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Internet surveys are becoming an increasing popular survey collection method because collection times are quicker and survey costs are lower than other collection techniques. Many studies have been conducted overseas to compare the effects of survey collection modes with results still remaining inconsistent. Fewer studies have compared collection methods for nonmarket valuation surveys, particularly for the more complex stated preference, choice modelling surveys. In this study, a comparison of internet and paper-based surveys is made to determine if the results for overseas studies can be replicated in Australia. The valuation exercise elicited values from Brisbane respondents for future improvements in the environmental condition of the Great Barrier Reef. The results indicate that there were some socio-demographic and attitudinal differences between the two samples and the models developed to explain the influence on choice selection were also significantly different. However, no differences in value estimates were found in the final results; household willingness-to-pay for an improvement in the condition of the GBR was equivalent across collection methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Crowdsourcing methods facilitate the production of scientific information by non‐experts. This form of citizen science (CS) is becoming a key source of complementary data in many fields to inform data‐driven decisions and study challenging problems. However, concerns about the validity of these data often constrain their utility. In this paper, we focus on the use of citizen science data in addressing complex challenges in environmental conservation. We consider this issue from three perspectives. First, we present a literature scan of papers that have employed Bayesian models with citizen science in ecology. Second, we compare several popular majority vote algorithms and introduce a Bayesian item response model that estimates and accounts for participants' abilities after adjusting for the difficulty of the images they have classified. The model also enables participants to be clustered into groups based on ability. Third, we apply the model in a case study involving the classification of corals from underwater images from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. We show that the model achieved superior results in general and, for difficult tasks, a weighted consensus method that uses only groups of experts and experienced participants produced better performance measures. Moreover, we found that participants learn as they have more classification opportunities, which substantially increases their abilities over time. Overall, the paper demonstrates the feasibility of CS for answering complex and challenging ecological questions when these data are appropriately analysed. This serves as motivation for future work to increase the efficacy and trustworthiness of this emerging source of data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corals are sessile invertebrates living underwater in colorful structures known as reefs. Unfortunately, coral's temperature sensitivity is causing color bleaching, which hosts organisms that are crucial and consequently affect marine pharmacognosy. To address this problem, many researchers are developing cures and treatment procedures to restore bleached corals. However, before the cure, the researchers need to precisely localize the bleached corals in the Great Barrier Reef. The researchers have developed various visual classification frameworks to localize bleached corals. However, the performance of those techniques degrades with variations in illumination, orientation, scale, and view angle. In this paper, we develop highly noise-robust and invariant robust localization using bag-of-hybrid visual features (RL-BoHVF) for bleached corals by employing the AlexNet DNN and ColorTexture handcrafted by raw features. It is observed that the overall dimension is reduced by using the bag-of-feature method while achieving a classification accuracy of 96.20% on the balanced dataset collected from the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. Furthermore, the localization performance of the proposed model was evaluated on 342 images, which include both train and test segments. The model achieved superior performance compared to other standalone and hybrid DNN and handcrafted models reported in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental damage has been of much concern, particularly in coastal areas and the oceans, given climate change and the drastic effects of pollution and extreme climate events. Our present-day analytical capabilities, along with advancements in information acquisition techniques such as remote sensing, can be utilised for the management and study of coral reef ecosystems. In this paper, we present Reef-Insight, an unsupervised machine learning framework that features advanced clustering methods and remote sensing for reef habitat mapping. Our framework compares different clustering methods for reef habitat mapping using remote sensing data. We evaluate four major clustering approaches based on qualitative and visual assessments which include k-means, hierarchical clustering, Gaussian mixture model, and density-based clustering. We utilise remote sensing data featuring the One Tree Island reef in Australia's Southern Great Barrier Reef. Our results indicate that clustering methods using remote sensing data can well identify benthic and geomorphic clusters in reefs when compared with other studies. Our results indicate that Reef-Insight can generate detailed reef habitat maps outlining distinct reef habitats and has the potential to enable further insights for reef restoration projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving coastal and shallow-water bathymetry is essential for understanding the marine environment and for coastal management. Bathymetric data in shallow sea areas can currently be obtained using SDB (satellite-derived bathymetry) with multispectral satellites based on depth inversion models. In situ bathymetric data are crucial for validating empirical models but are currently limited in remote and unapproachable areas. In this paper, instead of using the measured water depth data, ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2) ATL03 bathymetric points at different acquisition dates and multispectral imagery from Sentinel-2/GeoEye-1 were used to train and evaluate water depth inversion empirical models in two study regions: Shanhu Island in the South China Sea, and Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in Australia. However, different sediment types also influenced the SDB results. Therefore, three types of sediments (sand, reef, and coral/algae) were analyzed for Heron Island, and four types of sediments (sand, reef, rubble and coral/algae) were analyzed for Shanhu Island. The results show that accuracy generally improved when sediment classification information was considered in both study areas. For Heron Island, the sand sediments showed the best performance in both models compared to the other sediments, with mean R2 and RMSE values of 0.90 and 1.52 m, respectively, representing a 5.6% improvement of the latter metric. For Shanhu Island, the rubble sediments showed the best accuracy in both models, and the average R2 and RMSE values were 0.97 and 0.65 m, respectively, indicating an RMSE improvement of 15.5%. Finally, bathymetric maps were generated in two regions based on the sediment classification results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This timely collation of case studies, written by and with Traditional Owners of diverse Australian offshore islands, offers direct insights into benefits arising from strategic and participatory action planning for biocultural island conservation and monitoring. We pay respect to the Old People and Elders whose dedicated care of their island homelands means we today can still experience their cultural and natural diversity. We extend greetings to our Pacifika neighbours, and to carers of islands around Earth. Our paper scopes socio-economic benefits arising from planning for islands, for Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders, and more generally. Global, national, state and local co-investments support place-specific planning for some islands by Traditional Owners as a starting point toward shared governance and caring for Country. Case studies describe Country planning for Mayala Country in Australia's northwest, Woppaburra experiences within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and integrated biocultural health monitoring arising from remote island Indigenous Protected Area planning in Torres Strait. New institutional initiatives are also seeking to create solid foundations for more substantive island research collaborations. Across Australia, novel relationships grounded in culturally assured, holistically integrated approaches to island governance and caring for Country involving Traditional Owners and island resource users/managers are creating equity in livelihoods and stronger wellbeing. Australia's innovative Sea Country collaborations, with priorities initiated and led by island Traditional Owners, carry real value for sustained island conservation and provide positive inspirations for global humanity in the accelerating Anthropocene. Earth's islands face grave challenges. In Australia, innovation in island knowledge sharing between Traditional Owners and other island users and managers is moving beyond the participatory action planning space to generate equity in livelihoods and wellbeing on Sea Country. The tangible benefits arising are grounded in cultural governance and authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An obituary for the Great Barrier Reef (the Reef) by travel and food writer Rowan Jacobsen (2016) commemorated its 'lifetime accomplishments' in Outside, the US outdoor recreational magazine. 