Management Concern: High    

Adequacy of Information: Moderate

Summary extracts from Outlook Report 2009

• Coral reef habitats are likely to be declining, more so in inshore areas, but the trends are difficult to interpret.
• Available evidence indicates that the overall status of coral reefs on the Great Barrier Reef is relatively good, but is likely to be declining slightly, especially in inshore areas. However, the picture is not simple or clear cut, with reefs in different regions showing enormous differences in trends, including both increases and declines. This is because coral reefs are naturally dynamic habitats, with cycles of disturbance and recovery. The challenge is to detect whether there are long-term trends hidden within natural cycles.
  
• Further information is needed on the resilience of coral reef habitats and cumulative impacts of climate change and commercial and non-commercial use.

What do we know?

Relevant pages from Outlook Online include:

• Summary of the vulnerability of the Great Barrier Reef to climate change
• Climate change: trends on the Great Barrier Reef
  
• Confronting the coral reef crisis
  
• Australian Institute of Marine Science - surveys of sessile benthic communities
  
• Coral cover estimates during broadscale surveys using manta tow
  
• Trend in Great Barrier Reef hard coral cover from the AIMS Long-term Monitoring Program
  
• Reef Water Quality Protection Plan Inshore Reef Monitoring: hard coral, soft coral and algal cover
  
• Status of coral reefs of the world 2008
  
• Vulnerability of coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef to climate change 
  
• Map of predicted vulnerability of coral reefs to climate change

Existing policies and management actions

• Marine Park legislation and regulations
• Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan
• Australian Government policy on climate change
• Queensland Government climate change policies and strategies
• Climate Change Action Plan 2007-2012
• Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 – Ecological assessments
  
• Accreditation (with conditions) of the export component of the commercial coral harvest fishery under national sustainability guidelines
  
• Queensland Policy for the Management of the Coral Fishery
  
• Guidelines for the Management of Artificial Reefs in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
  
• Regional Plans of Management, including Reef Protection Markers and moorings
  
• Permit conditions for specific activities
  

Future management requirements

• Biodiversity strategy

Defined research questions

• What are the key indicators of coral reef resilience to climate change and how can these indicators be detected and measured?
  
• What will be the interaction dynamics between algae, coral polyps and herbivores under different climate scenarios?

Related information

• Current Research and Monitoring