AIMS Long-term Monitoring Program: Video and Photo Transects (Great Barrier Reef)
Benthic organisms were surveyed annually on fixed sites in one habitat on each of 47 selected core survey reefs from 1993 to 2005 in 6 regions throughout the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Surveys were undertaken at 3 sites per reef, with 5x50m transects surveyed per site.In 2004 a new zoning plan was implemented in the Great Barrier reef Marine Park and in 2006 the pattern of surveys was changed. The original set of reefs (47) are surveyed in odd years (e.g. 2007) and a different set (56 reefs) are surveyed in even years. The new set consists of paired reefs (one no-take, and one open to fishing) surveyed to assess the effects of rezoning. The paired reefs are near Cairns and Innisfail, Townsville, Mackay, the Swain Reefs and the Capricorn-Brunker group.From 1993 to 2006 video transects were recorded and sub-sampled at 200 points per sample. The program was modified in 2007 to allow collection of data from single frames shot at 1m intervals along each transect using a digital still camera.Benthic groups recorded are: Abiotic; Hard coral; Soft coral; Coralline algae; Macro algae; Turf algae; Sponge; Other; Indeterminate. To annually monitor the cover of benthic organisms, reef fish abundance and crown-of-thorns starfish populations on various reefs of the Great Barrier Reef.The program has been designed to track changes in reef communities over time across sub-regions of the GBR. Parameters: Percentage cover of different substrate types and benthic organisms (particularly corals), identified to benthic group or lifeform level. Data on reef fish abundance and diversity are collected at the same sites and times.
Data and resources
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Long-term monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef. Status Report Number 7: Sweatman HPA, Burgess S, Cheal AJ, Coleman GJ, Delean S, Emslie MJ, McDonald A, Miller…HTML Open
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Temporal patterns in coral assemblages on the Great Barrier Reef from local to large spatial scales: Ninio R, Meekan MG, Done TJ and Sweatman HPA (2000)…HTML Open
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Historical information on benthic communities of inshore reefs of the Great Barrier Reef: Thompson AA and Sweatman HPA (2004) Historical information on benthic…HTML Open
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Reef Dashboard: latest annual update of the coral cover trend in the Great Barrier ReefHTML Open
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Survey Manual for Tropical Marine Resources: English S, Wilkinson CR and Baker VJ (eds) (1994) Survey Manual for Tropical Marine Resources. Australian Institute…HTML Open
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AIMS long-term reef monitoring programHTML Open
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NERP TE Project 1.1 - Monitoring status and trends of coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef: NERP TE Project 1.1 - Monitoring status and trends of coral reefs…HTML Open
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NERP TE Project 8.1 - Monitoring the ecological effects of GBR zoning plan on mid and outer shelf reefs: NERP TE Project 8.1 - Monitoring the ecological effects…HTML Open
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Subset of this data collected as part of the NERP TE 8.1 project on the paired zoning reefs.: Subset of this data collected as part of the NERP TE 8.1 project…CSV Open
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Long-Term Monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef, Status Report Number 5: Sweatman HPA, Cheal AJ, Coleman GJ, Delean S, Fitzpatrick BM, Miller IR, Ninio R,…HTML Open
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Long-term Monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef. Status Report Number 1: Oliver JK, De'ath AG, Done TJ, Williams DMcB, Furnas MJ and Moran PJ (1995) Long-term…HTML Open
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Responses of reef fish communities to coral declines on the Great Barrier Reef: Cheal AJ, Wilson SK, Emslie MJ, Dolman A and Sweatman HPA (2008) Responses of…HTML Open
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Long-term monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef. Status Report Number 2: Sweatman HPA (1997) Long-term monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef. Status Report Number…HTML Open
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Long-term monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef. Status Report Number 7: Abdo D, Burgess S, Coleman G and Osborne K (2004) Surveys of benthic reef communities…HTML Open
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Estimating cover of benthic organisms from underwater video images: variability associated with multiple observers: Ninio R, Delean S, Osborne K and Sweatman…HTML Open
