Bayesian network models for environmental flow decision making in the Daly River, Northern Territory, Australia

Terence U. Chan, Barry T. Hart, Mark J. Kennard, Bradley J. Pusey, Will Shenton, Michael M. Douglas, Eric Valentine, Sandeep Patel
River Research and Applications, Sept 2010
This paper reports the development and application of two Bayesian Network models to assist decision making on the environmental flows required to maintain the ecological health of the Daly River. The abundances of two fish species—barramundi (Lates calcarifer) and sooty grunter (Hephaestus fuliginosus)—were chosen as the ecological endpoints for the models, which linked dry season flows to key aspects of the biology of each species. If current extraction entitlements were fully utilized, the models showed there would be significant impacts on the populations of these two fish species.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rra.1456/abstract

Hydrological changes and ecological impacts associated with water resource development in large floodplain rivers in the Australian tropics

Catherine Leigh, Fran Sheldon, 2008
River Research and Applications, v. 24(9) :1251 - 1270
We examined flow variability in large floodplain rivers in the Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia, and the potential ecological impacts of future water resource development (WRD). Flow metrics based on long-term records were used to classify flow regimes and predict hydrological drivers of ecological function. Flow regimes of selected rivers were then compared with those simulated for pre- and post-WRD flows in the Darling River. We propose that flow permanence and regularity; flow variability and absence; and wet-dry seasonality are the key hydrological drivers of biodiversity and ecological function in the floodplain rivers of Australia's north. Reduced and homogenized habitat, loss of life-history cues, inhibited dispersal and shifts in community composition, as a result of WRD, threaten the ecological integrity of rivers adapted to the three hydrological drivers above.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/117954745/abstract

Monitoring and Evaluation Trials, Northern Territory Region, Phase 2 Report

National Land and Water Resources Audit and Northern Territory Government, 2005
This report documents the activities and results of the Northern Territory Monitoring and Evaluation Framework Trials. The aims of this report were to investigate and report on the capacity of information systems to deliver regional / state data used to report progress towards the matters for target and report on the relevance of national data sets identified by the NLWRA national data trawl. Significant time was also spent deriving an actual information product for the Native Vegetation case study. This case study is documented in Section 7 of this report.

Monitoring savannah riparian zone condition in north Australia using image and field based assessment methods

K. Johansen, S. Phinn, M. Douglas, I. Dixon and J. Lowry
Australasian Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Conference, 2006
Government agencies responsible for riparian environments are assessing the combined utility of field survey and remote sensing for mapping and monitoring indicators of riparian zone condition. The objective of this work was to compare the Tropical Rapid Appraisal of Riparian Condition (TRARC) method to a satellite image based approach.

Comparison of image and rapid field assessments of riparian zone condition in Australian tropical savannahs

K. Johansen, S. Phinn, I. Dixon, M. Douglas and J. Lowry
Forest Ecology & Management, 240, 1-3, 42-60, 2007
Comparison of the Tropical Rapid Appraisal of Riparian Condition (TRARC) method developed for rapid on-ground assessment of the environmental condition of savannah riparian zones and an image based riparian condition monitoring scheme. Measurements derived from these two approaches were compared and the cost-effectiveness and suitability for multi-temporal analysis of the two approaches were assessed. Results showed that the TRARC method was more cost-effective at spatial scales from 1km to 200km of river in relatively homogeneous riparian zones.
doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2006.12.015

Linking riparian vegetation spatial structure in Australian tropical savannahs to ecosystem health indicators:

semi-variogram analysis of high spatial resolution satellite imagery
K. Johansen and S. Phinn
Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing 32, 3, 1-16, 2006
The objective of this work was to determine if the structural attributes of savannah riparian zones in northern Australia can be detected from commercially available remotely sensed image data. Two QuickBird images and coincident field data covering sections of the Daly River and the South Alligator River- Barramundie Creek in the Northern Territory were used.

http://pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/cjrs/m06-020.html

Assessing riparian health in tropical savannahs

I. Dixon, J. Dowe and M. Douglas
Australian Landcare, March 2005, page 30,
A short report on the need for a rapid appraisal technique to be able to monitor the health of riparian vegetation. Also discussed are the trials of TRARC in different locations across the Northern Territory and how it compares to other methods of assessment.

Tropical Rapid Appraisal of Riparian Condition Version 1 (for use in tropical savannahs)

I. Dixon, M. Douglas, J. Dowe and D. Burrows
Land and Water Australia, 2006
The Tropical Rapid Appraisal of Riparian Condition (TRARC) is a visual assessment of the riparian zone using simple indicators of condition. It is designed to be user-friendly for the non-specialist and is best suited to savannah streams with a well defined channel and a distinct riparian zone and is not designed for estuaries or for floodplains adjacent to the riparian zone. This guideline provides step by step instructions for undertaking a TRARC assessment. The TRARC Version 1 described here is preliminary and subsequent iterations will be refined through further research and extensive field validation in different river types. Daly River was one of the first study rivers.

Monitoring and Evaluation Trials, Northern Territory Region, Phase 1 report, November 2004

National Land and Water Resources Audit and Northern Territory Government, 2005
The Daly region is the Northern Territory’s National Monitoring and Evaluation Framework trial region. DIPE is undertaking the trial as there is no specific regional NRM body for the Daly region. The NT Landcare Council is the overarching organisation responsible for NHT and NAP in the NT in the absence of regional NRM bodies. At this stage, neither the NT nor the Daly region has accredited NRM plans. Development of an integrated NRM Plan (the Plan) for the NT NHT Region is currently underway. The report provides information on the importance of the region, Current and Recent NRM Initiatives in the Region, and the Key Regional Issues.

Inventory and risk assessment of water dependent ecosystems in the Daly basin, Northern Territory, Australia

G. W. Begg, R. A. van Dam, J. B. Lowry, C. M. Finlayson and D. J. Walden
Supervising Scientist, 2001
The specific aims of this inventory and risk assessment were to map and store in a Geographical Information System (GIS) the area, location and extent of a range of water dependent ecosystems in the Daly basin; establish threats to these ecosystems from forecast and existing water use and land management practices and overlay this information on the GIS-based map; identify which ecosystems are most at risk and where possible provide an assessment of the extent of this risk; and provide a mapping-base describing habitats critical for other key indicator species being investigated in the Daly basin.
http://www.environment.gov.au/ssd/publications/ssr/162.html