parks victoria technical series marine natural values study vol 2 ...

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Parks Victoria Technical Series No. 79 Flinders and Twofold Shelf Bioregions Marine Natural Values Study 2.4.3 MARINE ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES General Since the first natural values report by Plummer et al. (2003) there have been extensive monitoring and mapping surveys conducted in Cape Howe MNP. There has been extensive broadscale habitat mapping, with the intertidal areas mapped from aerial and satellite imagery (Ball and Blake 2007) and the deep subtidal areas mapped with hydroacoustic surveys (Holmes et al. 2007b). Both surveys were ground truthed with underwater video imagery. There have been four SRMP surveys of the shallow subtidal reef biota of Cape Howe which are summarised by Williams et al. (2007) and Edmunds et al. (2010b). In addition to the SRMP fish surveys, benthic deep water (> 10 m) fish have been surveyed with baited video in 2006 (Moore et al. 2008; Moore et al. 2009). A total of 74 species of fish belonging to 39 families were sampled over subtidal sediments and reef (Moore et al. 2008). Additional funding has allowed samples from deep subtidal soft sediment surveyed in the MNP in 1998 to be processed and identified (Heislers and Parry 2007). There have been no surveys of sandy beaches, intertidal reef or the pelagic habitats. Important locations for some birds and mammals are shown in Figure 33. Surveys in the MNP found that red algae dominate the diversity of macrophytes, gastropods, decapod crustaceans and echinoderms the invertebrates and fish and birds the vertebrates in Cape Howe MNP (Table 22, Appendix 1). Figure 34. A canopy of the kelp Ecklonia radiata with an understorey of small algae on a reef in Cape Howe Marine National Park. 75
Parks Victoria Technical Series No. 79 Flinders and Twofold Shelf Bioregions Marine Natural Values Study Table 22. Summary of the number of species in major biotic groups from surveys in Cape Howe Marine National Park. Biotic group Number of species Macrophytes 59 Green algae 3 Brown algae 13 Red algae 39 Seagrasses 4 Invertebrates 57 Decapod crustaceans 14 Chitons 1 Gastropods 27 Sea slugs 3 Cephalopods 1 Echinoderms 11 Vertebrates 124 Fish 40 Birds 63 Reptiles 5 Mammals 6 Intertidal Soft sediment As noted by Plummer et al. (2003) no specific data on the biota on sandy beaches are available in the MNP or nearby. Intertidal soft sediment flora is restricted to macroalgae drift and macroalgal epiphytes. Beach-washed materials in sandy beach habitats are a significant source of food for many shore birds, and contribute to the detrital cycle that nourishes many of the invertebrates, such as bivalves, living in the sand (Parks Victoria 2006c). Reef Rocky intertidal reefs, also called rocky reefs or intertidal platforms, are generally found in Victoria on and near headlands with stretches of sandy beaches either side. Along with beaches, intertidal reefs are one of the most accessible components of the marine environment as they are the interface between the ocean and the land (Power and Boxshall 2007). As such they are valued as important habitats by people and tend to be visited more than other sections of the coast (Carey et al. 2007a; Carey et al. 2007b). This means they are often subjected to human pressures like harvesting, fossicking and trampling as well as pressures from pollution sources on land and in the sea (Power and Boxshall 2007). Intertidal reef biota are exposed to large changes in physical conditions such as temperature and desiccation. There is great spatial and temporal variability in the life histories of the organisms and the environmental processes in reef habitats (Underwood and Chapman 2004). The recruitment of new biota onto the reef, from the plankton, strongly influences the ecological patterns for individual species and assemblages. Interactions between biota on the reef also influence biota distribution. Resources which are often in short supply on intertidal reefs are space on which to live and the food itself (Underwood and Chapman 2004). The remote location of the MNP means that human threats to the intertidal reef such as biota collection and trampling is low, due to this there is has been no intertidal reef monitoring program in Cape Howe MNP. Macroalgae and Aggregating Sessile Invertebrates The dominant intertidal algae in Cape Howe MPA are sea lettuce Ulva australis, neptune’s necklace Hormosira banksii and various coralline red algae (Plummer et al. 2003). The bull 76
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Page 51 and 52: Figure 15. Location of habitat type
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Biotic group Family Species Common
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Parks Victoria is responsible for m
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