Developing ecosystem health monitoring programs for rivers and streams (Poster presentation)
by
Bronwyn Harch
CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences, Cleveland
Coauthors: Maree O’Sullivan (CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences, Sydney)

During the last decade, the long-term ecological health of Australian rivers and streams has emerged as one of the biggest national natural resource management objectives. The National Water Quality Management Strategy forms a national program in Australia to achieve ecologically sustainable use of water resources by protecting and enhancing their quality, while maintaining economic and social development.

The main focus for monitoring the ‘health’ of rivers and streams has progressed from only measuring water chemistry attributes to measuring aspects of ecosystem health – chemical, physical and biological. Ecosystem health for freshwaters is now increasingly being diagnosed using aquatic macro-invertebrates (water bugs), fish, frogs, nutrients (forms of N and P), algae, macrophytes, the production and consumption of organic carbon, sediment bacteria and the more traditional water chemistry parameters.

Examples of our involvement with the development of ecosystem health programs in South-East Qld, South-West Qld and the Sydney area will be presented with an emphasis on the contributions made by statistics. Aspects of sampling program design, statistical analysis and reporting of ecosystem health assessment will be highlighted.

Date received: April 3, 2002