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 />
flathead (Plummer et al. 2003). Newborn pups of gummy sharks Mustelus antarcticus inhabit<br />
shallow inshore areas and there is some evidence to suggest that the inshore sandy areas<br />
east of Wilsons Promontory, including Ninety Mile Beach MNP, may be important feeding<br />
areas for gummy shark pups (Plummer et al. 2003).<br />
Reef<br />
Subtidal low calcarenite rocky reefs occur along Ninety Mile Beach but preliminary mapping<br />
has not located the reefs within the MNP, although they may have been covered by sand<br />
(ECC 2000; Carey et al. 2007b; Edmunds et al. 2010a). Reefs in the area are dominated by<br />
invertebrates (70 % coverage) and have sparse floral communities of small red algae (ECC<br />
2000). Invertebrates include sponges, ascidians, and smaller bryozoans and hydroids.<br />
Water column<br />
The water column as a whole is the largest habitat in the MNP and is important in different<br />
ways for many organisms including for transit or as a permanent home for particular stages<br />
of their life cycle. Organisms that use the water column environment can be broadly grouped<br />
into two categories based on mode of movement: either pelagic (actively swimming) or<br />
planktonic (drifting with the current). Larger species are often planktonic during early life<br />
stages before becoming pelagic as they grow. Smaller species tend to be planktonic but can<br />
influence their movement to some extent by controlling their height in the water column.<br />
Organisms that make their permanent home in the water column include sea jellies, salps,<br />
many fish, and both phytoplankton and zooplankton. Planktonic organisms play an important<br />
role in nutrient cycling, dispersal of species and providing food for larger animals, both within<br />
the MNP and more broadly in the <strong>marine</strong> environment. The water column is also used by<br />
fish, invertebrates and algae for transport and food (and other resources like oxygen). Parks<br />
Victoria does not currently monitor the water column as a habitat (Power and Boxshall<br />
2007). As described in the following section a wide variety of seabirds, mammals and<br />
reptiles are found in the relatively shallow waters of Ninety Mile Beach MNP.<br />
2.2.4 SPECIES OF CONSERVATION SIGNIFICANCE<br />
The approach of managing MNPs for their <strong>marine</strong> ecological communities, rather than<br />
threatened species, is also likely to protect and enhance threatened species populations<br />
(Power and Boxshall 2007). Whole-of-habitat management may also result in the protection<br />
of species not yet identified because of their rarity or cryptic nature (Power and Boxshall<br />
2007). There are no listed sites of biological significance in the MNP.<br />
Flora<br />
No conservation listed <strong>marine</strong> flora has been recorded in Ninety Mile Beach MNP (Parks<br />
Victoria 2006e).<br />
Fish<br />
No conservation listed fish have been recorded at Ninety Mile Beach MNP or its immediate<br />
surrounds.<br />
Birds<br />
Twenty-eight conservation listed shore or sea birds have been sighted in or in the immediate<br />
surrounds of Ninety Mile Beach MNP (Table 11). Nineteen are recognized as threatened in<br />
Victoria, listed under the FFG Act 1988 or the Victorian Rare or Threatened Species<br />
(VROTS) list. Three, the great knot Calidris tenuiros, fairy tern Sternula nereis and little egret<br />
Egretta garzetta are regarded as endangered. One bird the fairy prion Pachyptila turtur is<br />
listed as vulnerable at both the state and national level. Twenty birds are recognized<br />
internationally under the Australia Migratory Bird Agreement with either China (CAMBA) or<br />
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