Population and major land use in the Great Barrier Reef catchment area spatial and temporal trends

Abstract

The purpose of this report was to gather geographical and statistical information on the Great Barrier Reef Catchment, the majority of which was compiled in 1998. This information is intended to support future studies on predicting the impact of land-based activities on the Great Barrier Reef.

This report originated from an identified need to expand the information base available to water quality researchers in terms of the spatial and temporal extent of anthropogenic disturbance within the Great Barrier Reef Catchment Area. A Geographic Information System (GIS) of existing historic and spatial datasets has been compiled to demonstrate trends in population and major land use with a view to providing a framework for current water quality research and in monitoring the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. Elsewhere, GIS has been used to analyse patterns of urbanisation and land use change within the catchments of large semi-enclosed marine ecosystems. The report provides a background to the history of modification of the Great Barrier Reef Catchment based on existing available datasets. The report is structured to give an initial description of the Great Barrier Reef lagoon and catchment area, followed by a description of the main types of catchment modification since settlement.