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The number and distribution of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) on the
Great Barrier Reef is monitored in two ways:
-
Fine scale surveys (FSS)
- Manta tow surveys
Fine-scale surveys have been done by Udo Engelhardt
and co-workers since 1998-99 (see CRC Reef Technical
Reports 30 and 32). These surveys concentrate on 19 mid-shelf reefs
in the Cairns and Central Section of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
The most recent fine-scale surveys were done in 2000-01 and are published
as CRC Reef Technical Report No. 45.
Manta tows are done as part of the Long-Term
Monitoring (LTM) Program conducted by the Australian Institute of
Marine Science (AIMS) and suported by CRC Reef. These manta tow surveys
have been done since 1986 on mid-shelf and outer-shelf reefs in 11 sectors
of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. These surveys are done annually.
Because there were concerns about perceived differences between the results
of Fine-Scale Surveys (FSS) and manta tow surveys of COTS, an analysis
of the differences between these two methods was done. The analysis was
done by Glenn De’ath of AIMS and CRC Reef, and is published as CRC
Reef Technical Report No. 47.
The comparison of the two methods shows that both techniques show a similar
progression of the outbreak and rate of southerly drift of the outbreak.
The fine-scale surveys are best for answering questions about densities
of COTS on a small-scale while manta tows are better for a broadscale
picture of changes across the Great Barrier Reef.
CRC Reef Technical Reports 45 and 47 are published here together.
45. Fine-scale surveys of crown-of-throsn starfish Acanthaster
planci in the Cairns Section of the Great Barrier Reef MArine park.
Status report 2000-01. (Adobe
Acrobat file - 3.22MB)
47. Analyses of crown-of-thorns starfish data from the
fine-scale surveys and the long-term monitoring program manta tow surveys.
(Adobe Acrobat File - 484k)
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