Fiordland Research

Doubtful Sound harbours a unique marine ecosystem, low in macrophyte abundance and dominated by sessile suspension and filter feeders. A distinctive feature of the fiord is the abundance of a number species that are typically rare or absent in shallow coastal waters. These include the black coral (Antipathes fiordensis), red coral (Erina novaezelandia), snake stars (Astrobrachion constrictum), and brachiopods (eg. Liotherella novaezelandia). These distributions are often attributed to the low light levels, low primary productivity and low sedimentation rates, relatively slow water currents, and the extremely narrow continental shelf adjacent to Fiordland.

The geomorphology and hydrography of Doubtful Sound have a significant influence on the distribution and abundance of organisms within the fiord. The thinning of the low salinity layer (LSL) with distance along the fiord results in strong horizontal gradients in primary productivity and diversity . Recruitment processes and larval transport processes are also strongly influence by the hydrographic processes within the fiord. The LSL also dictates that many of the intertidal and shallow subtidal organisms are euryhaline (eg. Ulva lactuca, Patiriella regularis). In addition, the layer controls the vertical distribution and zonation patterns or marine organisms within the fiord, both directly and indirectly. This is especially true for key species such as the predatory starfish and the grazing sea urchins.

At the top of Fiordland's food web are bottlenose dolphins. A resident group in Doubtful Sound has been the subject of a decade of study - chiefly focussed on how the dolphins use the habitat, and quantifying social relationships. These studies now extent to the other fiords, and to detailed studies of acoustic behaviour and impact of dolphin watching.

Personnel

• Steve Wing
  
• Miles Lamare
  
• Steve Dawson
• Rebecca McLeod

Students

MSc Candidates

• Chelsie Archibald, Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Reef Fishes in Fiordland, New Zealand
• Michelle Beritzhoff, Blue cod (Parapercis colias) size distribution in Fiordland, New Zealand
• Hamish Bowman, Entrance sill oceanography
• Susanne Schüller, Sedimentary phytoplankton remains in Fiordland, New Zealand

PhD Candidates

• Nicola Beer, Population connectivity of blue cod (Parapercis colias) populations in Fiordland, New Zealand.
• Lucy Jack, The ecological role of rock lobsters Jasus edwardsii in Fiordland, New Zealand.
  

Current research in the fjords includes

• Invertebrate larvae life-histories
  
• Biological and Physical monitoring program
  
• Population dynamics of sea urchin populations
  
• Food web dynamics
  
• Marine Conservation and planning
  
• Cetacean biology and behaviour
  
• Population biology of blue cod
  
• Population genetics
  
• Deep Fiord benthos ecology
  
• Impact of Tourism

Current Research Programs

• Long-term monitoring of the rock wall communities in Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound
  
• Long-term monitoring of the population biology of Black Coral in Doubtful Sound and Milford Sounds
  
• Larval life history traits of echinoid larvae in Doubtful Sound
  
• A joint research program with the University of New Hampshire investigating the effects of increased Ultraviolet radiation on marine invertebrate larvae in New Zealand waters
  
• Impacts of dolphin watching in Fiordland
  
• Acoustic behaviour of Bottle Nose dolphins
  
• Ecology of Fiordland Bottle Nose dolphins