This Project focuses on coral reef ecosystems and tropical fisheries, which are major resources for industry as well as sources of conservation values. Ecologically sustainable development of these resources requires that management and use is compatible with the attributes of the exploited resources. This requires crucial knowledge about the natural variability of marine ecosystems and the dynamics of living marine resources in time and space. It also requires knowledge about the demography of exploited stocks, especially their natural turnover and rates of replenishment. Finally, it requires that high quality scientific knowledge on these fundamental matters is fully integrated into policy and management practices.

• Program 1 Objective 6 To understand marine biodiversity and biological processes in Australia's oceans
• Program 1 Objective 7 To understand the dynamics of Australia's marine habitats and ecosystems
• Program 2 Objective 1 To ensure the maintenance of healthy and properly functioning ecosystems, through the development and application of effective monitoring and assessment procedures and sustainable management practices
• Program 2 Objective 2 To improve understanding of the impact of land-based human activities on the marine environment
• Program 2 Objective 3 To provide the scientific basis for the planning and implementation of sustainable multiple use practices in our marine environment
• Program 2 Objective 4 To apply knowledge of the ocean's variability and change, including interaction with the atmosphere and sediments, to the management of marine and terrestrial industries and environmental issues

• Program 2 Objective 6 To improve understanding of the relationship between fished stocks and the ecosystems that support them
• Program 2 Objective 12 To support ecologically sustainable coastal and marine tourism and recreation
• Program 3 Objective 3 To implement systematic, coordinated and long-term marine observational programs

• Resource surveys. This project provides baseline and repeat surveys for a range of subtidal habitats with an emphasis on the shallow water coral and fish communities of northern Australia. Remote techniques are being developed for deeper habitats.
• Monitoring of population dynamics. A lot of effort is directed into monitoring the health of coral reefs in the GBRWHA and Indian Ocean; including development of new protocols and analytical tools for monitoring. Recruitment of corals and fish is monitored to estimate population resilience. Fundamental knowledge of population dynamics is extracted from the interpretation of fish otoliths and modelling.
• Synthesis and transfer of results. Long-term monitoring of coral reefs in the GBRWHA is reported to a wide variety of users through reports, fliers, broadcast and print media, an interactive Internet site and CD-ROM products. More effort will be placed into tools, mechanisms, and products designed for the professional user of information.

• To produce timely databases, reports and papers describing and interpreting status and trends in coral reef health on the Great Barrier Reef
• To understand how and why populations of tropical fishes vary in space and time, and whether there are any fundamental differences between the Great Barrier Reef and north Western Australia
• To provide stronger decision support to managers of tropical marine living resources, through the provision of expert advice in a relevant format and context

Key clients and stakeholders
CALM, CRC (GBRWHA), EA, GBRMPA, GCRMN, ICRI, QFS, QPWS, QSIA, Fisheries WA, UNEP, fishing industry representative bodies, marine parks managers, public

Funding base (2000-01 figures)
$2,050,076 (Appropriations)
$633,701 (External contracts at 1 July 2000)

Contact
Dr Terry Done
Ph: (07) 4753 4344. 
Fax: (07) 4772 5852. 
Email: t.done@aims.gov.au

The World Heritage status of the Great Barrier Reef places a responsibility upon Australia to monitor the health of the system and to use its resources wisely. This Subproject includes several large-scale and long-term programs of monitoring reef condition and/or resource abundance. The greatest commitment is AIMS Long-term Monitoring Project (LTMP), which monitors permanent video and visual transects at approximately 50 reefs annually and surveys the perimeters of a further 100 reefs with divers towed on manta sleds. The information collected by the LTMP consists of standardised measurements that can be analysed rapidly and assimilated into large databases, which are updated constantly and made available to a wide range of users through innovative reporting products.

Reefs located near the Queensland mainland are most exposed to the influence of land-based threats (freshwater, excess nutrients, sediments and contaminants), but have received less attention in the past. The Subproject recognises the need for more focus on these inshore reefs and will explore ways to enlarge this sampling without detriment to the established sampling design.