'News' of the Reef's demise went viral and the economic and political furore that followed was immense. Tourism industries, especially reliant on international arrivals, were impacted as potential visitors accepted the Reef's passing as fact. Politicians scampered to reassure Australians and the globe that the Reef was indeed still alive and beautiful. In the Australian public sphere, climate science deniers, alongside those advocating for climate action, collided over the impacts of global warming to Reef health. Subsequent mass coral bleaching events in 2016, 2017 and 2020 sustained at the very least, the idea that the Reef was, or was soon to be, dead. Our paper follows the idea of a 'dead Reef' in the context of historical and recent debates about Reef protection. Using Google Trends, we identify Jacobsen's article as the source of increased Australian and global ideation of a 'dead Reef'. As a site of local and global environmental communication – where human relations to nature are expressed and understood - the Reef holds extraordinary story telling power. At the current junction then, the way we communicate the Reef is critical to public understanding and political action on climate change. We conclude Jacobsen's article is an example of the problems of satirical communication, serving to amplify existing conflicts and undermine efforts to foster to climate action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• River plumes are a source of pollutants in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. • Plume dispersion is simulated using a coupled Lagrangian-Eulerian-ocean model. • Lagrangian particle density is computed from application of Voronoi diagrams. • Lagrangian particle densities and Eulerian tracer concentrations are comparable. • Lagrangian model is validated using satellite imagery and satellite Chlorophyll-a. In this paper, we describe methods to verify the adequacy and accuracy of Lagrangian particles from a Lagrangian model to reproduce the concentrations of a passive tracer from an Eulerian-model in river plumes. The modelling simulates plumes from two major rivers discharging in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, under real-world scenarios. The study has been a part of a major project to aid in the protection of the GBR system from the impacts of extreme events and climate change. We employ the Regional Ocean Modelling System (ROMS) activated with its built-in Lagrangian model, and forced with wind fields from global models and recorded river volume discharges. The ROMS-Lagrangian model tracks the Lagrangian particles using the spatially interpolated velocities computed on the Eulerian ROMS three-dimensional (3D) grid. The Lagrangian particles are released in the river in proportion to the measured river volume flux. We apply a novel technique that exploits Voronoi polygon areas to convert Lagrangian particle separation into a concentration field. This facilitates comparison with the passive tracer concentrations driven by the Eulerian velocities computed on the ROMS 3D grid. We evaluate the fate of Lagrangian particles activated on a 4-km grid resolution with those of equivalent Eulerian tracer concentrations. For validation, we compare the Lagrangian particles with the Eulerian passive tracer simulated using a higher model grid resolution of 500-m, and found that the computed Lagrangian particle concentrations showed similar overall patterns compared to the passive tracer concentrations from both the coarse 4-km, and high-resolution 500-m Eulerian models. The spatial extent of the particles was in better agreement with the coarse 4-km model than with the higher resolution 500-m model. The clustering of particles resulted in structures at finer scales than the Eulerian model, over the high particle density areas that compared well against observations. The Lagrangian particles are able to capture the general river plume patterns seen in the satellite MODIS images and the satellite derived Chlorophyll-a. We further compare the online ROMS model with an offline particle tracker, OceanPARCELS and determined the similarity of results from both online and offline methods. Overall, our study demonstrates the viability to use Lagrangian particles to reproduce the Eulerian tracer properties, which can be combined with particle properties include tracer age providing to enhance the guidance on the distribution and concentration of effluent from localised flooding river events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the mid-1990s, Australia's Commonwealth Science Industry and Research Organisation (CSIRO) has been developing a biogeochemical (BGC) model for coupling with a hydrodynamic and sediment model for application in estuaries, coastal waters and shelf seas. The suite of coupled models is referred to as the CSIRO Environmental Modelling Suite (EMS) and has been applied at tens of locations around the Australian continent. At a mature point in the BGC model's development, this paper presents a full mathematical description, as well as links to the freely available code and user guide. The mathematical description is structured into processes so that the details of new parameterisations can be easily identified, along with their derivation. In EMS, the underwater light field is simulated by a spectrally resolved optical model that calculates vertical light attenuation from the scattering and absorption of 20+ optically active constituents. The BGC model itself cycles carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous and oxygen through multiple phytoplankton, zooplankton, detritus and dissolved organic and inorganic forms in multiple water column and sediment layers. The water column is dynamically coupled to the sediment to resolve deposition, resuspension and benthic–pelagic biogeochemical fluxes. With a focus on shallow waters, the model also includes detailed representations of benthic plants such as seagrass, macroalgae and coral polyps. A second focus has been on, where possible, the use of geometric derivations of physical limits to constrain ecological rates. This geometric approach generally requires population-based rates to be derived from initially considering the size and shape of individuals. For example, zooplankton grazing considers encounter rates of one predator on a prey field based on summing relative motion of the predator with the prey individuals and the search area; chlorophyll synthesis includes a geometrically derived self-shading term; and the bottom coverage of benthic plants is calculated from their biomass using an exponential form derived from geometric arguments. This geometric approach has led to a more algebraically complicated set of equations when compared to empirical biogeochemical model formulations based on populations. But while being algebraically complicated, the model has fewer unconstrained parameters and is therefore simpler to move between applications than it would otherwise be. The version of EMS described here is implemented in the eReefs project that delivers a near-real-time coupled hydrodynamic, sediment and biogeochemical simulation of the Great Barrier Reef, northeast Australia, and its formulation provides an example of the application of geometric reasoning in the formulation of aquatic ecological processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a novel approach for 3-D rain field reconstruction using satellite signals. It uses the estimated signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the ground receivers for low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites and, thus, indirectly estimates the path-integrated rain attenuation of the microwave communication links. A least-squares algorithm is employed to perform the 3-D tomographic reconstruction of the rain field. The proposed system model consists of an LEO satellite with a realistic overpass trajectory and multiple ground receivers with SNR estimators. Two synthetic rain events near the Great Barrier Reef in Australia are used to test the reconstruction outcome. Simulation results suggest that the reconstructed rain field has close agreement with the synthetic rain field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long distance dispersal (LDD) contributes to the replenishment and recovery of tropical seagrass habitats exposed to disturbance, such as cyclones and infrastructure development. However, our current knowledge regarding the physical attributes of seagrass fragments that influence LDD predominantly stems from temperate species and regions. The goal of this paper is to measure seagrass fragment density and viability in two tropical species, assessing various factors influencing their distribution. We measured the density and viability of floating seagrass fragments for two tropical seagrass species (Zostera