Fellowship Spotlight: Dr. Dominic McAfee
In this segment, we are excited to be sharing the incredible work of our fellows!
Each year, Subak Australia award fellowships to individuals working on innovative, data-driven climate projects! Our first spotlight segment is a conversation with Dr. Dominic McAfee. While Dominic didn’t exactly picture himself working within marine environments, he is now a pioneer researcher on shellfish reefs. These living species have a critical role in increasing biodiversity as well as contributing to the recreational and economic vitality of our coastal communities.
Dominic’s work aims to improve climate-conscious decision-making on how we manage and restore marine ecosystems to maximise carbon sequestration benefits. This interview will dive deeper into shellfish reefs and their ecological importance and discuss how these once ‘forgotten’ ecosystems are now making a comeback by protecting coasts from the ravages of climate change!
1. What is your background and how did you get into researching shellfish reefs?
It still surprises me that I am a marine ecologist. I always loved going to the beach as a kid but never felt completely at ease in deeper water. Now, the seafloor is the office.
As I was finishing my Bachelor of Science at Macquarie University in Sydney, I was seeking an honours project to work on something ecology related. I had forest ecology and studying ants on my mind but found my way to marine ecology when I stumbled across a published paper on the global loss of oyster reefs.
I couldn’t comprehend the scale of the loss, which was estimated at 99% in Australia. I hadn’t even heard of an oyster reef at the time. It dawned on me that this was an incredible story that should be told, and I wanted to know more. So, in 2012, I started an honours project on how oyster habitats support coastal biodiversity across Australia’s east coast, and I’ve never looked back.
2. As someone who has been studying oyster habitats extensively for over 5 years, what finding has been most surprising for you?
More like 10 years now!
I’m shocked at how tough and adaptable these animals are. They may be brainless, spineless, introverted invertebrates, yet they can endure a lot of stress. That is what equips oysters with the ability to carpet coastlines from sub-artic waters to the tropics. Oysters have formed reefs across the world for hundreds of millions of years, following the rising and falling of sea levels and enduring multiple mass extinction events. They are born survivors.
This resilience and adaptability will be important for oyster ecosystems to adapt to the changing world. Certainly, it is valuable for our restoration efforts, and I’ve been amazed at how rapidly the oysters have responded to our reef restoration efforts. Despite our local oyster reefs being destroyed and left near extinct for over a hundred years, within months of constructing reefs we have witnessed hundreds of millions of oysters settling on the new reefs and forming habitats. These babies must have come from just a few scattered individuals that remain in the system, yet the baby oysters have thrived in what is a highly modified environment to the one the colonial dredge fishery destroyed 150 years ago.
3. These ecosystems are often labeled as ‘forgotten’, what has brought light to remember these ecosystems?
The growing national awareness of these lost ecosystems has been driven by a community of researchers, conservation groups, coastal managers, and recreational fishers across Australia. For the past decade, we have been working to understand the social and ecological history of these ecosystems, from their historical use by Traditional Owners and European settlers, to their exploitation and ecological collapse over the past 200 years.
That human history and socio-cultural use has provided a really enticing narrative for engaging the public at large on these reefs. Now our attention has turned to how we can bring them back, which is also a really exciting story that many coastal communities have gotten behind and now champion themselves.
4. Now that there are efforts being put into restoring shellfish reefs around Australia, what benefits should we expect to see?
Some of these reef restorations are rapidly forming into thriving oyster reefs, covered in all manner of marine life. That is obvious when you swim over one. Biological habitats, such as low forests of macroalgae and oyster habitat, start to be obvious within a few months of reef construction, and small snails and crabs quickly occupy this habitat. We also quickly see a lot of fish, big crabs, and cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish, octopus), but much of this marine life witnessed in the first year or two is merely attracted to the reef structure.
We typically expect to see the ecological benefits of oyster reefs, such as increased productivity of fish and invertebrates, to emerge within about 5-8 years post-construction, once fish communities are actively breeding on the reefs. In time, the coastal waters may also be clearer, with more sunlight penetrating the seafloor as the mature oysters’ filter particles out of the water column.
5. Why did you apply for the fellowship program with Subak and what do you hope to achieve within the climate change open-sourced data space?
I applied for the Subak fellowship because I recognised there was a lot of climate change mitigation potential not being realised in the reef restoration space. A lot of excitement exists in the potential of restoring blue carbon habitats (e.g., seagrass, mangroves, and salt marsh) to sequester carbon to mitigate climate change.
While oyster reefs are not blue carbon habitats, they are really good at promoting the plant and macroalgae habitats that are great at sequestering carbon. I recognised that the reef constructions designed to bring back oysters also provide great potential to bring back seagrass and macroalgae habitats.
I’m thrilled that the Subak Fellowship has provided this opportunity to explore the blue carbon outcomes of reef restoration and aim to demonstrate this potential so that it can be incorporated into restoration efforts across Australia and the world.
6. What do you believe the biggest challenge is when looking at the social perspectives on conservation?
Sustaining long-term social and industry engagement in conservation and restoration projects is perhaps the biggest hurdle to their sustainability. Sustained social support or industry buy-in provides the legitimacy for governments to support restoration projects, without which projects will have a limited shelf life.
Long-term social engagement in restoration projects has demonstrated considerable social and ecological outcomes, but these benefits are seldom recorded. Therefore, to maintain widespread interest in the benefits of restoration projects to local communities, we need to monitor the social and economic benefits of restoration. To date, this has been a major shortfall in research on restoration projects, one that must be addressed to ensure the sustainability of investing in restoration.
7. Finally, what has been the coolest thing you’ve seen underwater whilst in the field?
It has been incredible to witness the quite remarkable transformation of relatively bare sedimentary seafloors to vibrant reef communities within the space of a year. Despite these ecosystems being driven to near extinction, providing them with the right substrate at the right time appears capable of transitioning relatively structureless seafloor into thriving marine communities in the ecological blink of an eye. That’s pretty amazing.
But far more incredible, the coolest thing I’ve seen is the giant cuttlefish that seem to enjoy the new reefs. As if transported from a distant galaxy, these alien animals are completely mesmerising, flashing bright colors and vivid displays with animated skin patterns. No need to explore the outreaches of the galaxy, the most exquisite and mind-bending incarnations of life are right here on our doorstep. Just look below the waves.