Recent datasets

The eAtlas is a free public website (http://eatlas.org.au) that brings together environmental research data and knowledge from multiple organizations and research programs into one place. It ensures that research data is discoverable, well documented, accessible and reusable now and into the future. In goal of this project was for the eAtlas team to work with National Environmental Science Program Tropical Water Quality (NESP TWQ) hub researchers to: - Assist and support them with data management.

The CoTS IPM program designed an ecologically informed control program that integrates knowledge of the spatial and temporal dynamics of CoTS outbreaks and the operations of onwater control to provide: 1. the most efficient strategies for investing management effort at all scales of management; 2. an operational framework for the control program, and, iii) to identify and fill key research gaps.

Recent research has shown that only a portion of the fine sediment fraction delivered from rivers draining into the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon (GBRL) reaches coral reefs and seagrass meadows. The specific sources of this sediment, which affects the health of corals and seagrasses, are as yet unresolved. This project, for the first time, characterised and traced the origin(s), fate and nutrient bioavailability of this environmentally detrimental sediment using samples collected in flood plumes and during resuspension events.

The sugar industry occupies 350,000ha in Reef catchments, applies >55,000t of nitrogen (N) fertilizer annually and is a major contributor of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) to Great Barrier Reef receiving waters. There are many potential mechanisms for reducing on-farm Nusage. However, the comprehensive review of N use in sugarcane (SRA/DoE 2014) identified widespread over-use of N fertilizer and recommended adopting production zone yield potential (PZYP) combined with enhanced efficiency fertilizers (EEFs) to reduce ’surplus N’ (where applied N>crop requirements).

Runoff from the Fly River in Papua New Guinea (PNG) influences water quality conditions in the Torres Strait region. Recent work (NESP Project 2.2.1 and 2.2.2) has clearly demonstrated that this influence is largely constrained to the northern Torres Strait, as far east as Bramble Cay and at least as far west as Boigu Island. The southern extent of influence is considered to be limited to within 40-50km of the PNG coast in the western areas, and around 80km in the eastern areas. The intensity of this influence, and the potential ecological impacts, are still not well understood.

The Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan and Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan 2017-2022 have set ambitious targets for Great Barrier Reef (GBR) water quality improvement. Indeed, Water Quality Improvement Plans (WQIP) for most NRMs in the Great Barrier Reef catchments recognise that complete adoption of sugar cane best management practices will still not be sufficient to achieve the nitrogen load reductions required to meet the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) Water Quality Guidelines.

Understanding cumulative impacts from multiple stressors will be critical for successful management of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) under the Reef2050 Plan. This project produced experimental analyses of concentration-response relationships for selected species under broad, controlled envelopes of local stressors at different climate scenarios. Results informed assessments of ecological risks, and management opportunities for a range of activities in the coastal zone and on the GBR.

This research project responded to the urgent need of understanding how ecological changes affect the aesthetic value and the user experience of the Great Barrier Reef, and how these are measured and monitored in a cost-effective way. The research capitalised on two major trends, namely peoples’ ability and willingness to share large amounts of information through various online platforms, and rapid development in computing technology to store, process and interpret these data.

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There is significant Government investment in water quality improvement focused on reducing gully erosion (~$50M), however, there is limited measured data to demonstrate the effectiveness of the remediation approaches. This project is collected land condition, terrain and water quality data from five gully remediation trial sites in the Burdekin catchment. The data demonstrated whether the on-ground investment programs are actually improving measured water quality, and quantified the cost-effectiveness of the various approaches.

This dataset contains records of sting events and specimen samples of jellyfish (Irukanji, Halo irukanji, Box jellyfish and Morbakka) from the Venomous Jellyfish Database. This dataset contains an extract of 1081 sting events (in CSV format) from along the north Queensland coast between December 1883 to March 2017. The full database contains approximately 3000 sting events from around Australia and includes records from sources that have not yet been cleared for release.