muelleri and Halodule uninervis) in two coastal seagrass meadows in the central Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, Australia. We assessed the effect of wind speed, wind direction, seagrass growing/senescent season, seagrass meadow density, meadow location and dugong foraging intensity on fragment density. We also measured seagrass fragment structure and fragment viability; i.e., potential to establish into a new plant. We found that seagrass meadow density, season, wind direction and wind speed influenced total fragment density, while season and wind speed influenced the density of viable fragments. Dugong foraging intensity did not influence fragment density. Our results indicate that wave action from winds combined with high seagrass meadow density increases seagrass fragment creation, and that more fragments are produced during the growing than the senescent season. Seagrass fragments classified as viable for Z. muelleri and H. uninervis had significantly more shoots and leaves than non-viable fragments. We collected 0.63 (±0.08 SE) floating viable fragments 100 m−2 in the growing season, and 0.13 (±0.03 SE) viable fragments 100 m−2 in the senescent season. Over a third (38%) of all fragments collected were viable. There is likely to be a large number of viable seagrass fragments available for long distance dispersal. This study's outputs can inform dispersal and connectivity models that are used to direct seagrass ecosystem management and conservation strategies. • There are large numbers of viable seagrass fragments available for dispersal. • Moderate winds with high seagrass density increases seagrass fragment creation. • More seagrass fragments are produced during the growing than the senescent season. • Seagrass fragments have more shoots and leaves than non-viable fragments. • Over a third (38%) of all floating fragments are viable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wetlands in the coastal catchments adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon play an important role in local hydrological processes and provide important ecological habitats for terrestrial and aquatic species. Although many wetlands have been removed or degraded by agricultural expansion, there is now great interest in their protection and restoration as important aquatic ecosystems and potential filters of pollutant runoff. However, the filtering capacity of tropical wetlands is largely unknown, so the current study was established to quantify the water, sediment and nutrient balance of a natural riverine wetland in tropical north Queensland. Surface and groundwater fluxes of water, sediment and nutrients into and out of the wetland were monitored for a 3-year period. This paper focuses on the water balance of this natural wetland and a companion paper presents its sediment and nutrient balance and estimates of water quality filtering. Wetland inflows and outflows were dominated by surface flows which varied by 3-4 orders of magnitude through the course of the year, with 90% of the annual flow occurring during the period January to March. Although groundwater inputs to the wetland were only 5% of the annual water balance, they are very important to sustaining the wetland during the dry season, when they can be the largest input of water (up to 90%). Water retention times in this type of wetland are very short, particularly when most of the flow and any associated materials are passing through it (i.e. 1-2 h), so there is little time to filter most of the annual flux of water through this wetland. Longer retention times occur at the end of the dry season (up to 8·5 days); but this is when the lowest fluxes of water pass through the wetland. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the mid 1990s, Australia's Commonwealth Science Industry and Research Organisation (CSIRO) has developed a biogeochemical (BGC) model for coupling with a hydrodynamic and sediment model for application in estuaries, coastal waters and shelf seas. The suite of coupled models is referred to as the CSIRO Environmental Modelling Suite (EMS) and has been applied at tens of locations around the Australian continent. At a mature point in the BGC model's development, this paper presents a full mathematical description, as well as links to the freely available code and User Guide. The mathematical description is structured into processes so that the details of new parameterisations can be easily identified, along with their derivation. The EMS BGC model cycles carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous and oxygen through multiple phytoplankton, zooplankton, detritus and dissolved organic and inorganic forms in multiple water column and sediment layers. The underwater light field is simulated by a spectrally-resolved optical model that includes the calculation of water-leaving reflectance for validation with remote sensing. The water column is dynamically coupled to the sediment to resolve deposition, resuspension and benthic-pelagic biogeochemical fluxes. With a focus on shallow waters, the model also includes particularly-detailed representations of benthic plants such as seagrass, macroalgae and coral polyps. A second focus has been on, where possible, the use of geometric derivations of physical limits to constrain ecological rates, which generally requires population-based rates to be derived from initially considering the size and shape of individuals. For example, zooplankton grazing considers encounter rates of one predator on a prey field based on summing relative motion of the predator with the prey individuals and the search area, chlorophyll synthesis includes a geometrically-derived self-shading term, and the bottom coverage of benthic plants is generically-related to their biomass using an exponential form derived from geometric arguments. This geometric approach has led to a more algebraically-complicated set of equations when compared to more empirical biogeochemical model formulations. But while being algebraically-complicated, the model has fewer unconstrained parameters and is therefore simpler to move between applications than it would otherwise be. The version of the biogeochemistry described here is implemented in the eReefs project that is delivering a near real time coupled hydrodynamic, sediment and biogeochemical simulation of the Great Barrier Reef, northeast Australia, and its formulation provides an example of the application of geometric reasoning in the formulation of aquatic ecological processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses uncertainty in socio-economic and sediment-nutrient models that are being developed for the assessment of change in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) area. The catchments draining into the GBR lagoon are sources of pollutants. The Reef Water Quality Management Plan of the Queensland Government identified sediments and nutrients transported to the GBR lagoon as the major long-term threats to the reef and inshore ecosystems and the wellbeing of the human communities. The plan clearly indicates that changes in land management are required by 2013 to reduce pollutant inputs and, at the same time, maintain or enhance the benefits from using the inland waters. Science that provides decision tools for natural resource management and improves socio-economic and biophysical understanding is required to enable managers to make better decisions. A major research activity (the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship) aims to address social, economic and biophysical outcomes of land management change in the GBR. It contains research activities that provide information for integrated model development. Currently, however, these models lack the ability to estimate the uncertainty associated with prediction. This project aims to provide statistical methods for assessing uncertainty in models of sediment transportation to the GBR. Furthermore, it provides a link between the models and the decision-making process that allows assessment of uncertainty, a step pertinent to the risk analysis of policy options. This paper describes current and ongoing approaches for assessing uncertainty using a sediment modelling example and provides a way forward for the integration of applied socio-economic and biophysical models used in the decision-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Adaptive management is the pathway to effective conservation, use and management of Australia’s coastal catchments and waterways. While the concepts of adaptive management are not new, applications involving both assessment and management responses are indeed limited at the national and regional scales. This paper outlines the components of a systematic framework for linking scientific knowledge, existing tools, planning approaches and participatory processes to achieve healthy regional partnerships between community, industry, government agencies and science providers to overcome institutional barriers and uncoordinated monitoring. The framework developed by the Coastal CRC (www.coastal.crc.org.au/amf/amf_index.htm) is hierarchical in the way it displays information to allow associated frameworks to be integrated, and represents a construct in which processes, information, decision tools and outcomes are brought together in a structured and transparent way for adaptive catchment and coastal management. This paper proposes how an adaptive management approach could be used to benefit the implementation of the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan (RWQPP). