Recent datasets

Government (e.g. Major Integrated Projects, MIPs) and private investors (e.g. Kilter Rural Group, WWF, and Greening Australia) are increasingly interested in nitrogen reduction projects, particularly via conversion of land to wetlands. Investing in such projects requires understanding the environmental benefits to be accrued and cost-effectiveness. The best way to provide these data is to evaluate already constructed land-wetland conversion sites that resemble what future projects might look like.

This project aims to develop methodologies for assessing cost-effectiveness and identifying key drivers of variation in cost-effectiveness in challenging data situations. It will use these methods to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of various completed programs aimed at reducing nitrogen runoff from cane production in Reef catchments. Additionally, the project will identify key barriers and enablers of engagement and lasting behavioral change within recent and current programs.

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.

In this project we will compile a database of gullies from across Queensland as a tool for communicating the diversity of gullies that exist in the landscape, but also the sommon elements from within this diversity, where they exist. Using this database we will develop a gully classification system to ensure that there is a common language used by researchers, land holders, land managers and practioners when identifying gullies for management intervention. This will also form the basis for subsequent automated gully mapping according to gully type.

This project seeks to understand how local, regional and global oceanographic and meteorological processes influence the severity and spatial variability of thermally driven coral bleaching for the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and Torres Strait. All available relevant environmental observations of the recent bleaching events will be gathered to be more easily discoverable to researchers and managers via a gateway/summary webpage.

The Great Barrier Reef is experiencing increased environmental stress which threatens its functioning. Yet a subset of species are often disproportionately important in maintaining a functioning ecosystem. This project harnesses Queensland’s breadth of reef expertise to deliver timely recommendations on what can be done to strengthen and protect key supportive species. Specifically we ask which species – or functional groups of species – drive processes that maintain a healthy reef.

The past two years have seen unprecedented coral bleaching on the GBR but the consequences on biodiversity and genetic diversity are not yet known. This project will address the following questions: 1) Has bleaching resulted in a loss of genetic diversity in three coral species? 2) Do surviving populations contain genetic signatures of adaptation to bleaching temperatures? 3) What is the prevalence of heat tolerant photo-symbionts within surviving corals and in the environmental pool?

70 selected reefs throughout the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) are sampled in the AIMS Long-term Monitoring Project (LTMP). Underwater visual census is used to survey reef fishes on fixed transects (3 sites per reef, 5 x 50 m transects per site). The abundance and length of all diurnally active, non-cryptic fishes are recorded. A full list of species observed each year can be obtained on request. The overarching goal of LTMP fish surveys are to detect changes in reef fish communities over time at a regional scale, but also to examine the effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas.

A later version of this dataset exists published 2019-01-18, accessible through the data links on this page. This dataset contains records of sting events and specimen samples of jellyfish (Irukandji) along the north Queensland coast from December 1998 to March 2017. This dataset contains an extract (265 records in CSV format) of the publicly available data contained in the Venomous Jellyfish Database. The full database contains approximately 3000 sting events from around Australia and includes records from sources that have not yet been cleared for release.

Towed Video surveys down to a depth of ~50 m was completed successfully at the following shoals (Baracuda East, Goeree Shoal, Vulcan Shoal). Sampling involved habitat classification conducted in real-time during the surveys, and taking photographic still image at 5s intervals for subsequent analysis as the cameras were towed across the shoals at a speed of 1-2 knots. This project is a co-investment between PTTEPAA and AIMS, in order to build scientific knowledge on a number of shoal features in the area near Montara and was undertaken between 19/9/2016 - 24/9/2016.

Towed Video surveys down to a depth of ~50 m was completed successfully all at the following 9 banks and shoals (Baracuda East and West Shoals, Sheldon Shoal, Wave Governor Bank, Heywood Shoal, Echuca Shoal, Goeree Shoal, Eugene McDermott Shoal, Vulcan Shoal). Sampling involved habitat classification conducted in real-time during the surveys, and taking photographic still image at 10 s intervals for subsequent analysis as the cameras were towed across the shoals at a speed of 1-2 knots.

Towed Video surveys down to a depth of ~50 m was completed successfully at the following shoals (Baracuda East, Goeree Shoal, Vulcan Shoal). Sampling involved habitat classification conducted in real-time during the surveys, and taking photographic still image at 5s intervals for subsequent analysis as the cameras were towed across the shoals at a speed of 1-2 knots. This project is a co-investment between PTTEPAA and AIMS, in order to build scientific knowledge on a number of shoal features in the area near Montara and was undertaken between 15 - 24 April 2013.

A total of 365 towed video transects were completed in the 2006/2007 surveys. The sampling has identified a vast array of habitats and will be used for broad scale mapping of benthic communities in the marine park, however further transect tows will be conducted in 2008 in areas of special interest, where sampling is considered limited and where ground-truthing is required. Towed video sampling effort was concentrated around Mandu, Osprey, Yardie, Winderabandi and Point Cloates in 2006.

Stereo Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (BRUVS) were successfully deployed and retrieved at each of the 3 shoals (Baracuda East , Goeree Shoal, Vulcan Shoal). Deployments were restricted to 250 m. In general 24 stereo BRUVS were deployed at each shoal. This project is a co-investment between PTTEPAA and AIMS, in order to build scientific knowledge on a number of shoal features in the area near Montara and was undertaken between 19/9/16 - 24/9/16.

Owner

Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)

Publisher

Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)

This metadata record describes salinity and temperature time-series data collected through in situ monitoring by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Monitoring Program for Inshore Water Quality (MMP WQ). A full description of the MMP WQ and its associated datasets can be found in the parent metadata record linked above. Continuous in situ salinity and temperature were measured using Sea-Bird Electronics SBE 37-SM conductivity and temperature sensors. The MMP WQ currently has instruments deployed at 9 sites summarised by Natural Resource Management (NRM) region below.

This metadata is deprecated by: Lawrey, E., Smith, A., Hammerton, M., & Lafond, G. (2020). eReefs Hydrodynamic model regridded temporal aggregation data service - monthly, annual (AIMS, source: CSIRO) (Version 1) [Data set]. eAtlas.

Stereo Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (BRUVS) were deployed and retrieved across two shoals of regional interest, Evans and Tassie Shoals, two of the closest shoals to the Barossa field. The allocation of deployment positions across each shoal was conducted using a regular/random design within the bounds of the 60 m depth contour whilst maintaining a minimum distance of 250 m between each stereo-BRUVS unit. Once the positions were derived, the sequence of deployments, in sets of eight replicate units, was determined by proximity and prevailing sea conditions on the day.

Towed video surveys were carried out across five principle locations of regional interest, including Evans, Tassie and Blackwood Shoals, the closest shoals to the Barossa field, as well as two mid-shelf seabed locations adjacent to Goodrich Bank and Cape Helvetius. In total, 113 towed video transects and 2246 downward facing digital still images were collected at depths of between 11 and 100 metres.