New tools to guide Indigenous Rangers monitoring Sea Country
Indigenous Rangers and researchers from JCU TropWATER, Charles Darwin University, and Edith Cowan University have co-designed practical guides to give Rangers the skills they need to lead seagrass monitoring across northern Australia’s vast tropical meadows.
The new toolkit provides step-by-step videos and manuals for Rangers monitoring seagrass, building on long-standing partnerships that are supporting Rangers from WA to QLD to care for Sea Country.
3 August: Rangers on Sea Country: Practical tools for habitat monitoring
WEBINAR: 1-2pm AEST Monday 3 August
Indigenous Rangers are increasingly leading efforts to monitor seagrass and other marine habitats, bringing together science with connection to Country.
Hear first-hand about monitoring in the biodiverse tropical waters of the Kimberley from Karajarri Rangers and supporting Ranger-led monitoring across northern Australia from TropWATER’s Dr Alex Carter and Dr Catherine Collier in our latest webinar.
They will share their work creating a practical skills toolkit, insights from long-term programs and those just beginning, what Rangers can do with their data, and looking ahead for Ranger-led monitoring of Sea Country.
View more details below and sign up to hear about upcoming webinars.
While some rainforest frogs are bouncing back, others remain on the brink
After catastrophic losses, some rainforest frogs are bouncing back – but one species is still on the brink.
Queensland’s rainforest frogs were hit hard by chytrid fungus in the 1980s and 1990s. Now, our researchers have used environmental DNA (eDNA) to search for three threatened frog species in waterways of the Wet Tropics to understand their recovery.
By using eDNA, researchers could detect frog populations from water samples collected up to 22km downstream.
“The good news is Litoria dayi [the Australian Lace-lid Frog] and Litoria nannotis [the Waterfall Frog] were more widespread than we thought – they’re bouncing back,” said Dr Cecilia Villacorta-Rath, who led the study.
But the news for the Critically Endangered Armoured Mistfrog is not so good, with these frogs detected in just one location.
Helping graziers build climate resilience and demonstrate sustainability
Across northwest Queensland, large areas of grazing land are in poor condition, leaving these lands less able to store carbon and support biodiversity and more susceptible to erosion and pasture loss from floods and droughts. As extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, these problems are expected to only get worse.
We’re working with landholders and regional NRM organisations to identify and apply practical, science-based management practices that restore land condition and build resilience to a changing climate.
By combining local knowledge with scientific monitoring, graziers can see how these actions improve the health of their soil and pasture.
What is coral recruitment?
Coral recruitment is essential for reef recovery – but what is it?
Recruitment is a key stage in the early life of baby corals. It’s the process where drifting coral larvae settle onto reef or rubble and grow for the first 8-12 weeks of their lives.
Read our short Explainer for an introduction to how corals reproduce and recruit – and how we’re studying and boosting coral recruitment to understand reef health and recovery.
Large scale water quality monitoring using remote sensing
The Great Barrier Reef, which spans 344,400 square kilometres and includes 35 river basins, is susceptible to poor water quality, particularly in inshore areas. It can experience terrestrial runoff and flood plumes that extend over 700 kilometres, covering large areas of vital inshore and some midshelf ecosystems.
We are using satellite images and advanced remote sensing technology to map and monitor water quality conditions from ocean colour products across expansive reef ecosystems such as the Great Barrier Reef, Torres Strait, Pacific Islands and Gulf of Carpentaria.
Our research and projects
We provide industries, communities and governments with science-based solutions to better manage, protect and restore our tropical water ecosystems. Explore our research and projects.
.webp)
News
Our services and capabilities
We provide science-based solutions, stakeholder training, and innovative monitoring technologies. Our capabilities include water quality and eDNA labs, specialised training programs, technology development, and a range of environmental assessments and restoration efforts.
Subscribe
Get the latest TropWATER news and research by subscribing to our newsletter today.