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality (ANZECC Guidelines) provide default national guideline values for a wide range of indicators of relevance to the protection of the ecological condition of natural waters. However, the ANZECC Guidelines also place a strong emphasis on the need to develop more locally relevant guidelines. Using a structured framework, this paper explores indicators and regional data sets that can be used to develop more locally relevant guidelines for the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA). The paper focuses on the water quality impacts of adjacent catchments on the GBRWHA with the key stressors addressed being nutrients, sediments and agricultural chemicals. Indicators relevant to these stressors are discussed including both physico-chemical pressure indicators and biological condition indicators. Where adequate data sets are available, guideline values are proposed. Generally, data were much more readily available for physico-chemical pressure indicators than for biological condition indicators. Specifically, guideline values are proposed for the major nutrients nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) and for chlorophyll-a. More limited guidelines are proposed for sediment related indicators. For most agricultural chemicals, the ANZECC Guidelines are likely to remain the default of choice for some time but it is noted that there is data in the literature that could be used to develop more locally relevant guidelines. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper describes the challenges of mapping cyclone disturbance across vast geographic region of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in Australia. The paper also describes how cartographic visualization can help one understand the implications of these challenges on the quality of the results. GBR forms the largest coral reef system in the world, including nearly 3000 individual reefs that stretch for more than 2000 km along the Queensland coast and cover an area of over 348000 square kilometer. The ability to map cyclone disturbance is limited by a general lack of key data sets, as well as high levels of uncertainty in the data that is available. The article concludes that Mapping cyclone disturbance of the GBR is difficult, However, it is possible to build a predictive model of cyclone disturbance by linking field observations of reef damage from cyclones to hindcast cyclone energy and reef vulnerability measures. Creative use of cartographic visualization is essential.

Water quality outcomes affecting Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) are governed by multi-level and multi-party decision-making that influences forested and agricultural landscapes. With international concern about the GBR’s declining ecological health, this paper identifies and focuses on implementation failure (primarily at catchment scale) as a systemic risk within the overall GBR governance system. There has been limited integrated analysis of the full suite of governance subdomains that often envelop defined policies, programs and delivery activities that influence water quality in the GBR. We consider how the implementation of separate purpose-specific policies and programs at catchment scale operate against well-known, robust design concepts for integrated catchment governance. We find design concerns within ten important governance subdomains that operate within GBR catchments. At a whole-of-GBR scale, we find a weak policy focus on strengthening these delivery-oriented subdomains and on effort integration across these subdomains within catchments. These governance problems when combined may contribute to failure in the implementation of major national, state and local government policies focused on improving water quality in the GBR, a lesson relevant to landscapes globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a first assessment of fish communities associated with the submerged oceanic banks and shoals in north-west Australia. Until recently, little was known about these deeper and more inaccessible reefs. The mesophotic coral-reef habitats (20-80 m) were a major reservoir of marine biodiversity, with unique and exceptionally high fish diversity and abundance. Species richness in the study region was 1.4 times, and abundance almost twice, that recorded for similar mesophotic habitats on the Great Barrier Reef in north-east Australia. A review of the published literature revealed that Australia's NW oceanic shoals support the highest fish species richness reported for mesophotic reefs to date. We made regional comparisons of fish community structure (species composition, richness and abundance) and assessed the influence of depth, substrate and location. The presence of consolidated calcareous reef, depth and aspect (a surrogate for exposure) had the greatest influence on species richness. In contrast, aspect and the presence of benthic biota had the greatest influence on fish abundance. Sites most exposed to the prevailing currents (facing north-east) had lowest fish abundance, while highest abundances were recorded on moderately exposed sites (along the north-west and south-east edges). The most abundant species were small ( Pomacentrus coelestis) and large ( Naso hexacanthus) planktivorous fish. Currently, 29.3% of NE Australia mesophotic reefs are within no-take management zones of the Great Barrier Reef. In contrast, just 1.3% of the NW oceanic shoals are designated as no-take areas. The location and extent of mesophotic reefs remain poorly quantified globally. Because these habitats support significant biodiversity and have the potential to act as important refugia, understanding their extent is critical to maintaining coral-reef biodiversity and resilience and supporting sustainable management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine debris is one of the most significant issues facing oceans worldwide. The sources of this debris vary depending on proximity to urban centres and the nature of activities within an area. This paper examines the influence of tourism in the southern Great Barrier Reef (GBR), and its contribution to litter levels in the region. By conducting beach debris surveys on occupied and unoccupied islands, this study found that debris was prevalent throughout the region with significant differences in material types between locations. The greatest source of debris from publically accessible islands was tourist-related, with this source also influencing debris loads on nearby uninhabited islands. A focus on debris at Heron Island, showed that sites close to amenities had greater levels of tourist-sourced items like cigarette butts. These findings indicate the contribution of tourists to this problem and that working with operators and managers is needed to minimise visitor impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring provides important feedback on how social and environmental systems are tracking and whether or not human activities, including management activities, are having an impact. This paper describes an approach applied to develop an integrated monitoring framework to inform adaptive management of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, a complex, multi-jurisdictional, multi-sectoral marine system of international importance. It identifies the gaps and opportunities to integrate the existing long-term, short-term and compliance-related monitoring and reporting initiatives to provide the information for more effective and efficient (adaptive) management of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. And as importantly it aligns expectations among different agencies about how monitoring will inform management. Fifty two high priority values, processes and pressures for management were identified along with 65 existing monitoring programs. Developing the monitoring framework was useful in several ways. First it brought together scientists, policy-makers, managers, and other interested stakeholders with different agendas, philosophies and incentives and established a common purpose, lexicon and language for an integrated monitoring program. Second, it highlighted the importance and usefulness of qualitative conceptual models as a framework for focused discussion around a set of hypotheses with relevance for management. Third, the process started an important conversation about defining and setting a realistic number of monitoring priorities for management. Finally, it has provided direction for how to build on existing initiatives to develop an integrated monitoring program for a globally significant world heritage area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable destinations must deliver products that perform better than their competitors and at the same time protect key environmental drawcards. This research explores the environmental–economic interface of a major destination, both as a case study in how to approach this complex relationship and as a contribution to the methodology of tackling the need for understanding competitive pressures as part of sustainable tourism strategy creation. Using the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) as an example, the paper assesses 21 key environmental values, including Indigenous culture, against market-based factors, in terms of their importance for visitors as regional drawcards, satisfaction with them and the way in which changes in them might affect trip numbers and duration across different regions. While the natural values of the GBRWHA are found to be the most important drawcards, satisfaction scores were significantly lower than importance scores for a number of these values. Visitors responded more negatively to the prospect of environmental degradation than to the prospect of a 20% increase in local prices: the detailed impact depends, however, on location and visitor mix. Clear ocean, healthy coral reefs, healthy reef fish, and lack of rubbish were the top four most important values. