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 />
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY<br />
Along Victoria’s coastline there are 30 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that have been<br />
established to protect the state’s significant <strong>marine</strong> environmental and cultural <strong>values</strong>. These<br />
MPAs include 13 Marine National Parks (MNPs), 11 Marine Sanctuaries (MSs), 3 Marine<br />
and Coastal Parks, 2 Marine Parks, and a Marine Reserve, and together these account for<br />
11.7% of the Victorian <strong>marine</strong> environment. The highly protected Marine National Park<br />
System, which is made up of the MNPs and MSs, covers 5.3% of Victorian waters and was<br />
proclaimed in November 2002. This system has been designed to be representative of the<br />
diversity of Victoria’s <strong>marine</strong> environment and aims to conserve and protect ecological<br />
processes, habitats, and associated flora and fauna. The Marine National Park System is<br />
spread across Victoria’s five <strong>marine</strong> bioregions with multiple MNPs and MSs in each<br />
bioregion, with the exception of Flinders bioregion which has one MNP. All MNPs and<br />
MSs are “no-take” areas and are managed under the National Parks Act (1975) - Schedules<br />
7 and 8 respectively.<br />
This report updates the first Marine Natural Values Study (Plummer et al. 2003) for the<br />
MPAs in the Flinders and Twofold Shelf bioregions on the east coast of Victoria and is one of<br />
a <strong>series</strong> of five reports covering Victoria’s Marine National Park System. It uses the<br />
numerous monitoring and research programs that have increased our knowledge since<br />
declaration and aims to give a comprehensive overview of the important <strong>natural</strong> <strong>values</strong> of<br />
each MNP and MS.<br />
Wilsons Promontory MNP is the only MPA in the Flinders bioregion and is the largest MPA in<br />
Victoria. Ninety Mile Beach, Point Hicks and Cape Howe MNPs and Beware Reef MS are in<br />
the Twofold Shelf bioregion. Both bioregions have cool temperate biota with some warmtemperate<br />
species due to the influence of the East Australian Current (EAC). Long sandy<br />
beaches with granite headlands and promontories are typical of the coast in the bioregions.<br />
Shores in Flinders plunge steeply onto deep sandy sea floor. In Twofold Shelf the low<br />
carbonate sandy sediments slope off more gently to deep waters.<br />
High resolution bathymetry mapping has increased our understanding of habitats in the<br />
shallow waters of all the MPAs, and for the whole of Point Hicks and Cape Howe MNPs. All<br />
the MPAs, except Ninety Mile Beach MNP, have both shallow and deep subtidal reef. All,<br />
except for Beware Reef, have extensive intertidal soft sediment habitat or beaches where<br />
wrack material contributes to the detrital cycle and is a significant source of food for many<br />
shore birds and invertebrates. Intertidal reef is not extensive in either bioregion and biota is a<br />
mix of cool and warm temperate species. All MPAs have subtidal soft sediment habitat,<br />
which can have very high numbers of invertebrate species living on and in it. Subtidal soft<br />
sediment and open water are the dominant habitat types in the MPAs.<br />
Ongoing monitoring and focused research projects have described the flora and fauna of the<br />
shallow subtidal reefs in all the MPAs except Ninety Mile Beach MNP, which has limited (if<br />
any) reef habitat. Differences in wave exposure, depth and reef structure can result in<br />
different biotic assemblages, within and between MPAs. The shallow subtidal reefs in the<br />
MPAs differ in the composition of canopy forming macroalgae species, understorey and the<br />
associated invertebrate and fish assemblages. The canopy is usually dominated by<br />
crayweed Phyllospora comosa, with the contribution of common kelp Ecklonia radiata and<br />
bull kelp Durvillaea potatorum varying. Common to all the MPAs is the blacklip abalone<br />
Haliotis rubra and wrasse spp. The herbivorous, warm temperate sea urchin<br />
Centrostephanus rodgersii occurs in both bioregions and can remove all erect algae to<br />
create ‘urchin barrens’. Warm temperate fish species such as the damsel fish, including the<br />
one-spot puller Chromis hypsilepis and white-ear damselfish Parma microlepis, are a feature<br />
of Twofold Shelf shallow subtidal reefs.<br />
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