Status of near-shore reefs of the Great Barrier Reef 2003-04 (C1.14)

Task leader: Dr Hugh Sweatman, Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Task associate: NA.

There is general agreement that near-shore reefs are most at risk from the consequences of changing land use in adjacent catchments and the condition of these reefs are a major regional environmental issue. Such debates are hampered by a lack of detailed information on past condition and how this has changed. This project would provide a detailed quantitative “snapshot” of the current status of near-shore reefs over much of the GBR coast and integrate the current status with a collation of information on past condition. This will form the basis for assessing the effectiveness of measures to protect and restore near shore reefs.

This project will have a two-pronged approach:

• It will provide a quantitative “snapshot” assessment of the condition of a large number of near-shore reefs at one time. As well as measures of abundance, levels of biodiversity of salient groups, population dynamics of corals as shown by size-frequency of colonies and the presence of recruits of coral and fish, the extent of bioerosion of live corals and occurrence of coral diseases could be assessed.

• While systematic monitoring of near-shore reefs has been limited, a number of studies in the last 20 years have collected information that is relevant to reef status. Many of these are in “grey” literature: consultants reports, EIS, etc. These would be traced and analysed for potential comparisons with the current condition of the same reef sites.