This dataset contains data from experiments testing the survival of fertilised Acropora millepora gametes before and after settlement in different climate and sediment treatment conditions. One datafile shows the development and survival until competency for settlement, which has been tested at the National Sea Simulator. A second file demonstrates the settlement success after development in these treatments. Successful recruitment is crucial for the survival and repopulation of coral reefs.

This dataset consists of two data files (spreadsheets) from a 15 days experiment simulating the combined effects of climate change (manipulated temperature and pCO2 from present days and predicted for 2050 and 2100) and diuron contamination. Photosynthetic parameters were used to evaluate the physiological responses of Halimeda opuntia. Endpoints related to photosynthesis have high ecological relevance, once this physiological process is pivotal for algae health and survival.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the herbicide diuron and climate change on the Photosystem II activity of the seagrass Halophila ovalis. The 3 climate conditions were: ambient (28.5 °C, 398 µatm), 2050 (29.5 °C, 682 µatm) and 2100 (30.5 °C, 873 µatm). This dataset consists of one data file (spreadsheet) from a 2-week experiment, containing 5 diuron concentrations and 3 climate change scenarios. Each tab contains photosynthetic yield data at each time point: 0 d, 2 d, 7 d and 14 d under each of the diuron and climate change treatments.

The dataset represents the code base developed for the generation of water quality metrics from various data sources (eReefs Biogeochemical models, MODIS Satellite imaging and AIMS in situ sampling). The water quality metric used underpinning previous Report Cards (until 2015) presented a number of significant shortcomings: - It was solely based on remote sensing-derived data.

This dataset summarises benthic surveys of seagrass for Dugong and Turtle habitats at Orman Reefs, Torres Strait. The site data describes seagrass coverage estimations at 279 intertidal sites; while the meadow data groups sites into six (6) individual meadows. Data captured includes information on visual estimates for seagrass species, substrate, biomass, diversity, percent cover for benthic macro-invertebrates and algae.

This dataset corresponds to the zoning of Commonwealth Marine Parks managed by Parks Australia. This metadata is a non-authoritative extract maintained for the eAtlas. See links for the original and full metadata. Consistent with the Australian Government's commitment to develop a National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas, networks of marine parks have been proclaimed for Commonwealth waters across the North, North-west, South-west, Temperate East and Coral Sea Marine Regions.

Landholder concerns surrounding the credibility of broad-scale water quality monitoring and modelling initiatives in the GBR catchment area is emerging as one of the key cane industry engagement challenges for promoting significant farming practice change, and delivering water quality improvements. Based around small, sub-catchment scale water quality monitoring in a key cane growing region of the GBR catchment, Project 25 utilises a bottom-up approach to integrated sub-catchment monitoring and intervention to identify ‘hot spot’ sub-catchments through localised water quality monitoring.

As coral cover in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) continues to degrade, pressure is growing for direct interventions to assist the recovery of corals at important sites. A range of coral restoration and assisted recovery techniques have been trialled overseas and in Australia, however there has not been an evaluation of what will work best in GBR conditions. This project will: - Summarise and evaluate the success of coral restoration and assisted recovery techniques worldwide and identify the techniques most likely to help the GBR. - Experimentally test the most promising techniques.

Organic carbon has traditionally been poorly studied in marine systems, but recent studies suggest that GBR microalgae can utilise organic matter, and that eroded soil carbon parameters can ameliorate marine algal responses to catchment nutrients. This suggests that organic carbon may play a more important role in marine ecosystems than previously thought. Additionally, GBR organic carbon concentrations are increasing, but the mechanisms are unclear.

Reefs vary in their risk of damage, recoverability, and responsiveness to management. Deciding where to prioritise action to maximise reef health is complex. This project delivers a guidance system to implement Resilience-Based Management and demonstrates its application in the Whitsunday and Cairns regions. The guidance system will constitute a desktop software that enables users to prioritise which reefs to manage, and potentially restore, in order to maximise ecological and socio-economic outcomes.