ecosystem health monitoring program,julia playford
TRANSCRIPT
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Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program
Dr Julia PlayfordDirector
Water Quality and Aquatic Ecosystem Health
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Where do we want to be?Healthy Ecosystems Poor Ecosystem Health
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Why do we monitor?EHMP based on a conceptual model that integrates scientific understanding with community derived environmental values
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Staged Approach in Design and Implementation
Design of Estuarine/Marine Program
Implementation of Estuarine/Marine Program
Establish links between agenciesSet objectives based on stakeholder needs
Extension to Northern & Southern regions
Design of Freshwater Program
Trial of Freshwater Program
Implementation of Freshwater Program
• Assess effectiveness of environmental protection measures (e.g. stormwater controls, STP upgrades, riparian vegetation)
• Meet discharge and other licensing requirements
Monitor Ecosystem Health of Waterways to:
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The SEQ Waterways Ecosystem Health Report Card represents a comprehensive marine, estuarine and freshwater ecosystem health monitoring program (snapshot of the health of 18 catchments, 18 estuaries and 9 zones in Moreton Bay)
135 freshwater sites
254 estuarine and marine sites
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Report Card Grades reflect ecosystem health of waterways (achieve environmental values)
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What is the Report Card?
Most publicised output of the SEQ Healthy Waterways Partnership Easy-to-understand snapshot of ecosystem health A to F Designed to provide an insight into the effectiveness of investments in waterway and catchment managementSplit into two reporting zones, freshwater and estuarine/marineEach has its own objectives, parameters, methods and analysis
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SoutheastSetting Guidelines
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What goes into a Report Card Grade?Estuarine Report Card
Grade
Water Quality (EHI) (70%)
Biological (BHR) (30%)
i.e. mostly parameters that can be compared to an established guideline
- Bay:
TN, Chl-a, Secchi
depth, Sewage nitrogen (δ15N), Lyngbya- Estuary:
TN, TP, Chl-a, Turbidity, DO
- Bay: Seagrass distribution, Seagrass depth range, Coral cover- Estuary:
Seagrass distribution, Riparian assessment, Sewage nitrogen (δ15N), Nutrient mixing
i.e. Categorised, qualitative, not assessed against a guideline
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BHR: Coral monitoring in Moreton Bay
3 x 20m replicate transects at 5 reef sites in Moreton Bay
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Boat based
Designed to be used underway
Allows the entire system to be assessed (no sub sampling)
Riparian Assessment Tool
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Doing the RAP
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Riparian Assessment Tool
• records multiple attributes every second
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% Natural for 18 Estuaries in South East Queensland in 2007
45 46
33
5847 51 54
28 29
95
4655
5
8275
62
47
92
0102030405060708090
100
AlbertBrem
erBris
bane
Cabbag
e Tree
Marooch
yOxle
yCab
oolture
CoomeraCurru
mbinEprap
ahLogan
MooloolahNera
ngNoosa
Pimpam
aPine
Talleb
udgeraTingalp
a
Estuary
Perc
enta
ge
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Freshwater Streams RC 2009
Improvements in biological indicators (macroinvertebrates and fish), reflecting positive influence of higher flows – more native species and lower proportion of alien fish.Decline in nutrient cycling processes in most reporting areas, reflecting the negative influence of catchment loads (with high nutrients) on the nutrient cycling processes in river systems.
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Overall score of streams in 2009 (0.805) very similar to previous year’s (0.803).
2008
2009
Spring Autumn Annual
Lower Lower Lower
Higher HigherHigherHigher
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Never lose sight of the big picture
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Trends from long-term datasets (Case: Bremer River)
There have been substantial improvements in some aspects of the estuarine portion of the river system, but those improvements are not yet sufficient to result in changes in EHMP grades.
EHMP 2001 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Freshwater N/A F F D- D- D- D- D D- D+Estuarine-Marine F F F F F F F D- F F
1
5
YR99
/00
YR00
/01
YR01
/02
YR02
/03
YR03
/04
YR04
/05
YR05
/06
YR06
/07
YR07
/08
YR08
/09
YR09
/10
00.20.40.60.811.21.41.61.82
TP (mg/l)
Sites
Years
Bremer River Estuary TP
1
5
YR99
/00
YR00
/01
YR01
/02
YR02
/03
YR03
/04
YR04
/05
YR05
/06
YR06
/07
YR07
/08
YR08
/09
YR09
/10
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
TN (mg/l)
Sites
Years
Bremer River Estuary TN
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How is the Report Card Used?
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Why has the Report Card been successful?
Because it’s really simple, A is good, F is bad and any grade change has been made for a definable reason (environmental or human induced)
It has consistently generated lots of public interest, particularly following the launch – has become very political
From an early stage it engaged a range of decision makers – politicians, catchment groups etc
We tend to get a good media coverage from the launch
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Launch of health-e-waterways : Data Integration System for SEQ waterways – first product is on-line Report Card
New Products: On-line Report Card
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Reality check:
Some waterways host infrastructure/ modifications required for society to function and obtaining high levels of ecological condition in some sections may be unrealistic.We need to acknowledge that 150+ years of human impacts won’t be fixed overnight.