PROJECT 1.1: INPUTS AND IMPACTS
(Dr M Furnas, AIMS)
CRC-funded support for the AIMS-based Biological Oceanography project
(Task 1.1.1) allowed much progress in the consolidation of previously
fragmented data sets of water-quality parameters dating back to 1983,
and from various locations in the GBR, into a single, geographically referenced
data-base of 2100+ stations. As well as providing baseline data against
which future water-quality trends can be measured, the data-set includes
the results of studies which suggest first, that rivers and deep ocean
upwelling contribute approximately equally to the nutrient loadings in
GBR waters, and second, that nitrogen fixed by the planktonic blue-green
algae Trichodesmium is a major but poorly quantified source of nutrients
compared to both rivers and deep ocean.
AIMS Long-Term Monitoring Program (Task 1.1.2) produced its first
major report on the baseline status of corals, fish and water quality
at approximately 50 reefs, and corals and Crown-of-thorns starfish at 100 reefs.
The Centre budgeted for a biostatistician to assist in this task, but
a suitable candidate has not been found. Cyclones are a natural impact
which need recognition if human-induced changes are to be put into proper
context. In a CRC-supported desk study (Task 1.1.3), the meteorological
record of cyclones over the last 30 - 40 years is being analysed to
hindcast the physical damage caused by cyclones to reef-coral
communities, and their subsequent recovery. The analyses are being undertaken
as a post-graduate project, and the results represented in the Geographic
Information System 'ARCINFO', which is supported by the Centre's partners.
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