Aquatic Ecology and Waterbirds at Lake Disappointment: Additional Studies
Prepared for: Reward Minerals Limited
July 2017 Final Report
Lake Disappointment Aquatic Ecology Reward Minerals Ltd
Aquatic Ecology and Waterbirds at Lake Disappointment: Additional Studies
Bennelongia Pty Ltd 5 Bishop Street Jolimont WA 6014
P: (08) 9285 8722 F: (08) 9285 8811 E: [email protected]
ABN: 55 124 110 167
Report Number: 301
Report Version Prepared by Reviewed by Submitted to Client
Method Date Anton Mittra Draft Stuart Halse email 12 July 2017 Michael Curran Anton Mittra Final Stuart Halse email 20 July 2017 Michael Curran BEC_Disappointment aquatic ecology_FINAL_20vii17.docx
This document has been prepared to the requirements of the Client and is for the use by the Client, its agents, and Bennelongia Environmental Consultants. Copyright and any other Intellectual Property associated with the document belongs to Bennelongia Environmental Consultants and may not be reproduced without written permission of the Client or Bennelongia. No liability or responsibility is accepted in respect of any use by a third party or for purposes other than for which the document was commissioned. Bennelongia has not attempted to verify the accuracy and completeness of information supplied by the Client. © Copyright 2017 Bennelongia Pty Ltd.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Reward Minerals Limited (Reward) is currently examining the feasibility of mining potash from Lake Disappointment, 138 km south of Telfer and 285 km east of Newman in the northern Little Sandy Desert IBRA bioregion. Impact areas on the main lake (ponds and dumps, brine trenches) equate to 7,210 ha (approximately 5.2% of the total lake surface) and expected life of mine is 20 years. Brine in the lakebed will be extracted and concentrated using trenches and/or production bores in the northern and western parts of the Lake and on the adjacent shoreline and dune systems. A characterisation of ecological values of Lake Disappointment was undertaken by Bennelongia via field survey in March 2017, building on previous survey in January–February 2016. Specific objectives were to characterise aquatic invertebrate assemblages, diatom assemblages and post-flood use of the lake by waterbirds. Survey in 2017 occurred after a major flooding event. Survey comprised sampling for aquatic invertebrates (250 µm and 50 µm sweep netting), diatoms and macrophytes at 18 sites in and around Lake Disappointment, including less-saline claypans around the hypersaline main playa. A comprehensive waterbird survey of the main playa and some surrounding claypans was undertaken by helicopter. A total of 109,812 waterbirds of 28 species were counted at Lake Disappointment. Ninety-five percent of the birds occurred on the main saline playa, with the overall assemblage dominated by Banded Stilt (93% of all birds). The next-most common species were Grey Teal, Red-necked Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Whiskered Tern and Gull-billed Tern. Ten species showed evidence of current or recent breeding, with six species breeding on the main saline playa (Grey Teal, Banded Stilt, Red-necked Avocet, Red-capped Plover, Gull-billed Tern, Little Egret) and seven species breeding in fresh or less-saline claypans (Hardhead, Grey Teal, Hoary-headed Grebe, Eurasian Coot, Black-winged Stilt, Red-necked Avocet and Gull-billed Tern). Lake Disappointment appears to be a significant breeding site for Banded Stilts at the national level. This species accounted for 99% of current nesting activity and nearly 94% of all young birds. Current and recent breeding by this species was observed at 10 islands (five of which contained very large nesting colonies of 2,000–27,000 nests per island). Islands are critical for successful breeding by Banded Stilt and all breeding by this species was on natural islands. Three other species with a substantial amount of observed breeding activity were Red-necked Avocet, Gull-billed Tern and Grey Teal. Red-necked Avocets were seen breeding in small numbers on small man-made islands. Including previous results, at least 193 species of aquatic invertebrate have been recorded in and around Lake Disappointment, with the vast majority of species recorded at surrounding claypans that are less saline than the main playa. Groups that were notably rich were rotifers, cladocerans, conchostracans, ostracods and insects. Eighteen species of crustacean are currently known only from claypans surrounding Lake Disappointment and some of these may be range-restricted. None of these species occurred in the main playa. Richness in the Lake Disappointment system as a whole (including surrounding pans) is high relative to most arid zone wetland systems, although the main playa itself contains a depauperate assemblage of widespread species (mainly crustaceans). Sixty-nine diatom species were recorded in and around Lake Disappointment, including 35 species in the main playa, which is a rich community compared with that found in many inland salt lake systems. The main ecological value of the diatom community at Lake Disappointment is primary production, which in turn supports invertebrate and waterbird communities.
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CONTENTS Executive Summary ...... ii 1. Introduction ...... 1 2. Background ...... 1 2.1. Landscape ...... 1 2.2. Historic Rainfall and Flooding ...... 4 2.2.1. Rainfall Prior to 2017 Survey ...... 4 2.3. Biological Context ...... 4 2.3.1. Aquatic Invertebrates ...... 4 2.3.2. Diatoms ...... 4 2.3.3. Macrophytes...... 5 2.3.4. Waterbirds ...... 5 3. Survey Methods ...... 5 3.1. Sampling Effort ...... 5 3.2. Sampling Methods ...... 7 3.2.1. Waterbirds ...... 7 3.2.2. Aquatic Invertebrates ...... 7 3.2.3. Diatoms ...... 7 3.2.4. Macrophyte ...... 7 3.3. Habitat Characterisation ...... 7 4. Results ...... 7 4.1. Waterbirds ...... 7 4.2. Aquatic Invertebrates ...... 8 4.2.1. Distributions and Patterns of Species Occurrence ...... 15 4.3. Diatoms ...... 18 4.3.1. Distributions and Patterns of Species Occurrence ...... 18 4.4. Macrophyte ...... 19 5. Ecological and Conservation Values ...... 19 6. Conclusions ...... 20 7. References ...... 21 8. Appendices ...... 23 Appendix 1. Sampling Effort, water chemistry and descriptions of sites sampled in March 2017...... 23 Appendix 2. Site photographs...... 24 Appendix 3. Diatom species recorded in and around Lake Disappointment from January 2016–March 2017...... 27 Appendix 4. Aquatic and semi-aquatic invertebrate species recorded in and around Lake Disappointment in January–February 2016 and March 2017...... 29 Appendix 5. Higher-order invertebrate identifications omitted from final list of species to avoid artificial inflation...... 34 Appendix 6. Common and scientific bird names...... 36
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LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Location of Lake Disappointment and Reward tenements...... 2 Figure 2. Conservation areas at Lake Disappointment, including the DIWA boundary, Proposed Conservation Reserve and extent of the Schedule 1 area under clearing regulations...... 3 Figure 3. Areas and sites surveyed at Lake Disappointment in March 2017, including the aerial survey flight path...... 6 Figure 4. Locations of Banded Stilt nesting colonies, crèches and feeding adult birds...... 11
LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Summary of sampling effort for aquatic invertebrates (sweep with two mesh sizes), diatoms and macrophytes at Lake Disappointment in March 2017...... 7 Table 2. Waterbird numbers at Lake Disappointment in March 2017...... 9 Table 3. Waterbird breeding activity at Lake Disappointment in March 2017...... 10 Table 4. Summary of the number of aquatic (and semi aquatic) invertebrate species recorded in and around Lake Disappointment in 2016 and 2017...... 14 Table 5. Comparison of aquatic invertebrate species richness at inland Australian lakes...... 16 Table 6. Aquatic invertebrate species currently only known from the vicinity of Lake Disappointment...... 16 Table 7. Summary of diatom communities collected in different habitats at Lake Disappointment in 2017 and 2016/2017 combined...... 19 Table 8. Diatom species possibly known only from main playa at Lake Disappointment...... 19
LIST OF PLATES Plate 1. Banded Stilts at Lake Disappointment (from top-left): (A) adult birds congregated near a large natural island; (B) nesting colony on a natural island; (C) active nests with eggs exposed; and (C) adults and chicks foraging (crèche). .. 12 Plate 2. Bird use of Lake Disappointment (from top-left): (A) Red-necked Avocets nesting on natural island; (B) Gull-billed Terns flying over nesting grounds on a natural island; (C) Gull-billed Tern nests with eggs on a natural island; and (D) active Red-necked Avocet nest with eggs on a man-made island...... 13 Plate 3. Exemplar aquatic invertebrate specimens collected in and around Lake Disappointment...... 17
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1. INTRODUCTION Reward Minerals Limited (Reward) is currently examining the feasibility of mining potash from Lake Disappointment. Proposed developments are referred to as ‘the Project’. Lake Disappointment is 138 km south of Telfer and 285 km east of Newman in the northern Little Sandy Desert IBRA bioregion (Trainor subregion; Figure 1). Lake Disappointment occurs within Aboriginal land owned by the Martu community. The Martu hold native title rights and the right to control access. There are a number of exclusion zones identified for heritage reasons, including all areas within 100 m of any of the islands in Lake Disappointment.
