18/07/2005 - Research
projects aimed at protecting the Great Barrier
Reef and Wet Tropics World Heritage Area received
a boost with the announcement of $2.5 million
in funding by the Minister for the Environment
and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell.
This is the first tranche of funding to be
provided to support a new Marine and Tropical
Sciences Research Facility in North Queensland.
The Australian Government will provide $40
million over the next five years for the new
facility as part of its new $100 million Commonwealth
Environment Research Facilities (CERF) programme.
"The Australian Government’s commitment
to these projects supports research into significant
environmental challenges facing Australia,"
Senator Campbell said.
"It also represents the first step in
a new phase of funding that will continue
the work that has been undertaken in past
years by the Cooperative Research Centres
(CRCs) for the Great Barrier Reef and for
Tropical Rainforest Ecology and Management."
The $2.5 million in funding will support
a diversity of research including: assessment
of dugong populations along the urban coast
of the Great Barrier Reef using aerial surveys;
measurement and modelling of the requirements
of rainforest species and vegetation communities
to examine the likely effect of changes in
climate on their distributions; and completion
of a large-scale, internationally innovative
experiment measuring the effects of line fishing
on the Great Barrier Reef. A full list of
research projects is attached.
"These first projects, developed together
with the CRCs, consolidate the excellent work
done todate, and will help to ensure Australia
retains its world-class capacity for targeted
environmental research," Senator Campbell
said.
The Marine and Tropical Sciences Research
Facility will form part of the new Tropical
Sciences and Innovation Precinct in North
Queensland, forming a hub of marine and tropical
sciences research in northern Australia.
An investment strategy for the MTSRF will
be developed during 2005-06 to ensure that
research funding for the next four years of
the facility goes to the highest priority
environmental research for the Great Barrier
Reef and tropical rainforests in North Queensland.
Attached is a summary of transitional research
projects for the marine and tropical science
research facility.
Further information about the Commonwealth
Environment Research Facilities (CERF) programme
is available online at www.deh.gov.au/programs/cerf
Transitional research projects for the marine
and tropical science research facility
Completion of effects of line fishing experiment
in the Great Barrier Reef
Completing a large scale, internationally
innovative experiment using spatial and temporal
closures to measure the impacts of fishing,
including investigating the biodiversity and
demographics of key target fish communities,
measuring the rates at which fish stocks rebuild
and examining the effectiveness of fishing
closures in meeting conservation and fishery
production objectives.
Assessment of dugong populations in the Great
Barrier Reef region
Conducting a 5-yearly assessment of the dugong
population using aerial survey along the urban
coast of the Great Barrier Reef. The study
will provide a robust estimate of the population,
the sustainable level of anthropogenic harvest,
and provide valuable input into the establishment
and review of a range of management measures
for dugong conservation.
Australia’s endemic dolphins in the Great
Barrier Reef world heritage area
Continuing work to model the characteristics
and mapping critical habitat for the endemic
Irrawaddy dolphin and Indo-Pacific humpback
dolphin, measuring the level of connection
between isolated populations, and measuring
the risks to each species.
Supporting monitoring the health of Great
Barrier Reef ecosystems
Continuing to support scientists and the community
to monitor the health of iconic Great Barrier
Reef habitats (intertidal seagrass and coral
reefs) to detect and measure human-induced
environmental impacts (overfishing, aquatic
pollution, climate change) on the Great Barrier
Reef with the maximum lead time and certainty
to allow time for government and communities
to decide on appropriate responses.
Nearshore marine habitat and fisheries assessment
Completing work to investigate the links between
near shore fisheries and habitats in river
catchments and estuaries, and assessing the
status of coastal marine habitats, to underpin
risk assessments for catchment uses, and for
coastal developments and activities, to improve
their sustainability.
Maintaining expertise in tropical marine
pest assessment and management
Continuing to develop marine pest assessment,
monitoring and management strategies and the
maintenance of a network of scientific expertise
in marine pests for north Queensland to support
rapid and integrated responses across agencies
and jurisdictions.
Monitoring the effect of the new Great Barrier
Reef Marine Park zoning plan
Establishing the baseline for studying the
biological effect on coral reefs, developing
a sampling design to assess the biological
effects on inter-reefal habitats, and establishing
the best social and economic variables to
predict and monitor the effects of rezoning.
