Methods for Monitoring the Abundance and Habitat of the Northern Australian Mud Crab Scylla serrata

Abstract

A significant achievement of this project has been the completion of mapping of coastal wetland habitats using remote sensing techniques, which provided a complete broad-scale coverage of mud crab habitats in the NT and Qld. A major outcome/output of this work has been the incorporation of the mapping into a geographical information system (GIS) permitting a much wider application across a variety of natural resource management agencies and issues.The information can be used in many ways to assist the management of these habitats. In the first instance, it provides a suitable baseline dataset for monitoring broad scale changes in area and composition of coastal wetland communities. Additionally, it provides information required by managers for choosing representative habitats for protection.