Outlined here are some of the ways in which MTSRF-funded science
is helping to conserve and protect Australia's tropical terrestrial
and marine biodiversity and ecosystems. This is being
achieved not just through targeted delivery of research, but by
interpreting scientific information, supporting natural resource
management (Caring for our Country) and
assisting the Australian Government to meet their obligations to
make assessments (EPBC),
report on the State of the
Environment, and establish and manage Commonwealth
protected areas. While the spectacular natural assets of
North Queensland - such as the Great Barrier Reef and Wet Tropics
rainforests - are the focus of much MTSRF-funded research, many of
the resulting methods and tools are transferrable to comparable
environments elsewhere in the region.
MTSRF information contributes to first
GBRMPA Outlook Report: The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Authority is responsible for the preparation of a Great Barrier
Reef Outlook Report for federal parliament every five years.
The primary aim of the Outlook Report is to provide a regular and
reliable report on the management of the Great Barrier Reef Marine
Park, the overall condition of the ecosystem of the
Great Barrier Reef region, social and economic factors, as well
as a risk-based assessment of the longer-term outlook for the Great
Barrier Reef. Information derived from MTSRF-funded research
has contributed substantially to the
first such Outlook Report.
e-Atlas: A knowledge management
system for Australia's Tropical Lands and Seas: The
e-Atlas (click here for
further information about the e-Atlas) is already the major
knowledge and metadata capture and delivery tool for the MTSRF
program and has made a substantial contribution to the first
Outlook Report for the Great Barrier Reef. The e-Atlas is
currently being trialled internally within the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park Authority as a no-cost GIS platform that provides all
Authority staff with the capacity to visualise and interrogate
spatial information describing the Reef. Planning is underway
to incorporate the e-Atlas into the Australian Government's
Caring for our
Country - Reef Rescue initiative as the major reporting
tool for monitoring programs, providing the vital link that will
enable the evaluation of progress towards improvements in Reef
condition.
Increasing the effectiveness of
cassowary conservation at Mission Beach:
MTSRF-funded researchers from the CSIRO have been testing ways of
increasing the effectiveness of natural resource management and
conservation efforts in ecologically valuable local government
areas, such as the Mission Beach region. Based on an adaptive
management planning framework, the method aims for an effective
implementation by integrating economic and ecological systems, and
is aiding the Australian Government in its EPBC assessment
processes in the Mission Beach area. This work has been
instrumental in unifying local community opinion about cassowary
conservation, and identifying vital cassowary habitat threatened by
development. The resulting draft
Mission Beach Habitat Network Action Plan was released for
public consultation by Terrain NRM Ltd on 8
August 2009. Other MTSRF-funded scientists have developed a
robust method for quantitative assessment of cassowary populations
(faecal DNA analysis) which is engaging the community in sample
collection and ultimately could be used to monitor the
effectiveness of cassowary conservation efforts. More
recently, RRRC staff and MTSRF-funded scientists have made
submissions to the
draft EPBC Act Policy Statement on cassowary
conservation. According to the Wet Tropics Management
Authority, a welcome if indirect consequence of the recent
MTSRF research focus on the issue of cassowaries around Mission
Beach has been an increase in community awareness and concern for
the birds' welfare.
Corals afflicted by poor water quality
are more likely to bleach: MTSRF-funded researchers
from the Australian Institute of Marine
Science (AIMS) have taken a scenario modelling approach to
integrating the combined effects of climate change and water
quality on reef health. While the science clearly
demonstrates that the sediments, nutrients and other pollutants
flowing out of our rivers are affecting reef health, this modelling
potentially illustrates the strong link between water quality and
coral reef health. The model predicts that corals affected by
poor water quality are (a) two to four times more likely to suffer
bleaching (from temperature increase) than reefs bathed in good
quality water; (b) bleach at lower temperatures than corals bathed
in good quality water; and (c) are more likely to suffer mortality
following a bleaching event. Therefore, management actions
aimed at improving water quality will improve the resilience of the
Great Barrier Reef to bleaching. These modelling results will
be experimentally tested in a series of trials to be conducted by
AIMS in late 2009. This information will help inform and
validate the Caring for our Country - Reef Rescue
program.
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Impacts of the MTSRF
> Snapshots:
Living and working sustainably
