Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity Annual Review 2012

AEBAR 2012: Marine Biodiversity
status because of known changes in their distribution, abundance or rate of population decline
(Freeman et al. 2010). The authors cautioned however that only a small fraction of New Zealand's
marine invertebrate fauna had been evaluated for their threat status and that many taxa remain ‘data
deficient’ or unlisted.
A re-evaluation of marine mammal threat status found that relative to the previous listing, the threat
status of two species worsened: the NZ sea lion (Phocarctos hookeri) was uplisted to Nationally
Critical and the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) was uplisted to Nationally Endangered. No
species was considered to have an improved status (See Chapter on marine mammales and also Baker
et al. 2010).
The most recent State of the Environment Report in New Zealand (MfE 2007) covers terrestrial and
freshwater organisms in its Biodiversity section 49 . Comment on marine biodiversity is provided in the
Oceans section which states:
“Of the almost 16,000 known marine species in New Zealand, 444 are listed as threatened.
Well-known species of particular concern include both subspecies of Hector’s dolphin, New
Zealand sea lion, southern right whale, Fiordland crested penguin, and New Zealand fairy
tern. Land-based pressures on the inshore marine environment, as well as pressures on
fisheries stocks, can be expected to persist and, therefore, continue to pose a challenge to the
health of the marine environment. The increasing number of introduced species brought to
New Zealand through marine-based trade and travel, and climate change may exacerbate
existing pressures. Further information about our marine environment is needed if we are to
help set priorities for future use and protection of our oceans”.
Two major knowledge gaps identified by MfE 2007 that hinder resource management are sparse
biodiversity baseline information; and the lack of a systematic national-scale approach to monitoring
biodiversity trends (i.e. by comparing subsequent studies to the baseline information) in New Zealand.
The most recent summary of knowledge about marine biodiversity in New Zealand is provided by
Gordon (2009, 2010, 2012) and Gordon et al. (2010). Figure 11.3 gives a tally of 17,058 living
species in the EEZ, including 4,320 known undescribed species in collections.
The Hub analysed patterns and dynamics of marine biodiversity through four research programmes to
determine the appropriate units and models for effectively predicting Australia’s marine biodiversity.
These programmes were designed to develop and deliver tools needed to manage Australia’s marine
biodiversity in a changing ocean climate. The final report from three years intense research is
available at the website 50. Australia also has The Marine Adaptation Network that comprises a
framework of five connecting marine themes (integration; biodiversity and resources; communities;
markets and policy) that cut across climate change risk, marine biodiversity and resources, socioeconomics,
policy and governance, and includes ecosystems and species from the tropics to
Australian Antarctic waters 51 .
Species diversity for the most intensively studied animal phyla (Cnidaria, Mollusca, Brachiopoda,
Bryozoa, Kinorhyncha, Echinodermata, Chordata) is more or less equivalent to that in the ERMS
(European Register of Marine Species) region, an area 5.5 times larger than the New Zealand EEZ
(Gordon et al. 2010), suggesting that the NZ region biodiversity is proportionately richer than the
ERMS region (Figure 11.3).
49 State of the Environment MfE 2007.
50 www.marinehub.org/
51 arnmbr.org/content/index.php/site/aboutus/
244