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the Mossman Mill District Practices Framework. It was developed in the Wet Tropics region within the Great Barrier Reef in north-eastern Australia to describe the environmental benefits of agricultural management practices for the sugar cane industry. The framework translates complex, unclear and overlapping environmental plans, policy and legal arrangements into a simple framework of management practices that landholders can use to improve their management actions. Practices range from those that are old or outdated through to aspirational practices that have the potential to achieve desired resource condition targets. The framework has been applied by stakeholders at multiple scales to better coordinate and integrate a range of policy arrangements to improve natural resource management. It has been used to structure monitoring and evaluation in order to underpin a more adaptive approach to planning at mill district and property scale. Potentially, the framework and approach can be applied across fields of planning where adaptive management is needed. It has the potential to overcome many of the criticisms of property-scale and regional Natural Resource Management. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Accurate atmospheric correction (AC) is a prerequisite for quantitative ocean colour remote sensing and remains a challenge in particular over coastal waters. Commonly AC algorithms are validated by establishing a mean retrieval error from match-up analysis, which compares the satellite-derived surface reflectance with concurrent ground radiometric observations. Pixel-based reflectance uncertainties however, are rarely provided by AC algorithms and those for the operational Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) marine reflectance product are not yet recommended for use. AC retrieval errors and uncertainties directly determine the quality with which ocean colour products can be estimated from the marine surface reflectance. Increasingly there is also the need for reflectance uncertainty products to be used as data assimilation inputs into biogeochemical models. This paper describes the development of a new coastal AC algorithm for Sentinel-3 OLCI that provides pixel-based estimation of the inherent model inversion uncertainty and sensor noise propagation. The algorithm is a full-spectral model-based inversion of radiative transfer (RT) simulations in a coupled atmosphere–ocean system using an ensemble of artificial neural networks (ANN) that were initialized differently during the training process, but composed of the same network architecture. The algorithm has been validated against in-situ radiometric observations across a wide range of optical water types, and has been compared with the latest EUMETSAT operational Level 2 processor IPF-OL-2 v7.01. In this analysis we found that the ensemble ANN showed improved performance over the operational Level 2 processor with a band-averaged (412–708 nm) mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 16% compared to 37% and a four-times lower band-averaged bias of -0.00045 sr-1. In the ensemble inversion process we account for three uncertainty components: (1) the total model variance that describes the variance of the data from the different ANNs, (2) the prediction variance of the mean, which is based on calculations of the RT simulations and (3) the instrument noise variance of the mean by propagating the OLCI spectral signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). To study algorithm performance and to quantify the contribution of the different uncertainty components to the total uncertainty, we applied the algorithm to an optically complex full resolution (FR) test scene covering coastal waters of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The uncertainties associated with the instrument noise variance were found to be two orders of magnitude lower than the uncertainty components of the prediction and total model variances. The overall largest uncertainty component in our uncertainty framework is attributed to the total model inversion error from averaging the responses of the slightly different adapted networks in the ensemble. The algorithm is made publicly available as a Python/C plugin for the Sentinel Application Platform (SNAP). • An ANN AC-algorithm that provides pixel-based uncertainty estimation was developed. • The algorithm shows advanced performance compared to the operational processor. • An analysis of the uncertainty components for different water types is provided. • Uncertainty maps provide a useful tool for future algorithm improvement. • The algorithm is publicly available as a plugin for the Sentinel Application Platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the world's premier tourist destinations. It is promoted and marketed to tourists as part of an idealised Pacific island paradise. While the gardens and decor of island resorts mimic those of resorts elsewhere in the Pacific, the way in which Indigenous people are represented is markedly different. This paper presents an analysis of historic tourist ephemera to suggest that Australian Aboriginal people are largely invisible at the Great Barrier Reef, despite their role in establishing the tourism industry. It suggests that ambiguities of Aboriginal presence, in labour and performance, are a product of tourism ideals and colonial race relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Queensland, Australia, is one of the most recognisable coral reefs in the world. In 1981 the reef was listed on the World Heritage List, to be preserved as an environmental asset of global significance for all people in perpetuity. The GBR is also a landmark Marine Protected Area (MPA) under the World Heritage Marine Programme. Yet management of this iconic property is not without controversy and in recent years a number of impacts, including coastal developments, increased shipping traffic and global warming, have all threatened the reef. Any breach of Australia's World Heritage obligation to protect and conserve the property may yet result in the GBR being placed on the World Heritage List in Danger. In light of the persistent controversy surrounding GBR management, this paper gives voice to the perspectives and values of stakeholders located in and around one site of controversy, Gladstone Harbour, in the southern section of the GBR World Heritage Area. We present the views of users directly exposed to the controversial port expansion development at Gladstone Harbour in the southern GBR to shed light on the importance of community perspectives in marine park management. Our findings show that local views act to reinforce the global environmental protection narrative which underpins the World Heritage (WH) system. In this study local and global values collide and, we argue, that overlooking the perspectives of users has potential deleterious consequences for WH marine site management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Duce, S., Vila-Concejo, A., Hamylton, S., Bruce, E., Webster, J. M, 2014. Spur and groove distribution, morphology and relationship to relative wave exposure, Southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia. In: Green, A.N. and Cooper, J.A.G. (eds.), Proceedings 13th International Coastal Symposium (Durban, South Africa), Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 70, pp. 115-120, ISSN 0749-0208. Spur and groove features occur on the seaward reef slope of coral reefs around the world. They are believed to act as important natural breakwaters, regulating the hydrodynamic energy and nutrients received by reef platforms. They also represent one of the most diverse and productive zones of modern reefs. However, the formation processes and morphodynamics of spur and groove systems are poorly understood, particularly in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). This paper constitutes the first broad scale analysis of spur and groove systems in the Capricorn Bunker Group (CBG) in the southern GBR. It uses remotely sensed imagery coupled with ground-truthed data to measure groove length at four reefs (Wreck, Heron, One Tree and Lady Elliot). A total of 2621 grooves were digitised across the four study reefs. Groove length was found to vary both between and within the study reefs. The maximum groove length was 536 m. Average groove length ranged from 93 m at Wreck Reef to 32 m at Heron Reef. This data was compared to relative wave exposure estimates derived from the fetch scenario at each reef. Strong positive correlation was found with groove length increasing as wave exposure increased. Groove length was highly spatially