Research Project Summaries 2002-2009 - Marine Parks Authority ...

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these habitats was conducted during the early 1990s (CSIRO 1994). Other studiesexamined specific taxonomic groups, such as algal communities, diverse throughoutthe marine park (Millar 1995). While some species were rare, others such as kelpEklonia radiata were common and influenced the composition of the many otherspecies associated with rocky reefs. Marine mammals and reptiles, and seabirds andshorebirds, are a distinct part of the fauna that include permanent residents, seasonalvisitors, and individuals passing through. Some are threatened species that benefitfrom the resources and condition of the marine park.Building on these previous studies, surveys conducted since 2002 have examinedbiodiversity of the marine park’s particular habitats, communities or taxonomic groups.Many also described the spatial and temporal patterns of diversity, abundance andcommunity composition. Further details of flora and fauna associated with habitats inJervis Bay Marine Park are presented in Natural values of the Jervis Bay Marine Park(NSW MPA 2008b).Reef habitats and assemblagesReefs are extensive in some areas of the marine park, and vary considerably in termsof depth, slope, exposure, distribution, structure and distance from shore. Thecomposition of the dominant benthic habitat or species has been identified throughvideo and SCUBA surveys. Firstly, towed video and echo soundings were conductedalong 250 m transects to examine benthic community structure (Fitzpatrick 2003).Benthic habitats contained coralline turf and macroalgae, sponges, ascidians, oysters,polychaetes, sand, silt and rubble.Surveys of shallow subtidal rocky reefs assessed fish abundance, diversity and size, aswell as macroinvertebrate and algal abundance (Barrett et al 2006), with 216 fishspecies recorded. Site-attached species such as wrasse, damselfishes, red morwongCheilodatylus fuscus and rock cale Crinodus lophodon provided the most temporally,and spatially, stable components of the fish assembladges. More mobile and schoolingspecies such as snapper Pagrus auratus and bream Acanthopagrus australis werehighly variable between sites and years. Newly-recruited juveniles of tropical species,which presumably die each winter, also added considerable annual variation.The long-spined urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii dominated the invertebrate fauna,while other species such as Turbo snails and red-throated ascidians Herdmaniamomus were locally abundant. Commercially and recreationally important abalone androck lobster species were extremely rare.A challenge to our understanding of the biodiversity of reefs is what processesdetermine assemblage. As for most habitats, reef biodiversity shows differentcombinations of species and/or abundances of particular species. Explanations forthese patterns include physical processes such as currents or substrate morphology.Understanding provides conservation of biodiversity and better management ofsustainable uses in marine parks.14 Solitary Island and Jervis Bay Marine Parks Research Projects Summaries 2002–2009
Solitary Island and Jervis Bay Marine Parks Research Projects Summaries 2002–2009 15Figure 2. Known seabed habitats in Jervis Bay Marine Park and Booderee National Park (Commonwealth)
Page 1 and 2: Solitary Islands andJervis Bay Mari
Page 3 and 4: ContentsSummaryiii1. Introduction 1
Page 5 and 6: SummaryBuilding a network of marine
Page 7 and 8: 1. IntroductionA network of marine
Page 9 and 10: 2. Biodiversity and ecological proc
Page 11 and 12: habitats outside the estuaries of t
Page 13 and 14: Reef fish assemblagesReef fish are
Page 15 and 16: To further examine the influence of
Page 17 and 18: Different types of ASUs supported d
Page 19: noted that colonies of Turbinaria m
Page 23 and 24: Figure 3. Study locations of three
Page 25 and 26: elatively short lifecycle (three to
Page 27 and 28: competition permit, had to submit d
Page 29 and 30: Sea turtlesSea turtles include vuln
Page 31 and 32: periodicity for acroporid corals. T
Page 33 and 34: 3.2.2 Population biology and assess
Page 35 and 36: Otolith microchemistry analysis of
Page 37 and 38: Assessing potential impacts associa
Page 39 and 40: y the MPA on reefs throughout the m
Page 41 and 42: Since the completion of this monito
Page 43 and 44: 6. Socio-economic influencesUnderst
Page 45 and 46: Figure 5. Hot spot analysis of over
Page 47 and 48: This study found that marine touris
Page 49 and 50: Visitor monitoring survey - NSW MPA
Page 51 and 52: Marine pests - University of Wollon
Page 53 and 54: Brown J (2000) Non-destructive asse
Page 55 and 56: Gladstone W (2007) Requirements for
Page 57 and 58: Lynch TP (2006), Incorporation of r
Page 59 and 60: Otway NM, Burke AL, Morrison NS, Pa
Page 61 and 62: Smart E (2000) An investigation int
Page 63 and 64: Wilkes K (2009) Boulder assemblages

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