Lake Disappointment is listed in the Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia (DIWA) as a good example of a wetland type occurring within a biogeographic region in Australia and because it is a wetland that is important as the habitat for animal taxa at a vulnerable stage in their life cycle. The wetland has an area of 150,000 ha comprising dunefield, riparian and claypan communities. Lake Disappointment is within a Schedule 1 Area under the Environmental Protection (Clearing of Vegetation) Regulations 2004 (Figure 2). The southern part of Lake Disappointment and the southern extremity of the proposed development envelope intersects the proposed Lake Disappointment Nature Reserve (EPA Red Book recommendation 1975-1993; Figure 2).
Information provided by Reward indicates that the total development area is 39,628.11 ha, of which 7,210 ha coincide with the main lake playa. Impact areas on the main lake (ponds and dumps, brine trenches) equate to 7,210 ha (approximately 5.2% of the total lake surface; Figure 3). The expected life of mine is 20 years. It is intended to extract potash from brine in the lakebed using infrastructure (trenches and/or production bores) located in the northern and western parts of the lake.
The fieldwork reported here builds on work done by Bennelongia (January–February 2016; Bennelongia 2016a) that characterised ecological values at Lake Disappointment and the surrounding wetland system via desktop assessment and reconnaissance field survey. The aim of the current work was to characterise lake ecology following a major flooding event. The specific objectives of the field program were to characterise: • Aquatic invertebrate assemblages; • Diatom assemblages; and • Post-flood use of the Lake by waterbirds, including breeding by Banded Stilt colonies.
2. BACKGROUND
2.1. Landscape Lake Disappointment, the lowest point of the Little Sandy Desert, is one of the larger playa lakes in Western Australia and lies within a 600 km by 500 km endorheic catchment (Beard 2005). In the terminology of Semeniuk (1987), the Lake is a megascale, irregular sump land with numerous microscale to macroscale islands. It lies within a major palaeochannel, the Disappointment Palaeoriver, which may formerly have drained into Rudall River via Savory Creek, with the connection to Rudall River disrupted in the Miocene by one or more factors including tectonic movement, slight uplift of ridges to the north and sinking of the Lake basin (Beard 2005). This resulted in Lake Disappointment becoming a terminal basin within an internally flowing catchment and led to the development of a large, hypersaline brine reservoir under the Lake because of prolonged evaporative concentration (Pendragon 2014).
The lakebed consists of poorly consolidated saline lacustrine sediments (clay, silt, sand and gypsum). The surrounding area is composed of mixed aeolian-lacustrine silt, sand and kopi that forms longitudinal dunes trending east-west interspersed by minor salt lakes and claypans. A number of islands occur, with elevations up to approximately 5 m above the lakebed.
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Other than Savoury Creek, the few active tributaries that drain into Lake Disappointment are ephemeral and dry almost all the time. The lake probably also receives subsurface flow from drainage lines that are obscured by sand (Beard 2005) and, possibly, from the numerous surrounding claypans that hold water for brief periods after rain. Savory Creek contains a large sand bar at its junction with Lake Disappointment, resulting in a large, permanent, hypersaline pool along the creek. Savory Creek is fresh in its headwaters but becomes saline east of the McFadden Ranges (approximately 40 km west of Lake Disappointment)
2.2. Historic Rainfall and Flooding Information from Lake Disappointment itself suggests there have been short periods of flooding in six of the last 50 years (1971, 1992, 1995, 1999, 2004, 2013 and 2016), although the magnitude of rainfall records at the headwaters of Savory Creek (Bulloo Downs, BOM station no. 007019) does not correlate well with flooding events, probably due to the spatial patchiness of cyclonic and monsoonal rainfall (Bennelongia 2016a). The lake probably also receives inflow from the north and east.
Rainfall records suggest flooding has been more frequent in the last 25 years than indicated by direct lake records and that there has probably been some flooding every two or three years. While not all flooding can be related to rainfall at Bulloo Downs (2.2.1), there is a high chance of some flow into Lake Disappointment via Savory Creek whenever the total rainfall of the annual wet period at Bulloo Downs is >200 mm, especially if rainfall is >150 mm within a month. On this basis, it is possible Lake Disappointment also received inflow in 1973, 1980, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2011, 2012 and 2014. Flooding was extensive through the Pilbara and Great Sandy Desert in 2000 (Halse et al. 2005) and the lake was flooded in 2012 (Pedler et al. 2014; USGS LandsatLook).
2.2.1. Rainfall Prior to 2017 Survey Rainfall totals at various nearby Bureau of Meteorology weather stations from 1 January until survey commencement on 10 March 2017 were 499.6 mm at Telfer Aero, 100.8 mm at Bulloo Downs, 177.8 mm at Glenayle and 320.6 mm at Noreena Downs. The extent of flooding at Lake Disappointment (and elsewhere in the Little Sandy and Gibson Deserts) was extensive in 2017 and far exceeded the level of flooding during the previous fieldwork in 2016 (Bennelongia 2016a).
2.3. Biological Context Physical and chemical properties of water within wetlands vary both spatially and temporally (Boulton and Brock 1999) and, while spot measurements provide information about the likely ecology of a wetland, in isolation this equates to a snapshot of conditions at the time of sampling, rather than a complete description of ecosystem function. Biological components of ecosystems, on the other hand, integrate fluctuating environmental conditions (Sandin et al. 2004) and may reflect patterns of environmental conditions more clearly.
2.3.1. Aquatic Invertebrates Aquatic invertebrates including insects, crustaceans, annelid worms, nematodes, flatworms and rotifers play important roles in linking nutrient resources from primary production to higher trophic levels (Wallace and Webster 1996) and often reflect site-specific environmental and biological conditions owing to their largely sedentary habits (Cook 1976). There is a long history of using invertebrate communities as monitoring tools in wetlands (Hellawell 1986) due to the predictable way in which their diversity, composition and even animal size respond to disturbances (Gray 1989; Boyle and Fraleigh 2003). Aquatic invertebrates have been used as indicators of a range of stressors including organic pollution (Rae 1989), heavy metals (Poulton et al. 1995) and acidification (Davy-Bowker 2005).