dependant and varied around the reef platforms according to the degree of wave exposure. The longest grooves were found on the most exposed, eastern sides of all reefs. These results provide valuable insight into spur and groove function, formation and likely response to future environmental changes in the CBG and further afield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many coastal and marine ecosystems around the world are under increasing threat from a range of anthropogenic influences. The management of these threats continues to present ongoing challenges, with many ecosystems increasingly requiring active restoration to support or re-establish the ecosystem's biological, cultural, social and economic values. The current condition of Australia's Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and its threats, including water quality, climate change and the loss of wetlands, causing the continuing decline in the GBR's ecological condition and function, has received global attention. Activities aimed at halting these declines and system restoration have been underway for over forty years. These activities are challenging to implement, and much has been learnt from their various outcomes. This paper considers the GBR and the associated management activities as a case study for regional scale catchment to reef management. It summarises the management approaches to date, describing the key role that science, policy and community have played in underpinning various investments. Four criteria for success are proposed: the lead role of the community, the need for a systems approach, the need for targeted, cost-effective and sustainable long-term investment, and importantly, building knowledge and maintaining consensus and political commitment. • Activities have intended to halt the decline and restore values of the GBR for decades. • The history of GBR catchment to reef provides a foundation for learning. • Criteria for success are identified to improve the condition and resilience of the GBR. • Integrated socio-ecological approaches will facilitate successful management. • Community leadership, long-term commitment and a solid knowledge base are essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public participation is experiencing increasing recognition as an indispensable component of effective communication and engagement between resource users and managers in natural resource planning and management. To bridge a gap between communication, information and participation, natural resource management agencies have increasingly used the visual capability of spatial decision support tools, such as geographic information systems. Nevertheless, both participation and the use of spatial technologies have been promoted without much consideration of how particular stakeholder groups participate and use existing decision support tools. This paper analyses the current state of public participation and the extent to which spatial data and geographic information tools are used by stakeholder groups to facilitate access to information and to support communication in water quality management on the Great Barrier Reef coast. Data were collected via document analysis, participant observation at stakeholders' meeting, face-to-face interviews and questionnaires. Qualitative data were coded for themes using coding analysis processes, whereas quantitative data from the surveys were analysed using standard exploratory and descriptive statistical techniques. Results reveal that reliance on the natural resource management officer, established networks and personal relationships, and provision of property-scale spatial information are important aspects of a meaningful public participation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper analyses the benefits and costs of the Coral Sea Marine Reserve which, together with the contiguous Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, creates the largest marine protected area in the world. The benefits are found to be minimal, in both anthropocentric and ecocentric terms. Nevertheless establishment and management costs could be in the order of $A20 million and $A13 million, respectively. Meanwhile, serious depletion of the vital fish stocks of the largest tuna fishery in the world in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean—in which Australia is a management partner—continues, as does the rapid erosion of the unique and outstanding values of the Great Barrier Reef. It is concluded that current investment in the creation and management of the Coral Sea Reserve—in the face of the demonstrably urgent needs for investment in the management of marine resources in the near region and in Australia – is problematic. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The focus of the research reported in this paper has been to estimate recreation values for beaches over approximately 1,400 km (km) of coastline along the Queensland coast. The study is notable at an international level because it assesses recreation values to a general type of recreation asset rather than to a specific site, and because it focuses on the values of the local resident population. Negative binomial models have been used to estimate both the visit rate and recreation values associated with beach visits in different regional areas. The value of a single beach visit was estimated per person at $35.09, which extrapolates to $587.3 million in beach recreation values per annum. These values are likely to be conservative because opportunity costs incurred to live closer to the beach (e.g. housing premiums) have not been assessed. Contingent behaviour models were used to estimate the values of potential declines in water quality, with marginal effects assessed at $1.30 per recreation trip to avoid each 1% decline in water quality. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper considers the role of interpretive layering, that is, combining multiple sources of interpretation in order to repeat the interpretive message, in nature-based tourism. We explore interpretive layering at an attraction (the Great Barrier Reef (GBR)) that presents several challenges to tourists and operators. The GBR, Australia, represents an extraordinary site where tourists typically have limited previous experience with the physical conditions, tourists are encouraged to shape their experience by choosing from a multitude of activities on offer, and where focused interpretive activities are more difficult due to the (underwater) nature of the attraction. Using 775 visitors surveys distributed on the return trip from the reef, we analysed the relationship between the number of interpretive types used and changes in visitors' knowledge levels, attitudes and behavioural intentions. The results highlight the important additive effects of a variety of interpretive sources on visitors' understanding of this attraction. We propose that interpretive layering may be particularly relevant to attractions that are harder to accommodate within visitors' existing frames of reference and might also be usefully applied in (post-Fordist) tourism that is characterised by a trend away from packaged mass tourism, towards products that favour flexibility, individuality, hybridity and activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Degradation of coastal ecosystems in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, has been linked with a decline in water quality from land-based runoff. This paper examines the reduction in current end-of-catchment loads required for total suspended solids (TSS) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) to achieve GBR water quality guidelines. Based on first-order estimates of sustainable pollutant loads, current TSS and DIN loads would need to be reduced by approximately 7000ktons/y (41%) and 6000tons/y (38%), respectively. Next, these estimated reductions for TSS and DIN are compared with Reef Plan targets for anthropogenic sediment (−20% by 2020) and nitrogen (−50% by 2013) loads. If successful, these targets will accomplish approximately 40% of TSS and 92% of DIN load reductions required to achieve sustainable loads to the GBR lagoon. These first-order estimates elucidate the need to establish ecologically relevant targets for river pollutant loads to the GBR for management and policy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper challenges the accepted tenet that conservation creates attractive tourist experiences and high satisfaction rates, and explores the nature and value of partnerships between protected area managers and tourism operators. It develops a model to examine the linkages between natural resource management and nature-based tourism industry performance. The model uses input measures (such as the expertise and financial resources put into maintaining a healthy ecosystem), output measures (visitor perceptions of the environment and their experience of it) and outcome measures (satisfaction scores), to examine these linkages. Whilst the links between input, outputs and outcomes appear relatively weak, results suggest that operators can strengthen those links through high service quality, effective interpretation, in order to produce higher visitor satisfaction. The relationship between the natural environment itself and satisfaction was less clear, perhaps symptomatic of the “messiness” of protected area tourism systems where cause and effects are