Miss Tian Tian1
1Plant & Food Research, Port Nelson, New Zealand
Biography:
I am a PhD student from the Joint Graduate School of University of Auckland and Plant and Food Research Institute, with a background in Marine Ecology and Molecular Biology. My current research focuses on biofouling community monitoring in aquaculture environments using eDNA technologies and machine learning. I aim to develop and optimise efficient and cost-effective tools and protocols to perform qualification and quantification analyses of community composition, and eventually provide fundamental advice on biofouling mitigation, aquaculture improvement and relevant policy making.
Abstract:
Biofouling has a pronounced negative impact on the profitability of mariculture. With the advent of global warming and the transition of mariculture activities towards offshore locations, biofouling challenges are anticipated to escalate, rendering the cleaning of maricultural infrastructure both more arduous and costly. To minimise this, anti-fouling coatings and physical removal techniques have been applied. However, many of these methods pose risks for the aquaculture species and the environment. To optimise mitigation tools and identify novel alternatives, this talk will discuss the development and usage of novel eDNA (environmental DNA) techniques to facilitate effective monitoring of biofouling communities to inform management decisions.
Specifically, this talk will explore the utility of metabarcoding tools, and machine learning (ML) models to qualify and quantify biofouling communities. These methods were employed to analyse the biofouling growth patterns and community composition on different aquaculture materials/fabrics in replicated exposed and sheltered sites, and at different depths, at regular sampling times throughout winter and summer seasons. Significant effects of seasons and locations on biofouling growing patterns have been found. Two versions of ML models for biofouling occlusion estimation were developed and validated. Preliminary results will be presented. The findings from this research will provide novel knowledge about the factors driving biofouling community composition in space and time to inform future mitigation strategies.