Project Leaders: Dr Michelle Waycott,
James Cook University and Dr Hugh Sweatman, Australian Institute of
Marine Science
Research Providers: JCU, AIMS, QDPI&F, RRRC
This year Project 1.1.1 aims to:
- Identify indicators of condition and trend
in biodiversity, ecosystem health and thresholds of concern, or
triggers, for management action for reef and non-reefal systems
(with reference to the Great Barrier Reef Bioregions, 2003) that
are appropriate for reporting the condition and trend in the health
of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem;
- Develop a set of standard criteria for
selection and use of indicators to guide the further development of
indicators of condition and trend in the health of the Great
Barrier Reef ecosystem as new information becomes
available;
- Develop indicators for the links between
reef water quality and the condition and trend in the health of the
Great Barrier Reef; and
- Develop methods and estimates of
thresholds of concern for reef health indicators.
This project will involve a workshop on
indicators of condition and trend, seeking national, international
and local expertise; a review of existing data sets to evaluate the
indicators stemming from the workshop mentioned above; and testing
of potential indicators followed by a second workshop on the
outcomes of Workshop 1 and preliminary analysis of data sets.
A synthesis of the results of Year 2 research
will be compiled into a report on indicators and thresholds of
concern for the status and trends of the health of the Great
Barrier Reef.
