Natural values of the Solitary Islands Marine Park - Marine Parks ...

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2 Natural values of the Solitary Islands Marine Parkoffshore islands. These factors have resulted in a unique environment where tropical,subtropical and temperate marine fauna and flora co-exist.Reef habitats, in particular, are very diverse. Swath-mapping of these habitats hasrevealed considerable details of their extent, distribution and structure, and indicatedthat there are large areas of complex reef at depths of more than 25 metres in boththe northern and southern ends of the marine park. There are some distinct patternsin the distribution of sessile assemblages, with corals tending to be dominant onreefs more than 1.5 to 2.5 kilometres from the coast and less than 25 metres deep.At depths greater than 25 metres, the sea bottom is dominated by sponges andinvertebrates including stalked ascidians (sea-squirts), sea-whips, gorgonians (coralswith flexible, often branching, skeletons), hydrozoans (multi-cellular animals such asblue-bottles, in which the cells are derived from two layers) and black coral.Figure 1.Extent of Solitary IslandsMarine Park and SolitaryIslands Marine Reserve.
Introduction 3Inshore reefs (those less than 1.5 kilometres from the shore) are characterised byabundant macroalgae, dominated by the kelp Ecklonia radiata, and various species ofSargassum and Caulerpa, with an understorey of coralline algae (algae with a coral-like,calcareous outer covering) and foliose algae (leafy algae with fronds and a holdfastwhich attaches itself to the seabed or a rock). Sponges and other sessile invertebratescan also occur on shallow reefs, but are not generally dominant. There are also strongcross-shelf differences in reef fish assemblages, with the number of tropical speciesand overall reef fish diversity increasing offshore.Mobile invertebrates are highly diverse, with more than 700 species of molluscs (snailsand shellfish) alone, recorded in the marine park. The overall number of these species islikely to be much higher as they are often inconspicuous, through being camouflaged,living in the reef matrix, being nocturnal, or being very small, and many groups havenot yet been systematically sampled.The region also supports more than 150 species of algae, 90 species of coral and over530 species of reef fish. About 12% of these fish species are endemic to the east coastof Australia, with about 5% endemic to the subtropical region of the east coast.Some fishes are threatened or protected, some have high conservation value due totheir endemism or their ecological role, and some are valued by fishers. Mammals,reptiles and birds are also a distinct part of the fauna, being permanent residents,seasonal visitors, or individuals just passing through.For more information on the physical and ecological values, particularly the biologicaldiversity of the region, see Rule et al 2007.1.3 Purpose of this documentThe purpose of this document is to consolidate information regarding the physicaland ecological values of Solitary Islands Marine Park, particularly new informationacquired since the zoning plan was introduced in 2002. This publication is one ofseveral documents that will be considered by the public during the review of thezoning plan in 2008. It provides information on the natural values of the marine park,so the public can consider these and contribute to discussion about current zoningarrangements. It complements a report on the social, cultural and economic usesof the marine park that has also been developed for reference during the reviewof zoning. It is envisaged that this document will be updated as new informationbecomes available.
Page 1 and 2: Naturalvalues of theSolitary Island
Page 3: ContentsGlossary1 Introduction . .
Page 6 and 7: littorinid snails: species of mollu
Page 10 and 11: 2 Physical environment2.1 ClimateTh
Page 12 and 13: 6 Natural values of the Solitary Is
Page 14 and 15: 8 Natural values of the Solitary Is
Page 16 and 17: 3 Ecosystems and habitatsBiological
Page 18 and 19: 4 Ocean ecosystemsConsolidated area
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Page 32 and 33: Figure 37.Station Creek.5 Estuarine
Page 38 and 39: 6 Pelagic ecosystemsOcean currents

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