Summary

Tasmania is a physically complex region with respect to both its oceanography and its seabed. Interactions between the water masses that surround Tasmania have a significant impact on regional productivity and our economic well being yet are poorly understood.  In Tasmanian waters, temporal variation at a range of scales is more significant than elsewhere in Australia.  For example, Tasmania experiences the strongest seasonal variation in oceanographic conditions of any region around Australia.  Long term variability is also great, with waters off Tasmania warming ~3.8 times faster than the global average. 

Because Tasmania’s oceanographic climate is changing so rapidly it represents the nation’s best opportunity to characterise and understand the responses of Australian marine ecosystems to climate change.

 The TasIMOS Node employs an integrated ‘whole of system’ approach to sustained observing in the region that links oceanography and biogeochemistry with biology at a range of spatial scales.  Ultimately, the node supports observations on the temporal dynamics of the global, national, regional and local oceanography that will contribute to our understanding of their impacts on climate, people and our ecosystems.