2.3.2. Diatoms Diatoms are eukaryotic microalgae of the phylum Bacillariophyta that comprise part of benthic microbial communities and often dominate the photosynthetic output of shallow ephemeral wetlands, including saline lakes (Bauld 1981, 1986; Sze 1986; Boggs et al. 2007). They have siliceous cell walls
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called frustules that are often spectacularly ornamented and can thicken in adverse conditions, such as the onset of drought, to increase viability when in a resting stage (Montresor et al. 2013). Resting stages are characterised by lack of cell division, concentrated cytoplasm, lowered photosynthetic and respiratory rates, and a high carbon:chlorophyll ratio (Anderson 1975, 1976; Hargreaves and French 1983; Kuwata et al. 1993). Resting diatoms are able to re-establish vegetative growth when favourable conditions resume (Montresor et al. 2013).
Diatom communities exhibit changes in composition, diversity and biomass in response to shifting water chemistry, temperature, nutrient levels and pollution. Consequently, they have frequently been used as bio-indicators in monitoring programs (Li et al. 2010 and references therein).
2.3.3. Macrophytes Macrophytes are obligate aquatic plants. Alongside diatoms, macrophytes are keystone primary producers in wetland food webs and also influence ecosystem function by providing habitat and food for invertebrates and vertebrates, cycling nutrients, and altering hydrochemical processes and sediment dynamics (Dhir 2015). Salt lakes typically host depauperate macrophyte communities and species diversity typically has an inverse relationship with salinity (Brock 1986).
2.3.4. Waterbirds While a wetland’s underlying condition (i.e. type of wetland and degree of naturalness) is a strong determinant of waterbird use, other factors cause substantial variation in numbers of waterbirds across years, even in structured counts. The most important external effect is rainfall, which controls the amount of water in the wetland, as well as in surrounding wetlands that may be alternative habitat. Migration between wetlands according to water levels occurs at a series of scales, from local through to national, resulting in seasonal and inter-annual variation in counts (Halse et al. 2005). In arid Australia, some waterbird species, including Banded Stilts are extremely nomadic and migrations of over 2,000 km in several days have been recorded following remote rainfall events (Pedler et al. 2014). Ephemeral inland lakes in Australia serve as important breeding grounds for waterbird species during periods of prolonged inundation (e.g. Kingsford and Porter 1994).
3. SURVEY METHODS
3.1. Sampling Effort Elements of the aquatic biota, including waterbirds, aquatic invertebrates, diatoms and macrophyte, were sampled at 18 sites in and around Lake Disappointment from 10-12 March 2017 (Figure 3). A more comprehensive waterbird survey of the main playa, as well as some traversing of surrounding claypan, was undertaken by helicopter (Figure 3). Heritage restrictions were strictly observed throughout the survey and none of the 18 sampling sites was within heritage exclusion zones. In some instances, aerial survey of waterbirds via helicopter flew over exclusion zones (Figure 3).
Waterbirds were counted on the ground at all 18 sites, but the focus of other sampling varied slightly according to location (Table 1). Three sites within the main playa, one site in Savory Creek and eight sites in the network of claypans surrounding the main playa were sampled for aquatic invertebrates and diatoms. At the other five claypan sites sweep net sampling was conducted with only 250 µm nets to focus on macroinvertebrates, although all collected species were recorded. A macrophyte sample (and nothing else) was collected in an ad hoc way from a claypan where macrophyte was observed growing.
Full sampling details are provided in Appendix 1 and site descriptions and photos are given as Appendix 2. Results are combined with those from January–February 2016 (Bennelongia 2016a) where appropriate to provide a more complete assessment of community composition and to identify temporal changes.
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Table 1. Summary of sampling effort for aquatic invertebrates (sweep with two mesh sizes), diatoms and macrophytes at Lake Disappointment in March 2017. Sample Type Playa Savory Creek Claypans Total Sweep 250 µm 3 1 13 17 50 µm 3 1 8 12 Diatoms 3 1 8 12 Macrophytes 1 1
3.2. Sampling Methods
3.2.1. Waterbirds Waterbirds were counted from a Robinson 44 helicopter with front left (John Graff) and rear right (Michael Curran) observers. Flight speed and height were variable to maximise viewing conditions. The flight path of the survey is shown in Figure 3. Common and scientific bird names are given in Appendix 6.
3.2.2. Aquatic Invertebrates Aquatic invertebrates were collected in situ by sweep sampling through all available habitat types with modified pond nets. Two mesh sizes (50 µm and 250 µm) were used at 12 sites to optimise sampling efficiency with the objective of collecting all species present at each site. At five sites, only 250 µm mesh was used (Section 3.1). Samples were preserved in ethanol, refrigerated and freighted to the laboratory where they were sorted under dissecting microscopes and identified using available taxonomic keys and in-house expertise.
3.2.3. Diatoms Diatoms were collected at 12 sites by extracting a small sample of the topmost benthic layer with a pipette. Samples were preserved in ethanol and refrigerated. Diatom samples were sorted and identified by Prof. Peter Gell (Federation University Australia). Species were assigned ecological indicator types (halophile, nitrophile, aerophile and acidophile) where known.
3.2.4. Macrophyte Three samples of macrophyte were collected by hand and preserved by both pressing and ethanol as appropriate. Macrophytes were identified by Dr Michelle Casanova (Federation University Australia).
3.3. Habitat Characterisation Sampling sites in both 2016 and 2017 were divided into three habitat categories: main playa, Savory Creek and claypans. Claypan sites were sub-divided into turbid, samphire-fringed and tannin-stained. Salinities of sites in each habitat in 2017 ranged from 58,200-74,100 µS cm-1 in the main playa, 99,300 µS cm-1 in Savoury Creek and 240-40,300 µS cm-1 in the claypans. Photographs of sites and habitat types are provided as Appendix 2.
4. RESULTS
4.1. Waterbirds A total of 109,812 waterbirds of 28 species were counted at Lake Disappointment (Table 2). This includes one Swamp Harrier, which is treated here as a waterbird. Ninety-five percent of the birds occurred on the main saline playa, with all but seven of the remaining birds being on claypans around the main playa. Nearly 80% of birds in claypans were on turbid ones. Overall, the waterbird community was very much dominated by Banded Stilts (nearly 93% of all birds). The next most common species were Grey Teal, Red-necked Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Whiskered Tern and Gull-billed Tern.
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Eleven species showed evidence of current or recent breeding, with six species breeding on the main saline playa and seven species breeding in fresh or less saline claypans (Table 3). Banded Stilt accounted for 99% of current nesting activity and nearly 94% of all young birds, and current or recent breeding by this species was observed at 10 islands (Figure 4). Five islands that were the focus of Banded Stilt breeding contained nearly 70,000 nests (2000 to 27,000 nests per island). The remaining five islands had between three and 250 nests. The number of active nests varied and on average half had hatchlings (one to three) or eggs (one to five; average three per nest). Large numbers of unaccompanied adults (77,000) were observed congregating around the five focal islands. Of the 15,400 adults on the open water of the lake, most were in crèches at a ratio of two chicks to one adult (7,098 chicks). Some birds appeared simply to be feeding on the lake.
