Standard operational procedure : video-monitoring of sessile benthic communities : a report to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

Abstract

Information on changes in the abundance and distribution of organisms in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is essential for managers and scientists who wish to understand the ecological processes occurring on the reef and how these processes may be affected by human activities. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) have jointly developed a strategy for the monitoring of long-term, regional changes in major biota and nutrients in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The program was established with two broadscale objectives: To detect and quantify major changes through time in the distribution and abundance of corals (and other dominant organisms), fishes, nutrients, and the crown-of-thorns starfish. 2 To provide managers (and other decision-makers) with information that is pertinent to assessing the 'health' of the Great Barrier Reef.