Modelling framework for research on impacts
of nutrients on coral reefs
New work to model the impacts of coral bleaching,
and other sources of coral death, on nutrient
dynamics and coral reef ecosystem function
to enable exploration of implications for
a range of biophysical parameters and provide
input to development of research and management
priorities.
Rainforest canopies: where the biosphere
meets the atmosphere
Completing a suite of research projects focussing
on the tropical rainforest canopy to examine
ecological and climatic drivers of insect
diversity. The research will include investigating
the role of insects and floral biology relating
to canopy pollination in fragmented landscapes,
and measuring rainforest carbon fluxes to
understand the variation in ability of local
rainforests to fix carbon in different seasons.
Impacts of climate change on rainforest ecosystems
and biodiversity
Continuing to measure the climate and biophysical
requirements of rainforest vegetation communities,
and using these to model the effect of climate
changes on distributions of rainforest plant
species and communities.
Impacts of climate change on Australia’s
rainforest marsupial folivores
Continuing to measure the factors influencing
distribution of rainforest possum species
and modelling their distribution to predict
the effects of climate change on the distributions
of species of possum and other marsupial folivores,
many of which have limited geographical ranges
and special habitat requirements.
Emerging diseases of amphibians in the wet
tropics
New work to investigate new diseases affecting
native frogs in the wet tropics region, particularly
wasting syndromes affecting tree frogs, to
understand their origin and effects on native
frog populations.
Modelling and evaluating the effects of strategies
for rainforest management
Completing work to build simulation models
incorporating rainforest ecological processes
and patterns and information on social activities
and economic outcomes. These will enable agencies
and communities to explore the likely outcomes
of the options available for rainforest management,
and will assist in optimising future research
efforts by identifying the most crucial gaps
in knowledge.
Identifying and mapping Indigenous Cultural
Values of the Wet Tropics
Developing an overarching theoretical framework
and methods to identify how the wet tropics
are unique culturally, how cultural values
in the area relate to similar environments
around the world, and provide guidance on
how cultural values should be identified,
evaluated, protected and monitored. This will
underpin work to identify and evaluate indigenous
cultural values locally, assisting traditional
owner groups to develop country-based management
plans in a broader context.
Biodiversity values and landscape context
in reforestation
Completing work to measure the effectiveness
of different reforestation strategies in sustaining
and restoring local terrestrial biodiversity
and ecological process, including accounting
for the effect of existing biological and
physical attributes of the reforestation site.
This will guide development and use of reforestation
and restoration techniques in the wet tropics,
and also enable the success of various options
to be predicted and measured.
Sustainable roads, powerlines and walking
tracks in the Wet tropics
Completing work to understand and measure
the impacts of linear infrastructure on the
biophysical attributes of different vegetation
types and faunal groups of the wet tropics
to enable development of best practice guides
for construction and maintenance. The impacts
include fragmentation, barriers to movement,
weed and pest intrusion, road mortality, disturbance,
heavy metal contamination and pollution, and
erosion.
Seed dispersal: a threatened ecological process
Completing work to combine information about
rainforest seed dispersal processes into simulation
models to enable agencies and communities
to explore and predict the consequences of
changes in species abundance, and of management
actions, for the composition, structure and
ultimately distribution of rainforest vegetation
types.
Sustainable practices in rainforest tourism
and recreation
Completing work to measure the experiences,
behaviour, and environmental impacts of visitors
and recreational users in the wet tropics
world heritage area, particularly their responses
to the layout and design of settings and infrastructure
for visitors and in presentation and dissemination
of information.
Water regulation as an ecosystem service
in Queensland’s wet tropics
Completing work to understand and measure
the role of rainforests in regulating water
flows from catchments, and to understand the
dependence of these rainforests on local hydrological
regimes. This will assist to document the
water services provided by rainforests; evaluate
the consequences of land use and climate change
on catchment water yields; identify possible
implications of changes in regional and local
hydrology on the long-term survival and conservation
prospects for rainforest vegetation types;
and understand the role of floodplain forests
of the coastal lowland in filtering and regulating
water quality before it reaches the Great
Barrier Reef lagoon.