not always clear. The study suggests that perceptions of the natural environment and the nature-based tourist experience are best mediated through the tour operators’ input into creating and maintaining quality staff, to complement and demonstrate inputs by protected area managers, within the context of long-term partnerships between natural resource management and nature-based tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Wireless Sensor Networks promised to do for observation systems what consumer electronics have done for areas like photography-drive down the price per observation (photograph), introduce new functionality and capabilities, and make, what had been a relatively exclusive set of technologies and capabilities, ubiquitous. While this may have been true for some terrestrial sensor networks there are issues in the marine environment that have limited the realization of ubiquitous cheap sensing. This paper reports on the lessons learned from two years of operation of wireless sensor networks deployed at seven coral reefs along the Great Barrier Reef in north-eastern Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was established to provide for conservation and ecologically sustainable multiple use of 344,400 km of a large marine ecosystem. Management is based on multiple use, with zoning as a fundamental component of marine spatial planning. The legislative framework, including a specific Act and Regulations, address the objectives of ecosystem-based, integrated management of human uses and impacts consistent with best contemporary understanding of biological diversity. Zoning is one of a suite of management tools that include other spatial and temporal management tools and non-spatial measures including public education, community engagement, codes of environmental best practice, industry partnerships and economic instruments. The first section of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park came into operation in 1981 and the most recent zoning came into operation in mid 2004. The paper discusses some common misunderstandings about zoning and identifies lessons that appear relevant for others addressing management and use of marine ecosystems and natural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a discussion of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning, adapted from the paper presented at a symposium titled "Beyond the Obituaries: Success Stories in Ocean Conservation" held at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in May 2009.

Summary: This paper presents a tool for documenting and monitoring water use benefits in the Great Barrier Reef catchments that allows temporal and spatial comparison along the region. Water, water use benefits and water allocations are currently receiving much attention from Australian policy makers and conservation practitioners. Because of the inherent complexity and variability in water quality, it is essential that scientific information is presented in a meaningful way to policy makers, managers and ultimately, to the general public who have to live with the consequences of the decisions. We developed an inexpensively populated and easily understandable water use benefit index as a tool for community-based monitoring of water related trends in the Great Barrier Reef region. The index is developed based on a comparative list of selected water-related indices integrating attributes across physico-chemical, economic, social, and ecological domains currently used in the assessment of water quality, water quantity and water use benefits in Australia. Our findings indicate that the proposed index allows the identification of water performance indicators by temporal and spatial comparisons. Benefits for decision makers and conservation practitioners include a flexible way of prioritization towards the domain with highest concern. The broader community benefits from a comprehensive and user-friendly tool, communicating changes in water quality trends more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of social and ecological knowledge has been identified as one of the key issues and research priorities in landscape ecology. However, research into the tools and processes that support knowledge integration for planning sustainable land- and sea-scapes is largely lacking. To fill this gap, Bohnet and Smith (Landsc Urban Plan 80:137–152, ) developed a social-ecological planning framework based on a holistic landscape concept which I applied in the Tully–Murray basin to test the framework’s transferability and effectiveness for knowledge integration in a water quality improvement planning context in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) region, Australia. In this paper I present the context in which the Tully Water Quality Improvement Plan (WQIP) was developed, the tools and processes applied during the three planning stages to achieve knowledge integration, and the results from this exercise. I then discuss the transferability and effectiveness of the framework using criteria identified to assess collaborative planning processes, outputs and outcomes, such as collaborative science and social and political capital. While many social outcomes such as the creation of partnerships between multiple-stakeholders, including Traditional Owners, local farmers, industry, government, community groups, schools, and the wider public, have been achieved, the research also highlights some of the challenges related to multiple-stakeholder relations. Further research into the roles and responsibilities of multiple-stakeholders for knowledge integration in developing and managing sustainable land- and sea-scapes is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the role of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sirius on a research cruise to survey drowned reefs along the shelf edge of the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia. The primary function of the AUV was to provide georeferenced, high-resolution optical validation of seabed interpretations based on acoustic data. We describe the AUV capabilities and its operation in the context of the multiple systems used in the cruise. The data processing pipeline involved in generating simultaneous localization and mapping–based navigation, large-scale, three-dimensional visualizations, and automated classification of survey data is briefly described. We also present preliminary results illustrating the type of data products possible with our system and how they can inform the science driving the cruise. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Coastal and reef policy decisions and management programs require research to address current and emerging issues, to detect trends in key environmental variables and to help evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies. The technology and infrastructure components are now well developed and understood, but the useful application of sensor network data and efficient delivery of real-time information still needs improvement to better incorporate management needs and priorities. This paper aims to contribute to the current understanding of the adoption of wireless technology in research and practice, by identifying the main drivers and barriers to the adaptive deployment of an environmental sensor network along the Great Barrier Reef coast. Specifically, it addresses the extent to which the deployment of sensor networks and the delivery of real-time data can best suit managers’ and decision makers’ needs by providing timely and useful spatial data. Study findings indicate that, although researchers and managers ask significantly different questions requiring real-time spatial data, there is great potential and interest from both science and management for continuous automatic monitoring of environmental parameters. Some of the key research and management needs that the sensor network technology should address include measuring water (marine) quality at biological monitoring sites, water circulation patterns and flood plume water quality, gathering long-term data on turbidity, photosynthetically active radiation and chlorophyll a, and developing uniform standards for the provision of data to networks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A prerequisite for meaningful environmental legislation is that it he based upon an adequate scientific understanding of the natural system to which It is applied. In 2003, the Australian Commonwealth and Queensland State governments introduced a Reef Water Quality Protection Plan. which aimed to "improve" water quality in river catchments adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef (GRR) and in nearby coastal waters. The Plan was introduced in the absence of any substantive evidence for regional degradation of GRR water quality. This paper reviews the available data regarding nutrient contents En the Tully River, north Queensland, which is cited as the best (available) evidence for human-related changes in nutrient export from (GBR) catchment [1]. It is shown that the claim of human-related nutrient enrichment in the Tully River, and regionally, is without substance. No detectable trends in GBR water quality have occurred since systematic measurements were first started in the 1980s. Environmental policies that are based on mischievous claims of chimerical damage to the Great Barrier Reef damage the reputation of science as a tool for disinterested analysis, and provoke widespread cynicism in the community regarding the integrity of contemporary environmental politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents a multi-criteria based tool for assessing the relative impact of diffuse-source pollution to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) from the river basins draining into the GBR lagoon. The assessment integrates biophysical and ecological data of water quality and pollutant concentrations with socio-economic information pertaining to non-point source pollution and (potential) pollutant impact. The tool generates scores for each river basin against four criteria, thus profiling the basins and enabling prioritization of management alternatives between and within basins. The results support policy development for pollution control through community participation, scientific data integration and expert knowledge contributed by people from across the catchment. The results specifically provided support for the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan, released in October 2003. The aim of the plan is to provide a framework for reducing discharge of sediment, nutrient and other diffuse-source loads and (potential) impact of that discharge and for prioritising management actions both between and within river basins. