Mosaic Map: NRM funded projects
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Caring for the Yorke Peninsula's rocky reef
Southern Australia's temperate reef ecosystems rival tropical systems like the Great Barrier Reef for biological diversity, with most of the State's reef plants and animals found nowhere else in the world.
Funding
A biodiversity survey delving into the rocky reef off the Yorke Peninsula has been funded with $80,000 from the Australian Government and support from the State Government, via the Northern and Yorke Natural Resource Management (NRM) Board. The project will set a baseline for future monitoring programs to inform managers about the impacts of coastal pollution and use patterns.
Activities
During April and May 2006 marine biodiversity surveys of the region were carried out at 12 sites including Marion Bay, Edithburgh, Wardang Island and Wallaroo. The surveys involved fish counts, macroalgal and invertebrate surveys as well as an invasive species search and general habitat description.
Achievements
Project Manager Bryan McDonald said one of the highlights of the surveys was discovering two very different reef systems within tens of metres of each other, one covered in algae and the other dominated by sea urchins, both near the coast of Cape Elizabeth in Spencer Gulf.
“Reefs also varied considerably from exposure and substrate combinations,” Brian said. “Another highlight was finding a Black Cowry and Western Blue Devilfish, both of conservation concern in South Australia.
“There were a few ‘swell' dives but the dive team handled it well. All dives were in five metres of water and some of them in close proximity to settlements, making them ideal sites for community monitoring.”
The community concept made way for Reef Watch, a program that supports enthusiastic community groups tackling ongoing monitoring of changes in the diversity and abundance of reef species.
Stephen Leske from the Conservation Council of SA, which runs the Reef Watch program, said the program's monitoring methods could easily be mastered by non-scientifically trained divers, yet were robust enough to be used by experts.
“All our methods have been developed and refined by a team of scientists and community divers,” Stephen said. “For this reason Reef Watch is one of the few community monitoring programs that produces high quality, scientifically credible information on reef ecosystem health.”
Reef Watch supports the collection of such data through its in-water training program and interactive database, and by supporting dive clubs that wish to ‘adopt a reef.'
More information
- Stephen Leske, Conservation Council of SA: 0400 272 177
- Reef Watch
See also
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