The three other species with a substantial amount of breeding activity at Lake Disappointment were Red-necked Avocet (283 nests or eggs, 112 young), Gull-billed Tern (214 nests, 93 young) and Grey Teal (4 nests, 257 young). Five small, man-made islands associated with trenches and drill-pads were observed during survey and Red-necked Avocet were nesting on three of them. These islands had between one and four nests each, with 15 to 20 eggs per island. Examples of waterbird use of Lake Disappointment are depicted in Plates 1 and 2.
4.2. Aquatic Invertebrates At least 147 invertebrate species were collected in March 2017 compared with 68 species in 2016 (Table 4; Appendix 4; Appendix 5). In both cases, the actual number of species is almost certainly greater than recorded because of the capture of a number of polytypic taxa (e.g. Nematoda sp.) that could not be identified to species level but probably consist of multiple species. When results from the two years are combined, at least 193 invertebrate species have been recorded in and around Lake Disappointment. The majority of species are aquatic, although a handful of semi-aquatic or shore- dwelling taxa were also collected, namely rove beetles (Staphylinidae), tiger beetles (Carabidae), shore bugs (Ochtheridae), thrips (Thysanoptera sp.) and some mites (Acari). Complete lists of recorded invertebrate species and higher order taxa omitted from the final list of species are given as Appendices 4 and 5. A summary of richness within major groups is given in Table 2. Exemplar specimens are depicted in Plate 3.
Groups that were notably speciose, both in individual years and overall, were rotifers, cladocerans, ostracods and insects. Among insects, true flies (Diptera) were the most speciose with eight and 22 species recorded in 2016 and 2017, respectively, and 26 species overall, while beetles (17 species overall) and hemipterans (14 species overall) were also rich (Table 2). The relatively high diversity of conchostracans (clam shrimps) is also noteworthy, with five genera and 10 species from two families (Cyzicidae and Limnadiidae) recorded. Conchostracan species tend to have narrowly-defined habitat requirements and are patchily distributed within their ranges according to the occurrence of physically and chemically suitable wetlands (Schwentner et al. 2013). Most conchostracans were recorded in claypans surrounding the main playa at Lake Disappointment, reflecting the diversity of habitat in surrounding claypans. Immature specimens of the genus Eocyzicus were also collected from Savory Creek in 2016.
A moderate number of dead specimens of the fish species Leiopotherapon unicolor (spangled perch) were observed along the banks of pools in Savory Creek in 2017. The record of this very widespread species is not of conservation significance.
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Table 2. Waterbird numbers at Lake Disappointment in March 2017. Lakebed / Man-made Family common name Species Island Pool Samphire Tannin Turbid Total shoreline island Pink-eared Duck 3 7 10
Hardhead 6 6 Ducks, Geese and Swans Grey Teal 697 210 181 105 2,239 3,432
Australian Wood Duck 1 1
Australian Grebe 1 3 4 Grebes Hoary-headed Grebe 7 1 39 27 103 177
Black-tailed Native-hen 3 46 49 Crakes, Rails and Swamphens Eurasian Coot 1 15 14 30
Banded Stilt 23,088 78,275 71 101,434
Stilts and Avocets Red-necked Avocet 416 393 6 49 142 1,006
Black-winged Stilt 16 3 139 2 797 957
Red-capped Plover 120 179 3 81 180 563
Black-fronted Dotterel 8 8 Plovers, Dotterel and Lapwings Banded Lapwing 6 6
Red-kneed Dotterel 2 1 22 25
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper 98 70 75 121 364
Snipe, Sandpipers, Godwits, Red-necked Stint 26 26
Curlew, Stints and Phalaropes Pectoral Sandpiper 1 1
Common Greenshank 2 2
Silver Gull 5 5
Gulls, Terns and Noddies Gull-billed Tern 82 378 27 3 144 30 159 823 Whiskered Tern 30 150 214 47 430 871
Nankeen Night-Heron 1 1
Great Egret 1 1 Herons, Egrets and Bitterns White-faced Heron 2 2 4
Little Egret 1 1 2
Ibis and Spoonbills Straw-necked Ibis 3 3
Eagles, Kites, Goshawks Swamp Harrier 1 1
Total 24,547 79,671 105 7 954 235 4,293 109,812
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Table 3. Waterbird breeding activity at Lake Disappointment in March 2017. Family common name Species Adult Chick Juvenile Egg Nest Adult Adult Chick Juvenile Egg Nest Total Pink-eared Duck 10 10
Hardhead 2 4 6 Ducks, Geese and Swans Grey Teal 897 4 6 3 2,278 230 17 1 3,436
Australian Wood Duck 1 1
Australian Grebe 4 4 Grebes Hoary-headed Grebe 7 1 146 23 177
Black-tailed Native-hen 49 49 Crakes, Rails and Swamphens Eurasian Coot 28 2 30
Banded Stilt 94,046 7,388 124 49,321 150,879
Stilts and Avocets Red-necked Avocet 710 84 21 100 145 184 4 3 38 1,289
Black-winged Stilt 19 932 2 4 9 966
Red-capped Plover 297 2 5 3 261 568
Black-fronted Dotterel 8 8 Plovers, Dotterel and Lapwings Banded Lapwing 6 6
Red-kneed Dotterel 25 25
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper 168 196 364
Snipe, Sandpipers, Godwits, Red-necked Stint 26 26
Curlew, Stints and Phalaropes Pectoral Sandpiper 1 1
Common Greenshank 2 2
Silver Gull 5 5
Gulls, Terns and Noddies Gull-billed Tern 396 91 12 157 3 331 2 1 44 1,037
Whiskered Tern 180 691 871
Nankeen Night-Heron 1 1
Great Egret 1 1 Herons, Egrets and Bitterns White-faced Heron 4 4
Little Egret 1 1 1 3
Ibis and Spoonbills Straw-necked Ibis 3 3
Eagles, Kites, Goshawks Swamp Harrier 1 1
Total 96,727 7,569 27 236 49,632 7 5,191 267 24 1 92 159,773
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Plate 1. Banded Stilts at Lake Disappointment (from top-left): (A) adult birds congregated near a large natural island; (B) nesting colony on a natural island; (C) active nests with eggs exposed; and (C) adults and chicks foraging (crèche).
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Plate 2. Bird use of Lake Disappointment (from top-left): (A) Red-necked Avocets nesting on natural island; (B) Gull-billed Terns flying over nesting grounds on a natural island; (C) Gull-billed Tern nests with eggs on a natural island; and (D) active Red-necked Avocet nest with eggs on a man-made island.
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Table 4. Summary of the number of aquatic (and semi aquatic) invertebrate species recorded in and around Lake Disappointment in 2016 and 2017. 2016 2017 Lake Surrounding Lake Surrounding 2016 2017 Total Savory Creek Savory Creek Disappointment Claypans Disappointment Claypans No. of sites/samples 23/23 2/2 8/9 3/3 1/1 14/14 33/34 18/18 51/52 Protozoa 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 Gastrotricha 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 Turbellaria 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 Nematoda 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rotifera 2 2 14 1 1 28 18 30 44 Arachnida 0 0 3 0 0 2 3 2 5 Crustacea Conchostraca 0 0 3 0 0 8 3 8 10 Diplostraca 0 0 6 0 0 14 6 14 20 Notostraca 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 Anostraca 1 1 4 1 0 3 4 4 6 Copepoda Calanoida 0 0 2 0 0 2 2 2 3 Cyclopoida 2 1 2 1 1 4 3 4 6 Harpacticoida 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 Ostracoda 1 1 4 1 4 16 5 19 22 Insecta Coleoptera 2 1 5 0 3 10 7 12 17 Diptera 1 5 5 1 3 19 8 22 26 Ephemeroptera 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 Hemiptera 0 0 1 0 0 14 1 14 14 Odonata 0 0 3 0 0 8 3 8 9 Trichoptera 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 3 Total Richness 10 12 57 7 14 135 68 147 193 *Including hatching trials in 2016 (samples collected by Botanica).
