Gradients of marine biodiversity and linkages with eDNA across the Wallacea Region

The interdependencies among organisms in ecological systems govern ecological function, responses to ecosystem change and the provision of ecosystem services. Complex multi-species interactions form ecological networks that increase community stability, where it is known that higher diversity promotes dynamic stability and counters pressures on the ecosystem. Understanding these ecological networks and dynamics in response to multiple chronic and acute environmental disturbances is key to designing conservation interventions, but network dynamics remain largely unknown in tropical marine systems.

The Wallacea region is not only the epicenter of global coral reef diversity, it's coral reefs are also the most important source of food and income for millions of people. The region is globally important for sustaining globally threatened reef biodiversity, because it is one among few reefs that have not yet experienced large-scale degradation due to climate stress events. However, the regions' reefs are greatly transformed by local stressors, most notably terrestrial derived sediment run-off and fisheries overexploitation. Management to mitigate these local stressors is underway, but is severely hampered by a pervasive lack of data and understanding how these stressors affect biodiversity and its interactions throughout the region. Given the limited local resources, time, and expertise, presently the lack of information to inform management will not be overcome for most reefs across Wallacea.

This project addresses three aims, which require addressing to overcome these challenges. Firstly, we will employ traditional visual observation techniques for reef corals, macro-invertebrates and fishes to determine how ecological networks differ between largely unimpacted, sedimented or reduced water quality, and fished sites. Ecological networks will be quantified based on field data using novel/cutting edge ecological modelling approaches and network theory. This aim focuses on easily observable non-cryptic taxa initially, and will form the basis of our comparative assessment of eDNA which has great potential but remains unvalidated in coral reef systems. Our second aim will validate eDNA's utility in describing reef biodiversity dynamics and test for the first time how networks constructed from eDNA compare to those from ecological surveys. Outcomes will provide unique insights and the potential for a step change in reef monitoring approaches by expanding opportunities to intensify spatial and temporal sampling, alongside providing confidence limits associated with ecological networks and their metrics that have been constructed using these novel eDNA data. Finally, having assessed the application of eDNA techniques, we plan to map the coral reef biodiversity of Wallacea with extensive eDNA sampling from remote regions. We will expand eDNA sampling to 10 further sites within Wallacea to provide novel data at unprecedented spatial and ecological complexity scales, enabling us to model and predict change in response to anthropogenic pressures at scales most relevant to Indonesian marine spatial planning.

Despite high functional redundancy in the mega-diverse coral reef ecosystems, the loss of species will shift community composition and functionality with wide-ranging ecological, social and economic implications. For conservation efforts in complex systems where cryptic species are under-sampled but play important functional roles, there is a real-world need to know true biodiversity and network interactions. We will develop and test novel approaches to tackle this challenge to inform sustainable development in the face of the coral reef crisis. The response dynamics in ecological networks inform community robustness and this information is key to management decision making.

Indonesia is highly dependent on marine resources and as such, the maintenance of marine ecosystem services is crucial for the country. This project will directly facilitate the maintenance and sustainability of Indonesian fisheries by a) assessing biodiversity differentials between areas with different threats; b) benchmarking sustainable fisheries on coral reefs and c) developing a novel monitoring approach.

1.Who will benefit from this work?
Within Indonesia marine management agencies who will benefit include:KKP (Kementerian Kelautan dan Perikanan - Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of Indonesia) and LIPI (Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia - Indonesian Institute of Sciences), Indonesian Academy of Science (AIPI), University Forum for Marine Science and Fisheries, Local Marine Affair and Fisheries and Department of Provincial Governments in the Wallacea Region. There are a number of NGOS working with our research team within Wallacea and across Indonesia who will be direct beneficiaries. These include: The Coral Triangle Center, The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Sustainable Ecosystems Advanced (SEA) Project, and RARE.Citizen Science Programmes will also benefit from our work. These include: Reef Check, CoralWatch and more specifically within Indonesia the Indonesian Coral Reef Foundation (TERANGI), and Nusa Dua Reef Foundation (NDRF) Considering broader global impact, the management and monitoring of marine biodiversity applies to governmental and non-governmental agencies. Within the UK these include: The Environment Agency (EA), Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), Natural England (NE), and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO).

2. How will these organisations benefit from our research?
Currently, management decisions and spatial plans in these areas are largely based on surrogates, lacking detailed information about how biodiversity patterns and relationships vary for different threat regimes. Our research will provide an avenue for these organisations to enhance their capacity and environmental management strategies. Research outcomes will enable more effective evaluation of the key stressors impacting ecological integrity and service provision and therefore which sites are priority for different interventions. Fundamentally we will test the use of eDNA for monitoring marine biodiversity, providing an opportunity for future cheap biodiversity assessments and possibly leading to commercial innovation to provide field sampling kits and services. More globally International organisations will be able to utilise research outcomes to refine their own assessment tools thereby further increasing the potential for commercial development of field sampling kits.

3.Mechanisms of Impact Delivery?
The Indonesia PI, Prof Jompa (JJ) is perfectly placed to facilitate the exchange of information between our research team and Indonesia authorities. The Project PI (DJS) and CO-PI (MB) are also well established within Indonesia and will assist JJ in delivering workshops and documentation that can best disseminate project findings and impacted orientated outcomes. The key dissemination tool however will be the final workshop (in the last 6 months of the project) which will be attended by Indonesian authorities, NGOS and other actors. The workshop will focus on best ways to utilise the data generated and the new assessment tools developed. Opportunities to further the impact of the research including possible commercialisation of sampling kits will also be discussed at this workshop. More global the PI and CO-I at UoE sit on numerous advisory boards that span the sector (which include EA, NE, CEFAS, DEFRA, MMO members) and will disseminate the research findings and contextualize for wider marine application.