• To produce a series of databases, reports and papers describing patterns and trends in coral reef health on the Great Barrier Reef over the last one or two decades
• To provide more informative assessments of the changes observed based on an understanding of demographic processes
• To report on the nature, condition and trends in nearshore reefs of the GBR and to respond to the need for monitoring information from inshore reefs

• Inform the public debate on a variety of issues (crown-of-thorns starfish, reef health) by timely reporting of monitoring data and dissemination in appropriate formats
• Inform natural resource managers of the status and trends of GBR ecosystems by regular publications and customised reports
• Provide early warning of change and a long-term perspective on natural changes in order to have the best chance of detecting anthropogenic pressures in a timely manner

Key clients and stakeholders
CRC (GBRWHA), GBRMPA, general public

Research team
Alastair Cheal, Greg Coleman, Steve Delean, Terry Done, Ben Fitzpatrick, Ian Miller, Rachelle Ninio, Kate Osborne, Cathie Page, Hugh Sweatman, Angus Thompson, Mary Wakeford

Contact
Dr Hugh Sweatman
Ph: (07) 4753 4470. 
Fax: (07) 4772 5852. 
Email: h.sweatman@aims.gov.au

Fishes of coral reefs and other tropical habitats are major resources for ecotourism and fishing industries (commercial and recreational). As with all exploited stocks, there is a need for basic life history information and knowledge of species interactions to ensure that harvest rates are ecologically sustainable. This Subproject contains a series of tasks that aim to provide this information with an emphasis on the abundance and dynamics of tropical marine fish populations and the structure and dynamics of multispecies assemblages.

• To characterise the demographic traits of tropical fish populations from different habitats and taxonomic groups from a wide range of locations across northern Australia
• To monitor long-term change in tropical fish populations and to understand the role of variable replenishment in these changes
• To understand the interaction between maternal provisioning and environmental factors on the survival of larval fishes and hence the replenishment of adult stocks
• To develop new tools and techniques for research into fish populations

• Improved basis for sustainable harvests and the conservation of unexploited fishes
• Improved knowledge of natural variability in fish populations
• New and/or improved tools (video systems, taxonomic guides) to enhance the research capacity of fish biologists

Key clients and stakeholders
CALM, Fisheries WA, GBRMPA, QFS, QSIA, fishing industry representative bodies

Research team
Vicki Bates, Mike Cappo, John Carleton, Peter Doherty, Andrew Halford, Mark Meekan, Peter Speare, Laurent Vigliola (PDF), David Williams

Contact
Dr Mark Meekan
Ph: (08) 9183 1122. 
Fax: (08) 9183 1085. 
Email: m.meekan@aims.gov.au

This sub-project addresses a need for researchers to be able to inject their understanding of geography, physical processes, ecology and resources into the decision making processes used by policy makers and resource managers. This transfer is often done most effectively when complex data sets can be expressed as maps or models that allow the consequences of alternative scenarios to be compared with the status quo.

The range of issues is varied and endless (MPAs, fishing, pollution, catchments, climate change, etc.) but the tools can be classified into a few generic categories: data visualisations, scenario models, and risk analyses. The Subproject seeks to develop appropriate tools and to apply them to issues of current concern in the GBRWHA and similar environments elsewhere. These activities will be integrated with Program D (Information Systems and Synthesis) of the CRC (GBRWHA), especially D2.1 "Spatial decision support" and D2.2 "Working groups and synthesis".

• To improve and/or develop new tools for the visualisation of complex data sets, scenario modelling, and risk assessments
• To apply these tools in support of natural resource management in the GBRWHA and similar ecosystems elsewhere

• Increased capacity to conserve biodiversity and manage resources on coral reefs in the GBRWHA and other significant coral reef ecosystems
• Greater acceptance by natural resource managers of the value of appropriate scientific knowledge in their decision-making processes

Key clients and stakeholders
CRC (GBRWHA), EA, GBRMPA, GCRMN, ICRI

Research team
Terry Done, John Guinotte (PGS), spatial analyst (vacant), Mary Wakeford

Contact
Dr Terry Done (Acting)
Ph: (07) 4753 4344. 
Fax: (07) 4772 5852. 
Email: t.done@aims.gov.au