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

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sample population from each estuary to a mixture of extreme stressors resulted insignificant depressions in THCs and proliferation of haemolymphic bacteria. However,haematological states did not differ between wild populations sampled from thedifferent locations.As haemolymphic communities in indigenous and stressed states differed, such adistinction could provide a biomarker for stress in T. australiensis. However, theapplicability for pollution monitoring, using T. australiensis as a model organism, isconstrained by enormous variation between individuals in haematological responses,as well as the fact that no clear stress response had been detected in shrimp from themore polluted environment.4.1.3 Pests and diseaseCoral disease and competitionA disease, recently termed ‘subtropical white syndrome’ (Dalton et al 2007),distinguished by progressive loss of necrotic tissue exposing the coral skeleton, wasdetected during a coral tagging study by the Solitary Island Underwater ResearchGroup (SURG) and the MPA that commenced in 2000 (Edgar et al 2003). At least 18%of tagged colonies were affected by this spreading disease with complete mortality in10% of tagged colonies within two years. This disease caused extensive mortality intabulate Acropora and Turbinaria species at some marine park locations. These coralspecies dominate many areas in the marine park and are important components ofcoral communities, as they provide habitat, food and refuge for many otherinvertebrates and tropical, subtropical and temperate fish. A subsequent study foundthat this disease affected six coral species from five genera (Dalton and Smith 2006).There was no difference in disease prevalence between 2002 and 2003 but fewerspecies were affected in 2003, suggesting that continual exposure may see loss ofdominant coral species (Dalton 2003). This ecologically significant disease couldseriously alter coral-dominated communities in the region.The ecology and the pathology of the disease were examined on island reefs. Resultsshowed it was affecting coral populations throughout the marine park (Dalton 2010).Seasonal patterns were recorded on all sites investigated during 2004–2006, withprevalence significantly higher during the summer than the winter. Rate-of-spread oftissue loss in affected colonies followed similar patterns.Studies on Turbinaria mesenterina showed that subtropical white syndrome is aninfectious disease transmitted by direct contact, but not via water (Dalton et al 2007).As antibiotics inhibit progression of lesions, it is likely that a bacterial pathogen (orpathogens) is responsible. A likely vector is a coralivorous nudibranch (Phistella sp.)which feed on diseased coral tissue. A nudibranch that had fed on healthy coralfragments was removed from the coral and within two days progressive tissue loss wasobserved adjacent to the feeding scars. These fragments were subsequently placedonto other healthy fragments and tissue sloughing was noted in the touching coralswithin five days, suggesting it is contagious (Dalton and Godwin 2006). Bacteria closelyrelated to the known pathogens Vibrio harveyi and Roseovarius crassostreae werefound with the lesions and could be agents of the disease. The pathogens also showedincreased growth rates at higher temperatures, similar to pathogens from otherreported coral diseases and in agreement with the higher disease prevalence found inthe summer of 2003.Other potential coral-habitat modifying influences included corallimorph colonies thatwere outcompeting hard corals, resulting in a reduction in habitat complexity andavailability. Corallimorph dynamics are currently being monitored. A survey conducted32 Solitary Island and Jervis Bay Marine Parks Research Projects Summaries 2002–2009
y the MPA on reefs throughout the marine park only found corallimorphs on reefsattached to islands.There is also evidence of interactions between corals and aggregations of a tubebuildingpolychaete worm Chaetopterus longipes in the marine park (Smith 2002).Initial studies indicated that branching colonies were most often affected by wormaggregations and a manipulative transplant experiment was conducted to determinethe effect of interactions on growth rate and survival of Pocillopora damicornis,Acropora solitaryensis and A. valida, the three most common branching corals at thestudy site. The results indicate that tube worms may be an important source ofmortality for corals in the marine park. As recent anecdotal evidence suggests thatChaetopterus aggregations are increasing at some sites, larger scale monitoring ofinteractions and outcomes is recommended to determine the threat to marginal coralcommunities.Although there is considerable potential for impacts, overall coral cover has beenmaintained between 2002 and 2006 at monitored sites. Surveys were conducted at 16mid-shelf sites in the marine park using six 25 m video belt transects per site in 2002,2004 and 2006.Marine pestsA risk assessment of introduced marine pests from the Camden Haven River to TweedHeads was carried out for the Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority(Catterall et al 2007). This examined the likelihood of invasion by pest species in themarine park, to assist with management of pests.Marine pest species considered to have the highest potential for invasion, in order ofimportance, were the Asian green mussel Perna viridis, broccoli weed Codium fragilessp. tomentosoides, black-striped mussel Mytilopsis sallei, aquarium Caulerpa Caulerpataxifolia, giant fanworm Sabella spallanzanii, Asian mussel Musculista senhousia,Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas and European shore crab Carcinus maenas.4.2 Jervis Bay Marine Park4.2.1 Development and infrastructureMonitoring of mangrove and saltmarsh in Jervis Bay Marine ParkCurrambene, Callala and Moona Moona creeks on the eastern shore of Jervis Bayhave been subject to impacts including grazing, catchment modification for housing,and dredging. A range of studies has been conducted to determine the effects of theseimpacts (Saintilan and Williams 1999, Saintilan and Wilton 2001, Rogers and Saintilan2006, Rogers et al 2006), addressing three main areas:studies of the changing distribution of mangrove and saltmarsh in Jervis Baycreeks, over the last 50 years and over thousands of years in the case ofCurrambene Creek, using the palaeo-stratigraphy of mangrove and saltmarshstudies of the surface elevation and contemporary sedimentation trends inCurrambene Creek (and Cararma Inlet) using surface elevation tables andfeldspar marker horizonsmonitoring of the condition of saltmarsh in Moona Moona Creek compared withother creeks in Jervis Bay, using fixed vegetation plots.Mangroves and saltmarshes are found in all four main creeks of Jervis Bay:Currambene Creek, Moona Moona Creek, Callala Creek, and Cararma Inlet – which isSolitary Island and Jervis Bay Marine Parks Research Projects Summaries 2002–2009 33
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 and 22: Solitary Island and Jervis Bay Mari
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: Assessing potential impacts associa
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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