Canterbury scientist studying warmer, rougher NZ coastline

Award-winning Canterbury scientist studying warmer, rougher NZ coastline

December 4, 2014

An award-winning University of Canterbury marine scientist will be busy over the summer break studying New Zealand’s warmer and rougher coastline.

Professor David Schiel, who has just been named a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, has a team of marine ecology researchers looking into the climate change impacting New Zealand’s coastline.

``The major of changes we are seeing are warmer coastal sea temperatures in the north and an increased frequency of bigger waves, over 2 metres, in southern New Zealand,’’ he says.

``From satellite and oceanographic data we can gauge changes over the last 30 to 40 years. We are studying this summer how sea life has been affected, with an increasing number of big waves knocking out big organisms in extreme conditions. We will be looking at key coastal sites from Cape Campbell to Moeraki in the South Island and also areas in Northland such as near Matapouri. We also have studies along the West coast of the South Island.

``We have a team of research associates and postgraduate researchers examining places such as Kaikoura, river mouths where whitebait spawn, and changes around Christchurch’s Avon-Heathcote River and Estuary, which have changed so dramatically since the earthquakes.

``We are in the process of assessing changing conditions at 70 or so coastal sites up and down the country, which were last surveyed 15 years ago, to see how the climate impacts on-shore communities, such as shellfish and seaweed.’’

Professor Schiel is on the National Science Challenges’ sustainable seas development panel which is considering how resource use, such as marine mining, aquaculture and tourism can be done sustainably without diluting the rich marine environment.

Professor Schiel, who received an international award for a lifelong contribution to marine science at an international conference in Australia earlier this year, is head of the Marine Ecology Research Group at Canterbury’s School of Biological Sciences. He is a world expert on kelp forests and temperate reefs, such as those in New Zealand and overseas.

Professor Schiel was one of the lead scientists who worked on the effects and aftermath of the Rena oil spill in the Bay of Plenty. His highly cited coastal research has highlighted the role and vulnerability of key habitat-forming species, especially large seaweeds, in maintaining the diversity and functioning of near-shore ecosystems.

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