This sub-unit is responsible for research into:

• Freshwater biodiversity & habitats: monitoring the condition of riverine systems; distribution, abundance and genetics of freshwater threatened & pest species; impacts of pest species and control techniques; evaluating fishways; active restoration of in-stream habitats; freshwater fish stocking.
• Marine biodiversity & habitats: monitoring resource condition; evaluation of floodgates & other barriers in estuaries; mapping of seabed habitats; distribution and abundance of marine and estuarine threatened & pest species; impacts of pest species and control techniques; evaluating effectiveness of marine protected areas.
• Ecosystem function: quantitative assessments of the functioning of aquatic systems; connectivity between systems; evaluating ecosystem-based management; modelling; climate change impacts. The current focus is on ecosystem modelling for coastal NSW.

Key research collaborations

Many inland projects are collaborative ventures with the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and other government agencies in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland. Fish pest projects are managed through the Invasive Animals CRC. Coastal work often involves partnerships with other NSW government agencies. Ecosystem modelling is done collaboratively with CSIRO. Overseas projects are funded through ACIAR.

University collaborators are Griffith, Newcastle, Wollongong and members of the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (Macquarie, Sydney, UTS and New South Wales).

Key research infrastructure

This sub-unit uses Industry & Investment NSW facilities at Narrandera, Port Stephens and Grafton.

Current projects

Aquatic Ecosystems Maps

Mapping the estuarine habitats of NSW

Scientific Outputs

The Aquatic Ecosystems Sub-Unit has online summaries of its scientific outputs. In some cases the summary has the full outputs available as a PDF which can be downloaded. The scientific outputs are arranged by year of publication.

2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 |