Lap of Australia: RLS's 'Lap of Aus' project began in 2020 and wrapped up in 2022, involving 94 RLS divers who contributed to 1,920 biodiversity surveys across 681 shallow reef sites across all Australian States and Territories (bar the ACT) as well as Norfolk Island and offshore Coral Sea.
Increasing the Visibility of Trends in WA's Marine Biodiversity Project: This WA State NRM funded project aimed to boost community capacity to actively contribute to WA's marine conservation goals, as well as increase public knowledge of the health of reefs. Concluding in 2022, this project was underpinned by 257 surveys across 63 long-term monitoring sites, and contributed to the development of the Reef Life Explorer.
Continental-scale Assessment of Population Trends in Reef Species Around Australia: Combining RLS records and data from similar long-term monitoring projects , Edgar et al. assessed the changing nature of reef populations around Australia over the past decade. This analysis included >1,000 common shallow reef species across >1,600 sites around the continent.
Living Offshore Reefs of Australian Marine Parks: Using a decade of data and images collected from Australian Marine Parks across the country, RLS has released a hard-cover book highlighting the incredible diversity of these reef systems and the marine life that these Parks aim to protect.
Biodiversity change across the Coral Sea Marine Park over the past decade including impacts of
severe heatwaves.
Heather, F., Stuart-Smith R., Cooper A., Oh E., Turak E.,& Edgar G. 2022
Report to Parks Australia, Department of the Environment