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Along the tropical coastline of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) region, little is known to date about submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) into the near-shore ocean. In an oceanographic sense, SGD consists of freshwater flow from land as well as seawater circulated through sediments. Recent radiochemical and geophysical studies, using the tracer 222Rn and apparent ground conductivity respectively, provide evidence for SGD to occur in a variety of hydrogeological settings. In this paper, a non-quantitative overview of different settings of SGD in the region is presented: (1) recirculation of seawater through animal burrows in mangrove forests, (2) freshwater SGD from unconfined aquifers as a narrow coastal fringe of freshwater along Wet Tropics beaches, (3) SGD from coastal dune systems in form of localised freshwater springs in the intertidal zone, (4) inner-shelf SGD from confined submarine aquifer systems comprised of riverine paleochannels incised into the shelf. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The north-east Australian margin is the largest modern example of a tropical mixed siliciclastic/carbonate depositional system, with an outer shelf hosting the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and an inner shelf dominated by fluvially sourced siliciclastic sediment wedges. The long-term interplay between these sediment components and sea level is recorded in the Queensland Trough, a 1–2 km deep N–S elongate basin situated between the GBR platform and the Queensland Plateau. In this paper, 154 samples from 45 surface grabs and six well-dated piston cores were analysed for total carbonate content, carbonate mineralogy and Sr concentration to establish spatial and temporal patterns of carbonate accumulation in the Queensland Trough over the last 300 kyr. Surface carbonate contents are lowest on the inner-shelf (<5%) and in the trough axis (<60%) because of siliciclastic dilution. Carbonate on the shelf is mostly Sr-rich aragonite and high-Mg calcite (HMC), whereas that in the basin is mostly low-Mg calcite. Once normalized to remove the effects of siliciclastic dilution, surface Sr-rich aragonite and HMC abundances decrease linearly to background levels ≈ 100 km seaward of the shelf edge. Core samples show that, over time, normalized aragonite and Sr abundances are greatest during periods of shelf flooding and lowest when sea level drops below the shelf edge. This is consistent with changes in the production of coral and calcareous algae, and the shedding of their debris from the shelf. Interestingly, normalized HMC concentrations on the slope peak during periods of major transgression, perhaps because of maximum off-shelf transport from inter-reef areas or intermediate water dissolution. After accounting for siliciclastic dilution, there are strong similarities in both spatial and temporal patterns of carbonate minerals between slopes and basins of the north-east Australian margin and those of pure carbonate margins such as the Bahamas. A limited set of basic processes, including the formation and breakdown of carbonate on the shelf, the transport of carbonate off the shelf and eustatic sea level, probably controls carbonate accumulation in slope and basin settings of tropical environments, irrespective of proximal siliciclastic sediment sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water quality condition and trend are important indicators of the impact of land use on the environment, as degraded water quality causes unwelcome changes to ecosystem composition and health. These concerns extend to the sea, where discharges of nutrients, sediments and toxicants above natural levels are unwelcome, particularly when they drain to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and other coastal waters of Queensland. Sugarcane is grown in 26 major river catchments in Queensland, most in environmentally sensitive areas. This puts pressure on the Queensland Sugar Industry to manage the land in ways that have minimum adverse off-site impacts. Sugar researchers including CRC Sugar have been associated with water quality studies in North Queensland. These include investigations and reviews to assess the role of groundwater as a pathway for nitrate loss from canelands in the Herbert Catchment, to find causes of oxygen depletion in water (including irrigation runoff) from Ingham to Mackay, to use residues of superseded pesticides as indicators of sediment loss to the sea, and to assemble information on water quality pressure and status in sugar catchments. Key findings, plus information on input pressures are described in this paper, and areas of concern and opportunities discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aerosols deposited into the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) contain iron (Fe) and other trace metals, which may act as micronutrients or as toxins to this sensitive marine ecosystem. In this paper, we quantified the atmospheric deposition of Fe and investigated aerosol sources in Mission Beach (Queensland) next to the GBR. Leaching experiments were applied to distinguish pools of Fe with regard to its solubility. The labile Fe concentration in aerosols was 2.3–10.6 ng m−3, which is equivalent to 4.9%–11.4% of total Fe and was linked to combustion and biomass burning processes, while total Fe was dominated by crustal sources. A one-day precipitation event provided more soluble iron than the average dry deposition flux, 0.165 and 0.143 μmol m−2 day−1, respectively. Scanning Electron Microscopy indicated that alumina-silicates were the main carriers of total Fe and samples affected by combustion emissions were accompanied by regular round-shaped carbonaceous particulates. Collected aerosols contained significant amounts of Cd, Co, Cu, Mo, Mn, Pb, V, and Zn, which were mostly (47.5%–96.7%) in the labile form. In this study, we provide the first field data on the atmospheric delivery of Fe and other trace metals to the GBR and propose that this is an important delivery mechanism to this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating the impact of environmental processes on vertical reef development in geological time is a very challenging task. pyReef-Core is a deterministic carbonate stratigraphic forward model designed to simulate the key biological and environmental processes that determine vertical reef accretion and assemblage changes in fossil reef drill cores. We present a Bayesian framework called Bayesreef for the estimation and uncertainty quantification of parameters in pyReef-Core that represent environmental conditions affecting the growth of coral assemblages in geological timescales. Weencounter multimodal posterior distributions and investigate the challenges of sampling using Markov chain Monte-Carlo (MCMC) methods, which includes parallel tempering MCMC. We use a synthetic reef-core to investigate fundamental issues and then apply the methodology to a selected reef-core from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The results show that Bayesreef accurately estimates and provides uncertainty quantification of the selected parameters that represent environment and ecological conditions in pyReef-Core. Bayesreef provides insights into the complex posterior distributions of the parameters in pyReef-Core , which provides the groundwork for future research in this area. • Estimating the impact of environmental processes on vertical reef development in geological time is a very challenging task. • pyReef-Core is a deterministic carbonate stratigraphic forward model designed to simulate the key biological and environmental processes. • This paper presents Bayesreef for the estimation and uncertainty quantification of parameters in pyReef-Core. • The results show that Bayesreef accurately estimates and provides uncertainty quantification for parameters in pyReef-Core. • Bayesreef provides insights in of pyReef-Core and establishes the groundwork for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]