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Considering total sampling effort and variable wetland conditions in the two years of survey, including modest flooding in 2016 and substantial flooding in 2017, the results presented here are considered to provide a reasonably complete characterisation of the total aquatic invertebrate community in and around Lake Disappointment. It is a community with species richness towards the higher end of the documented spectrum of richness at inland Australian salt lakes (Table 5). The high overall richness is largely attributable to the inclusion in the sampling program of a number of substantial freshwater claypans around the main playa, which hosted a large proportion of recorded species. When only sites within the main playa are examined, richness (14 species) is comparable to Lake Weelarrana (14); greater than Lake Carey, Lake Wells (both 10), Lake Cowan (6) and Lake Way (3); and less than Lake Torrens (27) and Lake Eyre (17). It is noted that variability between studies in sampling methods and effort should be considered when comparing estimates of richness.
4.2.1. Distributions and Patterns of Species Occurrence A large proportion of overall richness is attributable to the inclusion of surrounding claypan sites, which yielded 57 and 135 species in 2016 and 2017, respectively. In comparison, 10 and seven species were recorded within the main lake in 2016 and 2017, while 12 and 14 species were recorded in Savory Creek. In Western Australia, invertebrate richness has been found to decline with increasing salinity above approximately 5,000–6,400 µS cm-1 (Pinder et al. 2004; Pinder et al. 2010). This inverse relationship between invertebrate richness and salinity is evident at Lake Disappointment, where surrounding claypans that had salinities of 66–40,300 µS cm-1 in 2017 hosted much richer invertebrate assemblages than hypersaline sites (58,200–99,300 µS cm-1) within the main lake and Savory Creek. Amongst surrounding claypan sites, richness was highest at REM053, which was also the freshest (66 µS cm-1), while the most saline site, REM056 (40,300 µS cm-1), had just 19 species. Sites REM059– REM063 were fresh and recorded 5 species or less, but were only subject to targeted sampling with a 250 µm sweep net, which limited collecting many small species such as rotifers that comprised a large proportion of overall richness.
Pinder et al.’s (2010) regional study of the distribution of aquatic invertebrates in the Pilbara showed that about a fifth of species in the Pilbara are known only from that region. The remaining species are endemic to Western Australia, occur elsewhere in northern or inland Australia or have continental or wider distributions. While most species in the Pilbara are regionally widespread, some habitats, including ephemeral freshwater claypans tend to harbour a higher proportion of range-restricted species.
Consistent with the pattern in the Pilbara, most aquatic invertebrate species recorded at Lake Disappointment are known to be widespread, also occurring in the Pilbara, northern-central Australia or further afield. Approximately 9% of species (18) are currently only known from the area surveyed and have the potential to be locally confined. These species are all crustaceans and include conchostracans (clam shrimps), anostracans (fairy and brine shrimps), cladocerans (water fleas) and ostracods (seed shrimps) (Table 6). Drier areas of Western Australia have particularly diverse faunas of crustacean groups with drought-resistant eggs, especially ostracods, anostracans and conchostracans (Halse and McRae 2004; Timms 2009a,b; Martens 2015).
It is possible that further taxonomic work will show that some of the species listed in Table 6 are already known to occur elsewhere. For example, the ostracod Cyprinotus sp. BOS946 may have been collected from wetlands in the northern Yilgarn, although the specimens from Lake Disappointment show slight differences in morphology. More significantly, none of the 18 species currently known only from the Lake Disappointment area occur in the main saline playa. One species, the ostracod Heterocypris sp. BOS898, occurs in the saline pool in Savoury Creek but was also collected from a saline claypan (32,200 µS cm-1). The other 17 species occur in a range of claypans around the main playa, with salinities varying from fresh to saline.
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Table 5. Comparison of aquatic invertebrate species richness at inland Australian lakes. Overall richness combines records within the main salt lake with surrounding claypans. Richness Salinity System Location Sites Samples Overall Main Salt Lake (µS cm-1) Lake Disappointment Pilbara, WA 195 14 66–99,300 51 52 Lake Carey1 Goldfields, WA 107 10 86–359 31 66 Lake Wells2 Goldfields, WA 53 10 48–195,200 9 9 Lake Torrens3 SA 27 27 20–391 5 25 Lake Eyre4 SA 17 17 39–427 1 15 Lake Weelarrana5 Pilbara, WA 14 14 59 1 1 Lake Cowan6 Wheatbelt, WA 7 6 184,000–234,000 4 4 Lake Way7 Goldfields, WA 3 3 dry 6 18 1Timms et al. 2006; 2Bennelongia 2017a; 3Williams et al. 1998; 4Williams and Kokkinn 1988; 5Pinder et al. 2010; 6Bennelongia 2016b; 7Bennelongia 2017b.
Table 6. Aquatic invertebrate species currently only known from the vicinity of Lake Disappointment. Recorded Locations Higher Classification Species Habitat(s) Sites Conchostraca Turbid claypan, tannin-stained Cyzicidae Eocyzicus nr argillaquus REM038 claypan Eocyzicus sp. B02 Claypan fringed by samphire REM051, REM055, REM056 REM039, REM052, REM054, Turbid claypan, tannin-stained Eocyzicus sp. B04 REM057, REM059, REM060, claypan REM062, REM063 Ozestheria sp. B01 Claypan fringed by samphire REM051, REM055 Limnadiidae Eulimnadia nsp. B01 Turbid claypan REM038 Paralimnadia sp. B01 (nr flava) Tannin-stained claypan REM057 Cladocera Moinidae Moina sp. B01 Turbid claypan REM039 Anostraca Thamnocephalidae Branchinella sp. B02 (nr proboscida) Turbid claypan REM017 REM039, REM060, REM062, Branchinella sp. B03 Turbid claypan REM063 Ostracoda Turbid claypan, tannin-stained REM017, REM038, REM039, Cyprididae Bennelongia sp. BOS565 claypan REM040, REM057 Cypretta sp. BOS902 Tannin-stained claypan REM057 Cypricercus sp. BOS843 Turbid claypan REM039 Cyprinotus sp. BOS899 Claypan fringed by samphire REM055 Tannin-stained claypan ringed Cyprinotus sp. BOS946 REM057 by Melaleuca Savory Creek, claypan fringed Heterocypris sp. BOS898 REM050, REM055 by samphire Strandesia sp. BOS914 Turbid claypan REM039 Limnocytheridae ?Limnocythere sp. BOS901 Claypan fringed by samphire REM055 Limnocythere sp. BOS900 Claypan fringed by samphire REM055
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Plate 3. Exemplar aquatic invertebrate specimens collected in and around Lake Disappointment. A) Ostracod, Cyprinotus kimberleyensis; B) concostracan Paralimnadia sp. B01 (nr flava); C) dragonfly nymph Pantala flavescens; D) cladoceran Daphnia cf.projecta; E) water mite Hydrachna sp.; F) hemipteran Anisops gratus; and G) beetle Dineutus (Cyclous) australis.
