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

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To test the effect of reef substrate morphology on the diversity of invertebrateassemblages, reefs of different heights but at the same depth were studied (Davis et al2003). It was found that wall height correlated with diversity of invertebrates. Shortwalls (those less than 2 m tall) exhibited high populations of sea urchins, on or in closeproximity to them. Consequently, there was an abundance of grazer resistant crustosecoralline algae on short walls In contrast, tall walls greater than 3 m showed a highdiversity of invertebrate species and lower numbers of sea urchins; species thatcontributed included the ascidians Botrylloides leachi, Sycozoa cerebriformis,Didemnim sp., the bryozoan Celloporaria sp. and the sponges Euryspongia sp. andIrcinia sp. Such measurable differences in biodiversity need to be considered whendetermining reef biodiversity in marine parks.Intermediate reef fish assemblagesIntermediate depth rocky reefs, unsuitable for underwater visual surveys on SCUBA,had not been previously surveyed in the marine park. To overcome this BRUV surveyswere conducted in nine locations in 2005 and 2006 (Wraith 2007). There was littlevariation between the dominant species composition of fish and their relativeabundance in the 144 BRUV samples. However, several rarer species, includinghogfish Bodianus unimaculatus, wrasse Coris sandageri, leatherjacket Meuscheniascaber, butterfly perch Caesioperca lepidoptera and mosaic leather jacket Eubalichthysmosaicus were found only at some sites, indicating some variability amongintermediate reefs. These assemblages were very different to shallow reefassemblages, with greater diversity and a higher abundance of reef fish in the deeperhabitats, consistent with research elsewhere confirming that sanctuary zones requirereefs of different depths to adequately represent the diversity of reef fish.Fauna of estuarine tidal flatsTidal flats are an important part of estuarine and marine ecosystems and also part of anetwork of crucial nursery habitats for many species in the marine park. Small faunaand sediments in Currambene Creek tidal flat, between Woollamia and Huskisson, wassampled before the current marine park zoning plan came into force in 2002. Thisdetermined which animals lived in the sediments of the tidal flat, how they weredistributed in the habitat, and what changes might be expected to occur followingsanctuary zone protection. For comparison, two tidal flats in estuaries outside themarine park were also sampled (Figure 3).The research provided clear information on the distribution of 80 species of fauna, withthe most dominant groups being polychaetes, molluscs and crustaceans. Differencesbetween groups of animals living in the sediment could change dramatically from onespot in a tidal flat to another only 100 m away (Winberg et al 2007b). The reasons arecomplex, but may include, for example, silt and clay content of sediment varying acrossthe same tidal flat. This means that it is important to protect a whole tidal flat habitat torepresent the suite of biodiversity. The most efficient ways to sample this habitat werealso determined in order to plan for future research and monitoring.16 Solitary Island and Jervis Bay Marine Parks Research Projects Summaries 2002–2009
Figure 3. Study locations of three estuaries in the Batemans Shelf Bioregion. Threespatial scales were used to determine patterns of biodiversity within a Jervis Bay MarinePark sanctuary zone, as well as how well the sanctuary zone represented the biodiversityof similar habitat outside of the marine parkIn addition, it was shown that Currambene Creek tidal flat was rich in species andcontained abundant fauna that represented tidal flats up to 30 km away. This isimportant as tidal flats are a nursery for many invertebrates, and feeding grounds forspecies higher up the food chain – for example whiting, mullet, bream and stingrays.The feeding patterns of some of these species were also studied, and the short-termeffects of these patterns on sediment invertebrates were measured. It was evident thatpredatory fish targeted specific tidal flats, with short-term effects on the abundanceand numbers of species, particularly small bivalves (Clements 2005). This researchprovides insights into the structure of this dynamic habitat, as well is role as nurseriesand feeding grounds.Solitary Island and Jervis Bay Marine Parks Research Projects Summaries 2002–2009 17
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 and 20: noted that colonies of Turbinaria m
Page 21: Solitary Island and Jervis Bay Mari
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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