Parks Victoria Standard Operating Procedure

Parks Victoria Technical Series No. 9Subtidal Reef Monitoring SOPContentsExecutive Summary ...............................................................................................................IIIndex of Figures and Tables................................................................................................. V1.0 Introduction .....................................................................................................................11.1 BACKGROUND ...........................................................................................................................11.2 STANDARDISATION OF TECHNIQUES ....................................................................................21.3 SCOPE OF THIS STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE......................................................22.0 Overview of the Methods................................................................................................42.1 GENERAL DESCRIPTION ..........................................................................................................42.2 METHOD 1 – MOBILE FISHES AND CEPHALOPODS..............................................................42.3 METHOD 2 – INVERTEBRATES AND CRYPTIC FISHES.........................................................52.4 METHOD 3 – MACROALGAE .....................................................................................................52.5 METHOD 4 – MACROCYSTIS ...................................................................................................52.6 METHOD 5 – QUADRAT INVERTEBRATES..............................................................................52.7 SPECIES AND TAXONOMIC CATEGORIES MONITORED ......................................................63.0 Planning and Pre-Field Operations .............................................................................103.1 PERSONNEL .............................................................................................................................103.2 MOBILISATION AND FIELD CONDITIONS..............................................................................114.0 Equipment List ..............................................................................................................124.1 DIVING.......................................................................................................................................124.2 BOATING ...................................................................................................................................124.3 NAVIGATION .............................................................................................................................124.4 SAFETY .....................................................................................................................................124.5 UNDERWATER VISUAL CENSUS ...........................................................................................124.6 SPECIMEN COLLECTIONS......................................................................................................134.7 DOCUMENTATION ...................................................................................................................134.8 POST-DIVING............................................................................................................................135.0 Field Operations ............................................................................................................145.1 PRE-DIVE PROCEDURE ..........................................................................................................145.2 LOCATION OF SAMPLING SITE ..............................................................................................155.3 UNDERWATER VISUAL CENSUS PROCEDURE ...................................................................155.4 POST DIVE PROCEDURES......................................................................................................275.5 END OF DIVE DAY PROCEDURES .........................................................................................276.0 Specimen Curation........................................................................................................286.1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................286.2 DRYING – HERBARIUM PRESSINGS .....................................................................................286.3 DRYING – SILICA GEL..............................................................................................................296.4 GENETICS SPECIMENS...........................................................................................................296.5 WET SPECIMENS .....................................................................................................................306.6 FREEZING (-20 °C) ...................................................................................................................307.0 Training and Calibration ...............................................................................................317.1 CENSUS TRAINING ..................................................................................................................317.2 ON-GOING CALIBRATION........................................................................................................328.0 References and Identification Guides .........................................................................338.1 REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................338.2 FURTHER READING – IDENTIFICATION GUIDES AND MATERIALS...................................349.0 Forms .............................................................................................................................37DATA CORRECTION SHEET ..........................................................................................................39SPECIMEN LABELS.........................................................................................................................4010.0 Data Codes and Species Lists ...................................................................................41IV