Review of monitoring activities in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area

CRC Reef Research Centre and its partner organisations, particularly the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), has compiled information about monitoring programs, so that we could analyse information needs and data gaps, and better integrate future monitoring to optimise the use of limited resources. This review includes only programs that are likely to be ongoing or have been conducted for a period of at least two years in the past.

The monitoring programs are grouped into seven categories

• Water Quality (for example: nutrients, toxic chemicals, water turbidity and chlorophyll)
• Marine wildlife (for example: turtles, dugongs, whales, dolphins, sharks and seabirds)
• Fish and fisheries
• Marine invertebrates (for example: corals, crown-of-thorns-starfish and jellyfish)
• Marine plants (for example: algae, seagrass and mangroves)
• Physical environment (for example: sea level, water temperature, coastal erosion and wind speed)
• Socio-economic information (for example data on tourism, media perceptions and social assessment of commercial fishers)

For each monitoring program, the type and location of the data collected and other information was incorporated into a database, which can be accessed through this website. Search options let you create webmaps that show the location of the requested monitoring program. Further links let you obtain detailed reports on specific monitoring programs, including the objectives of the monitoring program, the methods used and further reading.

Click Here to explore the monitoring database.

Availability of the monitoring data or of more detailed information is extremely variable. Some programs, such as the AIMS Long-Term Monitoring Program, publish regular summaries, as well as web updates within a few weeks of return from monitoring cruises. Other projects, such as those supported by CRC Reef and GBRMPA, produce annual reports and occasional publications, e.g. technical reports and publications in scientific journals. CRC Reef technical reports are available on the CRC Reef website . Publication lists are provided for individual monitoring programs. In some instances, monitoring data may be available from the monitoring agency, although they may not be formally published. Further enquiries about individual monitoring programs should be directed to the organisations conducting the monitoring.