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4.3. Diatoms Field survey in March 2017 recorded 904 diatom specimens from 57 species (Appendix 3). The most abundant species was the halophile Pleurosigma salinarum, although this species was only recorded at a single site. Other abundant species included the halophiles Amphora borealis (115 specimens across six sites) and Navicula salinicola (108 specimens across seven sites). Abundance and richness per site had ranges of 23–202 (mean= 82) and 6–16 (10.2), respectively.
Including previous (2016) and current (2017) sampling, a total of 69 diatom species have been recorded at Lake Disappointment. Compared to other inland saline lakes in Australia, Lake Disappointment appears to host a relatively rich assemblage of diatoms, although the different array of wetland types surveyed in different studies can lead to misleading comparisons. Bennelongia (2017a) recorded 55 species of diatom in and around Lake Wells, near Laverton (nine sites, 48– 195,200 µS cm-1) following substantial rainfall, although flooding there may not have been as intense as at Lake Disappointment. Taukulis and John (2006) found that 51 wetlands covering a range of salinities in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia yielded 1–24 species, while Blinn et al. (2004) collected 21-37 species in wetlands in the Wheatbelt with salinities less than 5,000 µS cm-1 and fewer than 15 species in wetlands with salinities above 1,00,000 µS cm-1. Thirty-three species were recorded at Lake Eyre (ca. 39,100–391,000 µS cm-1 when wet; Blinn 1991). Other large salt lakes in inland north-western Australia sampled via hatching trials have yielded substantially fewer species. For example, only seven species were recorded at Lake Austin, near Cue (Rodman et al. 2016) and 13 species were recorded at Lake Way, near Wiluna (Bennelongia 2017b).
4.3.1. Distributions and Patterns of Species Occurrence A breakdown of diatom communities identified in 2016 and 2017 sampling rounds is provided in Table 7. The number of recorded species increased from 20 in 2016 to 57 in 2017, although overall abundance was slightly lower in 2017 (904) than in 2016 (1,131), possibly due to greater habitat (water) volume from flooding and therefore lower diatom density in 2017. The recorded number of species within all three areas was higher in 2017 with 23, 8 and 45 species recorded in the main playa, Savory Creek and surrounding claypans, respectively, than in 2016 when with 17, 4 and 13 species were recorded.
Three acidophilic species were recorded in 2017 but this ecological indicator type was absent in 2016. Decomposition of large volumes of organic material following greater inflows in 2017 may have resulted in benthic conditions favouring these species. This would also fit with the higher number of nitrophilic species recorded in 2017 than in 2016, particularly in claypans (6 vs. 2 species; Table 7). Although pH was not measured in 2016, the occurrence of acidophilic species in 2017 despite weak- to-moderate alkalinity (Appendix 1) and the absence of acidophiles in 2016 suggest that Lake Disappointment and surrounding pans are alkaline after weak or moderate flooding. The likely cause of the low total diatom richness recorded at Savory Creek in both sampling rounds is low sampling effort (one sample each year), as well as high salinity. Mean richness per site was similar in surrounding claypans and main playa in both 2016 and 2017, which was unexpected. However, as a result of a high overlap in species collected in the main playa both years, richness showed relative decline with salinity when results for both years were combined.
Five taxa (7% of all diatoms) could not definitively be assigned to known species and are regarded as having only been collected from the main playa at Lake Disappointment (Table 8). However, the discovery of new diatom species in inland waters is uncommon and new diatom species far more likely to be encountered in confined freshwater habitats (e.g. mound springs) that salt lake playas (P. Gell, pers. comm., July 2017). While some studies suggest that many diatom species contain several subtly distinct, semi-cryptic entities that should be recognised as separate taxa (Mann 1999; Vanormelingen et al. 2008), the majority of species are considered to be widespread. Based on what is currently known about the biology of Australian diatoms, it is considered unlikely that Nitzschia sp. 1, or any of the four species associated with known taxa, is restricted to the main playa at Lake Disappointment.
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Table 7. Summary of diatom communities collected in different habitats at Lake Disappointment in 2017 and 2016/2017 combined. Abundance and richness values are shown for each habitat (total) and for each site (mean). Ecological classifications: Ac= acid indicator; Ae= aerophilous (frequent wet sediment); N= nutrients; S = high salinity. Ecological Indicators Sampling No. of Abundance Richness Habitat (abundance/richness) event Sites Total Mean Total Mean Ac Ae S N Main playa 8 772 96.50 17 6.43 0/0 24/2 206/4 6/2 2016 Savory Creek 1 140 140.00 4 4.00 0/0 0/0 36/1 0/0 Claypan 2 219 109.50 13 6.50 0/0 8/1 13/3 1/1 Main playa 3 167 55.67 23 11.00 5/3 2/1 117/6 7/2 2017 Savory Creek 1 202 202.00 8 8.00 2/2 1/1 198/4 0/0 Claypan 7 535 76.43 45 10.14 35/6 47/3 189/8 66/6 Main playa 11 939 85.36 35 7.80 5/3 26/2 323/6 13/4 2016/2017 Savory Creek 2 342 171.00 11 6.00 2/2 1/1 234/4 0/0 Claypan 9 754 83.78 54 9.70 35/6 55/4 202/7 67/6
Table 8. Diatom species possibly known only from main playa at Lake Disappointment. Higher Classification Species Sites Chaetocerotophycidae Chaetoceros sp. REM047 Naviculaceae Nacicula aff minuscula REM019 Navicula aff duerrenbergiana REM019 Bacillariaceae Nitzschia cf vasta REM047, REM048, REM049 Nitzschia sp. 1 REM015
4.4. Macrophyte Two species of charophyte, Nitella subtilissima and Nitella gelatinifera var. microcephala, were observed and collected at four sites during field survey in 2017. Although they are green algae, members of the family Characeae superficially resemble flowering plants. Nitella subtilissima was recorded at three sites (REM051, REM056 and REM058) and Nitella gelatinifera var. microcephala was recorded at a single site (REM057). This site was included in the survey only to provide a record of Nitella gelatinifera var. microcephala.
Sites with charophytes were located in claypans surrounding the main playa at Lake Disappointment and no macrophyte or algae was observed within the main playa itself. Both of the recorded species are widespread and have been recorded in freshwater across Australia (Guiry and Guiry 2017).
5. ECOLOGICAL AND CONSERVATION VALUES Lake Disappointment appears to be a nationally important breeding site for Banded Stilts. Successful breeding of Banded Stilts requires several months of inundation. The large size of Lake Disappointment provides isolated islands on which many birds can nest, protected from non-avian predators by an extensive stretch of water. This occurred in 2017 but not in 2016 (although some courtship displays were observed), indicating that flooding in 2016 was inadequate for breeding, unlike the much larger flooding event in 2017.
Five natural islands were focal breeding sites and hosted large, dense breeding assemblages. Use of some small man-made islands by waterbirds was limited, although Red-necked Avocets were observed breeding on these islands. Besides Banded Stilts, Lake Disappointment appears to be an important breeding site for Red-necked Avocets and Gull-billed Terns.
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The Lake Disappointment system as a whole, when taken to include fresher surrounding claypans, hosts a rich community of aquatic invertebrates and a number of new crustacean species were recorded, although not in the main playa. Claypans around the lake harbour the majority of species within the region. The assemblage of aquatic invertebrates within the main playa of Lake Disappointment is depauperate, as are the communities of most inland saline lakes. Across two surveys a total of 14 species were recorded in the main playa, which does not appear to be of special significance to individual any aquatic invertebrate species. The main conservation value of the aquatic invertebrate assemblage within the main playa is the provision of food to waterbirds, especially during major flood events.
