This atlas of 186 PDF maps shows the Habitat quality of the urbanized and agricultural regions of Mission Beach, Queensland based on aerial photography taken 6 months after cyclone Larry.
The need to develop a comprehensive understanding of the role that protected areas play in the lives of communities is as important as developing a greater understanding of the scientific aspects of protected areas. The aim here was to monitor the attitudes, perceptions, knowledge and use of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area (WTWHA) by residents of the Wet Tropics bioregion. The research builds on previous community attitude surveys that have been undertaken for the Wet Tropics Management Authority (WTMA).
Middle Reef has been exposed to frequent disturbances since surveys began in 1993. Coral cover and coral diversity has been remarkably resilient to high temperatures, freshwater and high sediment loads. Middle Reef is more resilient to bleaching than other reefs around Magnetic Island and the corals are adapted to warm average temperatures. Sediments have high levels of organic carbon and nitrogen. Wave damage from cyclones is a minor threat. However rainfall associated with cyclones or summer low pressure systems can result in exposure to low salinities and long periods of turbidity. Recent outbreaks of atrematous necrosis on Magnetic Island suggest coral disease could be a new risk to Middle Reef. Assessments of the status of Middle Reef in 2010 were postitive (Thompson et al, 2010), based on observed levels of community attributes against estimates of expected change derived from a coral growth model (Thompson and Dolman 2010).
This study forms part of MTSRF Project 2.5i.2c and examines variations in coding regions (genes) of coral DNA and their relative frequency as distributed along a thermal gradient on the Great Barrier Reef. The genes were also investigated for their known or possible roles as an indicator of environmental stress, with particular emphasis on measuring thermal tolerance.
Researchers from the Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change at James Cook University (funded by the Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility), are working to identify climate refugia that could promote adaptation to climate change in rainforest species of Australia’s Wet Tropics. Major priorities are to identify existing refugia not currently included in the protected area network, along with sites where land degradation could potentially be reversed to strengthen refugia.
