Year 3 (2008/2009) Project Leader:
Dr James Butler, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems

Research Providers: CSIRO, JCU, The University of Melbourne

Project 1.2.1 aims to provide the knowledge and methods needed for accurate and up-to-date state of the region reporting on the key biodiversity and ecosystem services assets of north Queensland, to support future iteration of NRM planning and the management of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, through:

• A synthesis of current knowledge and identification of gaps for key biological and environmental assets;

• Filling knowledge gaps in conjunction with field surveys being carried out in Project 1.4.3 (Threatened species and communities), Project 2.6.2 (Identification and impact of invasive pests in the Wet Tropics Rainforest) and completion of the Interactive Key to Australian Rain Forest Plants;

• Design and test a monitoring program to track status and trends of key environmental assets and ecosystem services; and

• To examine how insect abundance and diversity vary across time and space in the Wet Tropics using the most diverse insect taxon, beetles, as an indicator group. Insects are vital for ecosystem processes and are food for many vertebrates. What is uncertain is how insect diversity and abundance varies across the Wet Tropics and therefore how other organisms are affected by these differences.

The project will provide a synthesis of current knowledge and databases on key biological and environmental assets in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, and design and trial of a potentially suitable and cost-effective monitoring program to track the status and trends of key indicators of ecological health and ecosystem services. The project is linking with nine other relevant MTSRF projects in the Rainforest & Catchments theme, and monitoring and evaluation projects in other MTSRF themes, with particular reference to the Torres Strait (Project 1.3.5) and Great Barrier Reef (Project 1.1.2). In addition, parallel projects not funded by MTSRF will continue to feed into the social and community-based facets of the project, including projects investigating Indigenous knowledge and approaches to monitoring biodiversity and human well-being.