The diatom assemblage within the main playa, which is rich compared to other surveyed saline lakes, consists of mainly widespread species. Elevated diatom productivity following flooding probably provides the majority of primary production at Lake Disappointment.
Overall, the main conservation value of Lake Disappointment is its importance as a breeding site for waterbirds, particularly Banded Stilts. The occurrence of islands that are well-isolated from the shore appears to be critical for breeding success.
6. CONCLUSIONS The aim of this study was to characterise the aquatic invertebrate, diatom and waterbird communities of Lake Disappointment following a major flooding event. In addition to the main saline playa, a number of surrounding claypans and a permanent pool in Savory Creek were surveyed. Given survey timing, which coincided with a major flooding event in 2017, results are considered to provide a sound characterisation of the ecological values of the Lake Disappointment system.
A total of 109,812 waterbirds of 28 species were counted during survey in 2017. The vast majority of waterbird species occurred on the main saline playa. Ten species showed evidence of current or recent breeding, with six species breeding on the main saline playa (Grey Teal, Banded Stilt, Red-necked Avocet, Red-capped Plover, Gull-billed Tern, Little Egret) and seven species breeding in fresh or less- saline claypans (Hardhead, Grey Teal, Hoary-headed Grebe, Eurasian Coot, Black-winged Stilt, Red- necked Avocet and Gull-billed Tern). Lake Disappointment is clearly an important waterbird breeding site at the national level, particularly for Banded Stilts. As well as prolonged flooding, the presence of natural islands, such as those present in the central portion of Lake Disappointment, is critical to the breeding success of Banded Stilts.
A total of 193 aquatic (or semi-aquatic) invertebrate species have been recorded in and around Lake Disappointment, with the majority of richness occurring in less-saline claypans. Notably rich groups were rotifers, cladocerans, conchostracans, ostracods and insects. Eighteen new crustacean species, several of which have the potential to be range-restricted, were recorded in surrounding claypans, although none of these species were recorded in the main playa, which hosted a relatively depauperate assemblage of widespread species. While the system as a whole supports a significantly rich invertebrate community, the assemblage within main playa is not of conservation significance for any individual species.
A total of 69 species of diatom have been recorded in and around Lake Disappointment. This is a relatively rich community compared to a number of other inland saline lakes in Western Australia. Several diatom species could be interpreted as being known only from the main playa, although in reality it is highly unlikely that any species is restricted to the main playa. The vast majority of diatom species collected at Lake Disappointment are widespread. The main value of the diatom community at Lake Disappointment is primary production.
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7. REFERENCES Anderson, O.R. (1975) The ultrastructure and cytoshemistry of resting cell formation in Amphora coffeaeformis (Bacilariophyceae). Journal of Phycology 11, 272-281 Anderson, O.R. (1976) Respiration and photosynthesis during resting cell formation in Amphora coffeaeformis (Ag.) Kütz. Limnology and Oceanography 21, 452-456.Barton and Cowan 2001 Bauld, J. (1981) Occurrence of benthic microbial mats in saline lakes. Hydrobiologia 81, 87-111. Bauld, J. (1986) Benthic microbial communities in Australian saline lakes. In: P. De Deckker & W.D. Williams (Eds). Limnology in Australia. Dr. W. Junk Publishers, The Netherlands: 95-112. Beard, J.S. (2005) Drainage Evolution in the Lake Disappointment Catchment, Western Australia a discussion. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 88, 57-64. Bennelongia (2016a) Ecological Character of Lake Disappointment. Report 266/2016. Bennelongia Pty Ltd, Jolimont, 48 pp. Bennelongia (2016b) S2 Recources Ltd: Baloo Project Salt Lake Ecological Survey. Report 267/2016. Bennelongia Pty Ltd, Jolimont, 16 pp. Bennelongia (2017a) Lake Wells Potash Project Wetland Ecology Baseline Survey. Draft report 295/2017. Bennelongia Pty Ltd, Jolimont, 22 pp. Bennelongia (2017b) Matilda Gold Project: Aquatic Invertebrate, Diatom and Sediment Monitoring at Lake Way. Bennelongia Pty Ltd, Jolimont, 22 pp. Blinn, D.W. (1991) The diatom flora of Lake Eyre South: a large episodically filled salt lake in South Australia. Hydrobiologia 210, 101-104. Blinn, D.W., Halse, S.A., Pinder, A.M., Shiel, R.J., and McRae, J.M. (2004) Diatom and micro-invertebrate communities and environmental determinants in the Western Australian wheatbelt: a response to salinization. Hydrobiologia 528, 229-248. Boggs, D.A., Eliott, I. and Knott, B. (2007) Salt lakes in the northern agricultural region, Western Australia. Hydrobiologia 576, 49 - 59. Boulton, A.J., M.A. Brock (1999). Australian Freshwater Ecology: processes and management. Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology, Adelaide, South Australia. Boyle, T.P. and Fraleigh, H.D. (2003) Natural and anthropogenic factor affecting the structure of the benthic macroinvertebrate community in an effluent-dominated reach of the Santa Cruz River, AZ. Ecological Indicators 3, 93-117. Brock, M.A. (1986) Adaptation to fluctuations rather than to extremes of environmental parameters. In P. De Deckker and W. D. Williams (eds.) Limnology in Australia. Dr. W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht. Cook, S.E.K. (1976) Quest for an index of community structure sensitive to water pollution. Environmental Pollution 11, 269-288. Davy-Bowker, J., Murphy, J.F.; Rutt, G.P., Steel, J.E.C. and Furse, M.T. (2005) The development and testing of a macroinvertebrate biotic index for detecting the impact of acidity on streams. Arhiv für Hydrobiologie, 163, 383-403. Dhir, B. (2015) Status of macrophytes in changing climate: a perspective. Journal of Environmental Science and Technology 8, 139-148. Environment Australia (2001) A directory of important wetlands of Australia (DIWA), 3rd edn. Environment Australia, Canberra. Gray, L.J. (1989). Emergence production and export of aquatic insects from a tallgrass prairie stream. Southwestern Naturalist 34, 313-318. Guiry, M.D. and Guiry, G.M. (2017) AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.algaebase.org Halse, S.A., and McRae, J.M. (2004) New genera and species of giant ostracods (Crustacea: Cyprididae) from Australia. Hydrobiologia 524, 1-52. Halse, S.A., Pearson, G.B., Hassell, C., Collins, P., Scanlon, M.D., and Minton, C.D.T. (2005) Mandora Marsh, north-western Australia, an arid zone wetland in maintaining continental populations of waterbirds. Emu 105, 115-125 Hargraves P.E. and French, F.W. (1983) Diatom resting spores: significance and strategies. In: Fryxell G.A. (ed) Survival strategies of the algae. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 49–68. Hellawell, J.M. (1986) Biological indicators of freshwater pollution and environmental management. Elsevier Applied Science Publishing, London, UK
