Tropical Water & Ecosystems

Scott Morrissey

Scott Morrissey

Tim Smith

Tim Smith

Alejandro Navarro Otero

Alejandro Navarro Otero

Jack Koci

Jack Koci

Sarah McDonald

Sarah McDonald

Emily Webster

Emily Webster

Abbi Scott

Abbi Scott

Catherine Collier

Catherine Collier

Rob Coles

Rob Coles

Aaron Davis

Aaron Davis

Towards Solving COTS on the GBR Through Integrated Pest Management (Old ID 21944)
Caroline Petus
18 Dec 2014 - 30 Dec 2016
The project will use an innovative pest-management approach that centres around (1) new advanced models of CoTS outbreaks on the GBR and how they are driven by processes on land and in the sea, (2) effective knowledge transfer from cutting-edge science to strategic management and improved industry practices and (3) continued capacity-building in Cots management and effective stakeholder engagement.
NESP 3.5: Supporting regional planning in northern Australia: Building knowledge, skills & partnerships for understanding seagrass distribution (Old ID 29021)
Catherine Collier
01 Feb 2023 - 20 Nov 2026
Northern Australia has vast development opportunities but limited knowledge of the environment to inform decision making. This region has globally significant seagrass habitat, supporting dugong, green turtle, and commercially important fish and prawns. However, knowledge about seagrass habitats for extensive areas of the coast is limited - data is patchy or not freely available, few large-scale mapping surveys have been conducted, and even fewer seagrass long-term monitoring programs exist. This project will address these problems by: 1. Mapping selected benthic habitats, with a focus on seagrass, using methods consistent with previous and ongoing surveys in northern Australia. 2. Establishing a benchmark of seagrass habitats for Traditional Owners, Indigenous communities, rangers, management agencies, ports, industry, and researchers to assess change. 3. Partnering with management agencies and ranger groups to co-design mapping and monitoring methods in remote areas that use new technology such as drones. 4. Compiling and synthesizing historical seagrass data into a publicly available spatial database to create a permanent record. 5. Interpreting and reporting on survey findings, including providing advice on options for establishing monitoring programs.
Influencing agriculture practice behaviour change and trust frameworks. (Old ID 26963)
Aaron Davis
01 Jan 2020 - 10 Dec 2020
The ecologically-determined water quality improvement targets for the Great Barrier Reef can only be met with significant improvement in farm management practices. Numerous programs over many years, utilising a variety of approaches, have worked with land managers and representative farmer groups, seeking to achieve high levels of uptake of recommended farming practices. However, these have only met with low-moderate success. There has been significant work encouraging and facilitating behaviour and practice change in recent years, including through, but certainly not limited to, the NESP TWQ Hub. Programs encouraging behaviour and practice change are set to remain a feature of contemporary reef funding programs. Thus it is timely to coordinate a synthesis of learnings in this domain. Increasing understanding of, and improving trust frameworks and behaviour change of land managers will lead to improved water quality to the Great Barrier Reef. Understanding the impetus, benefits and barriers of behaviour change for agricultural practice is a large step in improving water quality to the Great Barrier Reef.
Influencing agriculture practice behaviour change and trust frameworks. (Old ID 26963)
Norm Duke
01 Jan 2020 - 10 Dec 2020
The ecologically-determined water quality improvement targets for the Great Barrier Reef can only be met with significant improvement in farm management practices. Numerous programs over many years, utilising a variety of approaches, have worked with land managers and representative farmer groups, seeking to achieve high levels of uptake of recommended farming practices. However, these have only met with low-moderate success. There has been significant work encouraging and facilitating behaviour and practice change in recent years, including through, but certainly not limited to, the NESP TWQ Hub. Programs encouraging behaviour and practice change are set to remain a feature of contemporary reef funding programs. Thus it is timely to coordinate a synthesis of learnings in this domain. Increasing understanding of, and improving trust frameworks and behaviour change of land managers will lead to improved water quality to the Great Barrier Reef. Understanding the impetus, benefits and barriers of behaviour change for agricultural practice is a large step in improving water quality to the Great Barrier Reef.
Marine plant survey of the Half Tide Tug Harbour Hay Point (Old ID 27445)
Skye McKenna
01 Sep 2021 - 31 Dec 2021
North Queensland Bulk Ports (NQBP) have engaged the TropWATER to undertake a survey to determine the presence/absence of marine plants within the Half Tide Tug Harbour, located at the Port of Hay Point. Specifically, the survey requires assessment of marine plant distribution in the area proposed for expanded maintenance dredging, as well as a contemporary survey of marine plants in the area currently approved for dredging.
Satellite Based Water Analysis and Drought Planning in Northwest Qld
Jack Koci
01 Aug 2023 - 23 Apr 2025
This project will utilize satellite imagery to map and monitor small water bodies and farm dams to improve grazing land management. The project aims to extract time series of water areas from the satellite images, perform time series analysis to assess the shrinkage or expansion of the water bodies, water levels, and determine their precise locations. The focus is on understanding the availability and dynamics of these water resources, which are vital for livestock, domestic use and wildlife habitats. This project will be a partnership between SGNRM and JCU.
Benthic Mapping with Angkamuthi Traditional Owners in West Cape York Marine Park
Tim Smith
25 May 2024 - 06 May 2026
This project's requirements are for field work, data analysis and reporting on benthic habitats and fish, principally in the Habitat Protection and Special Purpose Zones of West Cape York Marine Park in the North Network of Australian Marine Parks in collaboration with Angkamuthi Traditional Owners.
Identifying the water quality and ecosystem health threats to the Torres Strait from Fly River runoff (Old ID 26377)
Caroline Petus
01 Jan 2019 - 10 Dec 2020
Runoff from the Fly River in Papua New Guinea influences water quality conditions in the Torres Strait region. Recent work (NESP Project 2.2.1 and 2.2.2) has clearly demonstrated that this influence is largely constrained to the northern Torres Strait, as far east as Bramble Cay and at least as far west as Boigu Island. The intensity of this influence, and the potential ecological impacts, are still not well understood. Trace metal concentrations are higher in the northern Torres Strait around Boigu and Saibai, however it is not clear whether this enrichment is natural or the result of mine derived inputs of trace metals. Further investigation is required to understand the prevalence and frequency of the extension of this influence, including characterisation of plume constituents, particularly sediment and trace metals in comparison to previous results including the Torres Strait Baseline Study.
Seagrass Monitoring and Protection in Wuthathi Sea Country (Old ID 27656)
Len McKenzie
01 Mar 2022 - 14 Feb 2023
Wuthathi land and sea country in far northern Cape York extends from Captain Billy landing south to Temple Bay and includes Shelburne Bay and Raine Island. JCU will work with Wuthathi rangers to map coastal seagrass habitats in Wuthathi. A range of techniques will be adopted, including helicopter surveys and airborne/spaceborne imagery (UAV drone and satellite) for intertidal and shallow subtidal habitats and drop cameras in deeper subtidal waters. Wuthathi rangers will be trained in seagrass mapping and monitoring techniques to facilitate continued monitoring of seagrass habitats in Wuthathi sea country.
Hay Point Seagrass Assessment & Monitoring (Old ID 21849)
Skye McKenna
01 Oct 2014 - 31 Oct 2017
This project was developed to re-establish the seagrass long term monitoring program for Hay Point and add additional monitoring in the Keswick Island area. The project will conduct a baseline survey of the two areas in 2014 and establish an annual monitoring program in 2015 & 2016 from this baseline and historical monitoring. The seagrass monitoring will complement the newly established ambient water quality monitoring for the port.

