AIMS Long-term Monitoring Program

The AIMS Long-term Monitoring Program (LTMP) is designed to detect changes in reef communities at a subregional scale. In this context, a subregion encompasses inshore, mid-shelf and outer shelf reefs across the continental shelf within one band of latitude (a sector).Reef surveys involve three approaches:1. broadscale manta tow surveys of crown-of-thorns starfish populations and reef-wide coral cover2. Intensive photographic surveys of stationary seafloor (benthic) organisms on fixed transects3. intensive visual counts of reef fish, juvenile corals, crown-of-thorns starfish, coral-eating snails and coral disease and bleaching.