine Atlantis Modelling project
• Development of methods to determine the effectiveness of fishery management strategies on the Hawkesbury River estuary

Recent Publications

Astles KL (2010) Qualitative ecological risk assessment of human disturbances on estuarine habitats. In: Estuarine habitat mapping and geomorphic characterisation of the lower Hawkesbury River and Pittwater estuaries, Ed: Astles, K.L., West, G., Creese, R.C., Final Report to Hawkesbury Nepean Catchment Management Authority and Hornsby Shire Council, Industry and Investment NSW, Fisheries Final Report Series, p. 33-104.

Astles KL, West G, Creese RC (2010) Estuarine habitat mapping and geomorphic characterisation of the lower Hawkesbury River and Pittwater estuaries. Final Report to Hawkesbury Nepean Catchment Management Authority and Hornsby Shire Council, Industry and Investment NSW, Fisheries Final Report Series.

Astles KL, Gibbs PJ, Steffe AS, and Green M (2009) A qualitative risk-based assessment on marine habitats and harvested species for a data deficient wild capture fishery.  Biological Conservation 142: 2759-2773.

Astles KL (2008) A systematic approach to estimating ecological risks in marine fisheries.  CABI Reviews: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources, 3, No. 045, pp.16.

Astles KL, Holloway MG, Steffe A, Green M, Ganassin C and Gibbs PJ (2006) An Ecological Method for Qualitative Risk Assessment and its use in the Management of Fisheries in New South Wales, Australia. Fisheries Research, 82:290-303.

Growns I, Astles K and Gehrke P (2006) Multiscale spatial and small-scale temporal variation in the composition of riverine fish communities. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 114:553-571.

Scandol JP, Holloway MG, Gibbs PJ and Astles KL (2005) Ecosystem-based fisheries management: an Australian perspective. Aquatic Living Resources, 18:261-273.

Gehrke PC, Astles KL and Harris JH (1999) Within-catchment effects of flow alteration on fish assemblages in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River system, Australia. Regulated Rivers: Research and Management, 15: 181-198.

Astles KL (1993) Patterns of abundance and distribution of species in intertidal rock pools.  Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 73: 555-569.

Fields of Research

• 050102 Ecosystem Function
• 050204 Environmental Impact Assessment
• 050206 Environmental Monitoring
• 060202 Community Ecology
• 060205 Marine and Estuarine Ecology

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

Keyword/phrase list of research interests

• Marine ecology
• Marine ecosystems
• Fisheries management
• Ecological indicators