Natural resource management improvements based on sound understanding of the status and long-term trends of priority species and systems
Research priorities:
- Identify and trial practical methods to improve reef resilience, such as the transplantation of coral and coral genetics.
- Understand trends in dugong and turtle populations, including breeding cycles and trends in seagrass and habitats. Develop better methods for the protection of important habitat for dugong and turtles.
- Combine existing indicators and monitoring programmes to develop a cost-effective integrated monitoring programme to support natural resource management, evaluate results and communicate trends.
- Identify regionally-specific management interventions to achieve or maintain realistic desired states for tropical environmental, social, cultural and economic values.
- Develop and implement better tools, including spatial information, to support the prioritisation of on-ground investments and interventions and asses their success.
- Explore the opportunities for citizen science and Indigenous participation to improve tropical water quality awareness and outcomes.
Research projects:
Round 1
Project 3.1
Seagrass mapping synthesis – A resource for marine park and coastal management
Project 3.2 Improving historical estimates of abundance and distribution of dugongs and large green turtles in western and central Torres Strait
Project 3.3 Light thresholds for seagrasses of the GBR: a synthesis and guiding document for managing seagrass
Project 3.4 Developing and refining biological indicators for seagrass condition assessments in an integrated monitoring program
Project 3.5 Assessment of key dugong and turtle seagrass resources in the northern Torres Strait
Project 3.6 Establishing a research framework for future NESP investment into better understanding of the presence of Box-Jellyfishes (Irukandji) and risks in the Great Barrier Reef
Project 3.7 Monitoring the effects of zoning on coral reefs and their associated fish communities in the GBR Marine Park
Project 3.8 Towards an integrated monitoring program: identifying indicators and existing monitoring programs to cost-effectively evaluate the Long Term Sustainability Plan
Project 3.9 Indigenous capacity building and increased participation in management of Queensland sea country
Project 3.10 Benchmarking costs of NRM improvements for the GBR
Project 3.11 Monitoring and adaptively reducing system-wide governance risks facing the GBR
Project 3.12 Development of an offset financial contribution calculator for Reef Trust
Project 3.13 eAtlas 2015 – NESP data management, Torres Strait NRM plan delivery platform and Torres Strait reef mapping
Round 2
Project 2.3.1
Benthic light as ecologically validated GBR wide indicator for water quality: drivers, thresholds and cumulative risks
Project 2.3.2
‘Human sensors’ for monitoring GBR environmental changes and quality of marine waters through harnessing Big Data analysis
Project 2.3.3
Building Indigenous livelihood and comanagement opportunities in the northern GBR-ecosystem services and conservation governance for water quality
Project 2.3.4
Working with Traditional Owners and local citizens to better manage GBR estuarine wetlands
Project 2.3.5
eAtlas – Data management for environmental research