First detection of Edwardsiella ictaluri (Proteobacteria: Enterobacteriaceae) in wild Australian catfish

Efficiency of ddRAD target enriched sequencing across spiny rock lobster species (Palinuridae: Jasus)

Contrasting impacts of light reduction on sediment biogeochemistry in deep- and shallow-water tropical seagrass assemblages (Green Island, Great Barrier Reef)

Extremely low genetic diversity across mangrove taxa reflects past sea level changes and hints at poor future responses

Defining wet season water quality target concentrations for ecosystem conservation using empirical light attenuation models: a case study in the Great Barrier Reef (Australia)

Predicting the cumulative effect of multiple disturbances on seagrass connectivity

Compensating for geographic variation in detection probability with water depth improves abundance estimates of coastal marine megafauna

Monitoring herbicide concentrations and loads during a flood event: a comparison of grab sampling with passive sampling

Potential enhanced survivorship of crown of thorns starfish larvae due to near-annual nutrient enrichment during secondary outbreaks on the central mid-shelf of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Calculating sediment trapping efficiency for reservoirs in series

Title: Ports North, Ports North supports an annual monitoring program conducted by James Cook University (JCU) in Cairns Harbour and Trinity Inlet, as well as at our other ports, such as Karumba, Mourilyan and Thursday Island. By using helicopters and underwater cameras on boats, the seagrass meadows are mapped and assessed for any changes.
Reseracher: Carissa Reason (Senior Research Officer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2009
End Date: 01 Jan 2026
Title: Gladstone Ports Corporation, The purpose of the Long-term Maintenance Dredging Management Plan (LMDMP) is to address operational needs, environmental risks, monitoring and adaptive management actions specific to the Port of Gladstone whilst ensuring the ongoing sustainability of maintenance dredging within the port.
Reseracher: Carissa Reason (Senior Research Officer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2009
End Date: 01 Jan 2030
Title: North Queensland Bulk Ports, Partnering with scientists at James Cook University (JCU), NQBP has been collecting data on seagrass growth around our port sites for more than 20 years. In addition to informing our own environmental activities and port operations, our data has contributed to advances in an international body of seagrass knowledge through JCU's academic research and regional report cards developed to help monitor the health of our waterways.
Reseracher: Carissa Reason (Senior Research Officer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2014
End Date: 01 Jan 2030
Title: Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service contracted James Cook University to conduct surveys and research on the impacts to and resilience of seagrass in Great Sandy Marine Park. This important surveying and research help government understand the impacts to seagrass from the 2022 flooding events and its ability to recovery.
Reseracher: Carissa Reason (Senior Research Officer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2021
End Date: 01 Jan 2025
Title: Master of Science - Botany, James Cook University
Reseracher: Norm Duke (Senior Research Scientist)
Start Date: 01 Jan 1981
End Date: 01 Jan 1984
Title: Doctor of Philosophy, James Cook University
Reseracher: Norm Duke (Senior Research Scientist)
Start Date: 01 Jan 1986
End Date: 01 Jan 1988
Title: Bachelor of Science with Honours, James Cook University
Reseracher: Norm Duke (Senior Research Scientist)
Start Date: 01 Jan 1973
End Date: 01 Jan 1973
Title: Editor of the SeDNAS PeerJ Hub
Reseracher: Cecilia Villacorta Rath (Senior Research Officer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2024
Title: Higher Degree By Research Committee
Reseracher: Jack Koci (Principal Research Officer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2022
End Date: 01 Jan 2023
Title: Conference co-chair
Reseracher: Sarah McDonald (Senior Research Officer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2023
End Date: 01 Jan 2023