Prioritising Wetland Management in Southern Gulf Region

Project manager: Leo Lymburner

Project staff: Damien Burrows, Mirjam Maughan

Funding: Southern Gulf Catchment Group

Timeline: January – July 2007

Summary:

This project is using remote sensing to describe the ecological character of wetlands in the Southern Gulf. This project aims to develop a prioritization scheme to assist with devolution of funding for on-ground wetland management works.

Objectives:

• Identify permanent and semi-permanent waterbodies throughout the Southern Gulf

• Quantify the permanence, turbidity and extent of riparian vegetation for these waterbodies

• Identify high priority waterbodies for protection or restoration with suggestions as to suitable management strategies

Technical report:

Lymburner L., 2007. Prioritizing Waterbody Management in the Leichhardt Catchment: using a Landsat TM Archive to Characterize Water Permanence and Water Clarity . ACTFR Report no. 07/20, Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research, James Cook University, Townsville.