Risk Assessment for Coastal Seagrass Habitats of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area: Outputs from the Risk Assessment Working Group
Other Publication ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
Coastal and deepwater seagrasses in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) are threatened by multiple anthropogenic activities. The risks to seagrasses from these impacts need to be assessed using the best available and most reliable data. There are potentially high social, economic and political costs in eliminating/reducing the environmental effects of human activities. There may also be high costs associated with and the ecological consequences of postponing management interventions. The objective of the risk assessment working group was to assess the effectiveness of the current GBRWHA seagrass management regime and inform the design of future management actions using the best available and most reliable data. The objective of the working group was achieved by using decision-support tools, such as spatial risk analysis in geographical information systems (GIS), to assist in assessments of risks to seagrass by incorporating spatially explicit models of species distribution with qualitative and quantitative information on the distribution of resources and anthropogenic impacts. Outputs of the working group included: (1) the estimation of the risk to deepwater seagrass habitats from the Queensland East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery; (2) the development of a spatially-explicit predictive model of coastal seagrass distribution in the GBRWHA; and (3) the estimation of the risk of coastal seagrass habitats from multiple anthropogenic threats. The working group has been a successful collaboration between government management agencies and a university and could provide a kernel for continuing collaboration,
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24
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Reef and Rainforest Research Centre
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Cairns, QLD, Australia
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