The Norris Crew: Current Projects

The aim of this study is to develop a comprehensive tool for biodiversity management. The proposed approach consists of two stages, both based on a reference condition approach: First, the condition of a site is assessed to determine whether there is a significant loss of biodiversity. The second stage assesses the conservation value of sites that were determined to be unimpacted in the first step, which ensures maximum complementarity without having to set a priori target areas. Using GIS mapping, priority areas for restoration and conservation measures will be identified.

The habitat assessment approach to be undertaken by the project is to build a predictive model(s) based on the habitat requirements of native fish. The models would predict local scale (fish) habitat from larger catchment scale variables.

The Application of Multiple Lines and Levels of Evidence (MLLE) to an ecological question is new, and it is new to all of us. Lines of evidence = evidence coming from different groups of animals or process measures (diatoms, birds, fish, benthic metabolism). Levels of evidence = evidence within a particular line (diatoms) that applies to the different criteria (presence of a biological response, specificity of association, etc).

This project is comparing the performance of different biological assessment methods in situations of salinity and sedimentation gradients in three geographical regions.