Aspects of statistical design for monitoring waters of Port Curtis, Queensland

This report provides design input for an ecosystem health monitoring program that displays and highlights change in the ecological health of Port Curtis. Here, ecological health is defined in terms of the spatial distribution of processes, habitats and anthropogenic impact zones. Ecological health monitoring therefore requires a combined analysis of spatial extent and temporal persistence, with the latter used to detect trends and assess the condition of the port over time. After investigation of four data sets made available for statistical analysis, two main design aspects have been considered, 1) the optimal number of grabs for macrobenthos sampling and 2) spatial configuration of sampling stations via inference gained through interpolation of water quality parameters and contaminants throughout the port.