parks victoria technical series marine natural values study vol 2 ...
parks victoria technical series marine natural values study vol 2 ...
parks victoria technical series marine natural values study vol 2 ...
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Parks Victoria Technical Series No. 79<br />
Flinders and Twofold Shelf Bioregions Marine Natural Values Study<br />
The Friends of Beware Reef Marine Sanctuary is an active diving community group that has<br />
mapped the shipwrecks in the MS (Parks Victoria 2006a). It is also collating and<br />
photographing the flora and fauna of the MS (Figures 55 and 56). Over three hundred types<br />
of biota have been photographed. The group is also monitoring the flora and fauna through<br />
the subtidal Reef Life Survey monitoring program.<br />
Statewide, the Museum of Victoria is collecting additional data on the <strong>marine</strong> <strong>natural</strong> <strong>values</strong><br />
of Victoria’s MPAs. They are gathering information about <strong>natural</strong> history through video and<br />
photos, and using semi-quantitative methods to determine spatial and temporal changes<br />
across the system in response to threats, including <strong>marine</strong> pests and climate change. Jan<br />
Carey, University of Melbourne, is conducting research focussing on <strong>marine</strong> pest species<br />
which may impact on park <strong>values</strong>, and the MPAs which are most at risk of invasion. This will<br />
help prioritise Parks Victoria surveillance monitoring efforts to MPAs where there is greatest<br />
potential for successful management.<br />
3.1.7 KNOWLEDGE GAPS<br />
No new surveys exist for the ecological communities of the intertidal reef or deep subtidal<br />
reef. There is little new data on fish abundances, distributions or interactions except in<br />
shallow subtidal reef habitats. No information exists at present for water column<br />
assemblages. Major threats have been identified for Beware Reef MS but we have limited<br />
knowledge of the effect on the <strong>natural</strong> <strong>values</strong>, particularly ecological communities. Limited<br />
information is available on the presence of species of conservation significance in the MS<br />
other than birds.<br />
Figure 56. Crowned nudibranch Polycera capensis in Beware Reef Marine Sanctuary. Photo taken by<br />
Friends of Beware Reef Marine Sanctuary.<br />
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