Researchers are building the environmental equivalent of the ASX200 as a means of monitoring the health of Australian marine ecosystems. 

The state of an ecosystem can be understood by measuring the right ecological characteristics, just as the ASX200 index shows the state of the Australian stock market by following 200 selected stocks. CSIRO statistician Dr Keith Hayes, one of the leaders of the study, says the difficult part is selecting which ecological characteristics to track. “Ecosystems respond to multiple pressures and threats in complex ways. Identifying reliable indicators of change from among the many species and characteristics of the system is a challenging task”.

In a pilot project undertaken for the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) last year, CSIRO identified indicators for five ‘key ecological features’ named by the Commonwealth Government for the South-West Marine Region off Western Australia’s coast. The project team and DEWHA have now embarked on a two year project to extend the approach nationally. “Indicators are an important topic in environmental circles right now as they help us make better decisions about managing the environment,” Marine Biodiversity Hub Director Professor Nic Bax says.

Media release - http://www.csiro.au/news/Monitoring-marine-ecosystems

Image caption: Marine indicators will be invaluable in protecting biodiversity, such as this recently discovered invertebrate from western Australia’s deep sea. Image: CSIRO