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In this section you will find detailed information, including national overviews and state and regional level assessments, from the 2000-2002 National Land and Water Resources Audit theme assessments.
Australian Catchment, River and Estuary Assessment 2002
National Land and Water Resources Audit, 2002
ISBN 0 642 37125 3
Identifying key condition assessment indicators
Dryland salinity risk/hazard is a very strong indicator of catchment condition.
Photo: Julie Finnigan
Composite indices provide a relative assessment of catchment condition. They help to define priority catchments in need of concerted management effort through either protective management or rehabilitation.
Analysis of individual indicator patterns provides a way to examine the relative importance of biophysical attributes or processes contributing to the condition of a specific catchment. Assessments using individual indicators assist in defining the priority management needs within a specific catchment.
Assessing how well individual indicators reflect composite patterns of catchment condition also provides a way to identify minimum indicator sets - essential for cost-effective investment in data collection (Table 7). Example outputs of the better performing individual indicators for the land, water and biota components are presented in Figures 26-28.
| Indicators in order of performance for depicting areas of poorer catchment condition | Indicators in order of performance for depicting areas of better catchment condition |
|---|---|
| Native vegetation extent | 2050 high dryland salinity risk/hazard |
| Native vegetation fragmentation | Nutrient point source hazard |
| Protected areas | Impoundment density |
| Road density | Pesticide hazard |
| Pesticide hazard | Native vegetation extent |
| Sediment load | Native vegetation fragmentation |
| Univeral Soil Loss Equation erosion ratio | Industrial point source hazard |
| Soil degradation hazard | Road density |
| 2050 high dryland salinity risk/hazard | Sediment load |
| Industrial point source hazard | Weed density |
| Weeds | Univeral Soil Loss Equation erosion ratio |
| Feral animals | Soil degradation hazard |
| Impoundment density | Feral animals |
| Nutrient point source hazard | Protected areas |
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