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Responses of coral and fish assemblages to a severe but short-lived tropical cyclone on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia: Cheal AJ, Coleman GJ, Delean S,…HTML Open
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Recovery of a fish community six years after a catastrophic mortality event: Halford AR (1997) Recovery of a fish community six years after a catastrophic…HTML Open
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Tebbett, S. B., Emslie, M. J., Jonker, M. J., Ling, S. D., Pratchett, M. S., Siqueira, A. C., Thompson, A. A., Yan, H. F., & Bellwood, D. R. (2025). Epilithic…HTML Open
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Subset of this data collected as part of the NERP TE 1.1 project on the standard set of reefs.: Subset of this data collected as part of the NERP TE 1.1 project…CSV Open
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Great Barrier Reef butterflyfish community structure: the role of shelf position and benthic community type: Emslie MJ, Pratchett Ms, Cheal AJ and Osborne K…HTML Open
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A guide to the reef monitoring database. Long term monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef. Standard operational procedure No. 5: Baker VJ and Coleman GJ (2000) A…HTML Open
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Long-term Monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef. Status Report Number 4: Sweatman HPA, Cheal AJ, Coleman GJ, Fitzpatrick BM, Miller IR, Ninio R, Osborne K, Page…HTML Open
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Long-Term Monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef. Status Report Number 6.: Sweatman HPA, Abdo D, Burgess S, Cheal AJ, Coleman GJ, Delean S, Emslie MJ, Miller IR,…HTML Open
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Resilience to large-scale disturbance in coral and fish assemblages on the Great Barrier Reef: Halford AR, Cheal AJ, Ryan DAJ and Williams DMcB (2004)…HTML Open
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The current status of sessile benthic organisms of the Great Barrier Reef: Osborne K, Ninio R and Sweatman HPA (1997) The current status of sessile benthic…HTML Open
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Surveys of sessile benthic communities using the video technique. Long term monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef. Standard operational procedure No. 2: Christie…HTML Open
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Spatial patterns in benthic communities and the dynamics of a mosaic ecosystem on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia: Ninio R and Meekan MG (2002) Spatial…HTML Open
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Long-Term Monitoring Program Annual Summary Report of Coral Reef Condition 2021/2022HTML Open
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Long-Term Monitoring Program Annual Summary Report of Coral Reef Condition 2020/2021HTML Open
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The Australian Institute of Marine Science's Coral Reef Monitoring Programs on the Great Barrier Reef: Sweatman HPA (1999) The Australian Institute of Marine…HTML Open
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Long-term Monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef. Status Report Number 3: Sweatman HPA, Bass DK, Cheal AJ, Coleman GJ, Miller IR, Ninio R, Osborne K, Oxley WG,…HTML Open
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Similar regional effects among local habitats on the structure of tropical reef fish and coral communities: Burgess S, Osborne K and Caley MJ (2010) Similar…HTML Open
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Surveys of benthic reef communities using underwater video. Standard operational procedure No. 7 (rev): Page CM, Coleman GJ, Ninio R and Osborne K (2001)…HTML Open
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Long-term Monitoring of the Great Barrier reef, Status Report: Sweatman HPA, Cheal AJ, Coleman GJ, Emslie MJ, Johns K, Jonker M, Miller IR and Osborne K (2008)…HTML Open
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Recovery from disturbance of coral and reef fish communities on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia: Emslie MJ, Cheal AJ, Sweatman HPA and Delean S (2008)…HTML Open
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Data summarised by broad benthic groups - Zip folder containing CSV and text file size: 355 KBZIP Open
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Additional information
| Date (revision) | 2026-10-24 |
|---|---|
| Status | onGoing |
| Update frequency | asNeeded |
| Metadata language | en |
| License | Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 |
| Source metadata | ISO 19115 XML |
| Last updated | 2026-11-05 |
| Created | 2026-11-05 |
| API | package_show |