March 2023 | By Isis Guibert

Dr. Isis Guibert is a postdoctoral researcher at The University of Hong Kong. She helped lead the SED-BIOME project, a MarineGEO Network Project.

The official opening of the Swire Institute of Marine Science (SWIMS) marks a new chapter for the MarineGEO Hong Kong team. Our newly renovated marine labs were first trialled from the 5th-17th of June 2022, during which deployed Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) were retrieved. Similar to an underwater building, these structures naturally attract marine animals seeking shelter. Retrieval of ARMs can capture entire communities and are useful in assessing biodiversity. As a standardised method, ARMS have been deployed and are in use all around the world.  

^{Sessile communities are bulk collected by scraping the ARMS plates clean and blending the matter. Samples are then preserved with 90% ethanol.} 

For the Hong Kong project, ARMS are used to understand the links between biodiversity and the resilience or resistance of marine communities. This is done by transplanting ARMS units between control sites, and stress sites affected by sedimentation, sewage or aquaculture waste. Although these stressors can negatively affect biodiversity, when conditions improve communities may also recover.

This round of processing with 16 ARMS units went smoothly in the SWIMS lab, with lots of support from volunteers and staff. The newest samples will be added the Hong Kong biodiversity collection, as part of the effort in understanding how human activity impacts marine life.

^{Contents of the 500 and 106um fraction are passed through mesh to concentrate material. Samples are then fixed in 90% ethanol.}

Other than the ARMS retrieval, we also have had the pleasure of hosting the CRF collaborators meeting at SWIMS. It was great to finally gather all collaborators together, and we would like to extend a special thanks to Emmert Duffy for his welcome speech, which was a lovely start to the event.