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Kingsford, R.T. and Porter, J.L. (1994) Waterbirds on an adjacent freshwater lake and salt lake in arid Australia. Biological Conservation 69, 219-228. Kuwata, A., Hama, T. and Takahashi, M. (1993) Ecophysiological characterization of two life forms, resting spores and resting cells, of a marine planktonic diatom, Chaetoceros pseudocurvisetus, formed under nutrient depletion. Marine Ecololgy Progress Series 102, 245−255 Li, L., Zheng, B. and Liu, L. (2010) Biomonitoring and bioindicators used for river ecosystems: definitions, approaches and trends. Procedia Environmental Sciences 2, 1510-1524. Martens, K., Halse, S., and Schon, I. (2015) On the Bennelongia nimala and B. triangulata lineages (Crustacea, Ostracoda) in Western Australia, with the description of six new species. European Journal of Taxonomy 111, 1-36. Mann, D.G. (1999) The species concept in diatoms. Phycologia 38, 437-495. Montresor, M., Di Prisco, C., Sarno, D., Margiotta, F. and Zingone, A. (2013) Diversity and germination of diatom resting stages at a coastal Mediterranean site. Marine Ecology Progress Series 484, 79-95. Pedler, R.D., Ribot, R.F.H., and Bennett, A.T.D. (2014) Extreme nomadism in desert waterbirds: flights of Banded Stilt. Biology Letters 10, 20140547. Pendragon Environmental Solutions (2014) Lake Disappointment Acid Sulfate Soils, Hydrology and Hydrogeology Revision 1. Pendragon Environmental Solutions, Northbridge, 41 pp+ appendices. Pinder, A.M. Halse, S.H., McRae, J.M. and Shiel R.J. (2004) Aquatic invertebrate assemblages of wetlands and rivers in the wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Records of the West Australian Museum Supplement 67, 7-37. Pinder, A.M., Halse, S.A., Shiel, R.J., and McRae, J.M. (2010) An arid zone awash with diversity: patterns in the distribution of aquatic invertebrates in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 78, 205-246. Poulton, B.C., Monda, D.P., Woodward, D.F., Windhaber, M.L. and Brumbaugh, W.G. (1995) Relations between benthic community structure and metals concentrations in aquatic macroinvertebrates: Clark Fork River, Montana. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 10, 277-293. Rae, J.G. (1989) Chironomid midges as indicators of organic pollution in the Scioto River basin, Ohio. Ohio Journal of Science 89, 5-9. Rodman, S., J. Puglisi and F. Taukulis (2016) Using hatching trials to assess the aquatic biota in dry salt lakes and wetlands. MWH Global, Jolimont, Western Australia. Sandin, L., Dahl, J. and Johnson, R.K. (2004) Assessing acid stress in Swedish boreal and alpine streams using benthic macroinvertebrates. Hydrobiology 516, 129-148. Semeniuk, C.A. (1987) Wetlands of the Darling system - a geomorphic approach to habitat classification. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 69, 95-111. Sze, P. (1986) A biology of the Algae. Wm. C. Brown Communications, USA. Taukulis, F.E., and John, J. (2006) Diatoms as ecological indicators in lakes and streams of varying salinity from the wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 89, 17-25. Timms, B.V., Datson, B., and Coleman, M. (2006) The wetlands of the Lake Carey catchment, northeast Goldfields of Western Australia, with special reference to large branchiopods. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 89, 175-183. Timms, B.V. (2009a) Biodiversity of large branchipods of Australian saline lakes. Current Science 96, 74-80. Timms, B.V. (2009b) A Revision of the Australian endemic clam shrimp genus Limnadopsis Spencer & Hall (Crustacea: Branchiopoda: Spinicaudata: Limnadiidae). Records of the Australian Museum 61, 49-72. Vanormelingen, P., Verleyen, E., and Vyverman, W. (2008) The diversity and distribution of diatoms: from cosmopolitanism to narrow endemism. Biodiversity and Conservation 17, 393-405. Wallace, J.B. and Webster, J.R. (1996) The role of invertebrates in stream ecosystem function. Annual Review of Entomology 41, 115-139. Williams, W.D. and Kokkinn, M.J. (1988) The biogeographical affinities of the fauna in episodically filled salt lakes: A study of Lake Eyre, South Australia. Hydrobiologia 158, 227-236. Williams, W.D., De Deckker, P., and Shiel, R.J. (1998) The limnology of Lake Torrens, an episodic salt lake of central Australia, with particular reference to unique events in 1989. Hydrobiologia 384, 101-110.
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8. APPENDICES Appendix 1. Sampling Effort, water chemistry and descriptions of sites sampled in March 2017. Sampling methods In situ Water chemistry
Site Date Latitude Longitude Area Description Depth (cm) 250 µm 50 µm Macrophyte Temperature Diatoms EC (µS cm-1) pH sweep sweep (If present) (°C)
REM047 10/03/2017 -23.4228 122.9456 Main playa East middle 40 Y Y Y 68,800 7.82 32.6
REM048 10/03/2017 -23.5457 122.6855 Main playa South west 20 Y Y Y 58,200 7.26 24.9
REM049 11/03/2017 -23.6819 122.7948 Main playa South 15 Y Y Y 74,100 7.24 26.1
REM050 11/03/2017 -23.3447 122.6325 Savory Creek Savory Creek 150 Y Y Y 99,300 7.57 28.4
REM051 11/03/2017 -23.3163 122.6027 Claypan Samphire pan 50 Y Y Y Y 7,170 9.03 29.7
REM052 11/03/2017 -23.1806 122.8954 Claypan Turbid muddy pan Y Y Y 807 7.43 31
REM053 11/03/2017 -23.1800 122.9575 Claypan Tannin melaleuca pan 50 Y Y Y Y 66.1 8.02 36.5
REM054 11/03/2017 -23.1803 122.9566 Claypan Turbid muddy pan 150 Y Y Y observed 655.8 8.5 35.6
REM055 11/03/2017 -23.0972 123.2167 Claypan Samphire pan 50 Y Y Y 32,200 8.54
REM056 11/03/2017 -23.1102 123.2207 Claypan Samphire pan 80 Y Y Y Y 40,300 9.54
REM039 12/03/2017 -23.1122 122.7991 Claypan Turbid muddy pan 60 Y Y Y Y 490 7.86
REM057 12/03/2017 -23.1205 122.7477 Claypan Tannin melaleuca pan 40 Y Y Y Y 278 7.49
REM058 12/03/2017 -23.2058 122.7454 Claypan Samphire pan 60 Y
REM059 12/03/2017 -23.2475 122.7752 Claypan Turbid muddy pan 50 Y* 282 7.44
REM060 12/03/2017 -23.5361 122.9665 Claypan Turbid muddy pan 50 Y* 358 8.39
REM061 12/03/2017 -23.6745 123.0917 Claypan Turbid muddy pan 40 Y* 339 8.44
REM062 12/03/2017 -23.7754 123.0813 Claypan Turbid muddy pan Y* 240 7.4
REM063 12/03/2017 -23.4894 123.1672 Claypan Turbid muddy pan Y* 309 7.37 *Sampled only with 250 µm sweep net.
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Appendix 2. Site photographs.
Lake Disappointment REM047 – 10/03/2017 – main playa REM048 – 10/03/2017 – main playa
REM049 – 11/03/2017 – main playa
Savory Creek REM050 – 11/03/2017 - pool
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Surrounding claypans REM051 – 1/03/2017 – samphire-fringed REM052 – 11/03/2017 - turbid
REM053 – 11/03/2017 – tannin-stained REM054 – 11/03/2017 - turbid
REM055 – 11/03/2017 – tannin-stained REM056 – 12/03/2017 – samphire-fringed
REM057 – 12/03/2017 – tannin-stained REM058 – 12/03/2017 – samphire-fringed
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REM059 – 12/03/2017 – samphire-fringed REM060 – 12/03/2017 - turbid
REM061- 12/03/2017 – turbid REM062 – 12/03/2017 - turbid
REM063 – 12/03/2017 - turbid
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Appendix 3. Diatom species recorded in and around Lake Disappointment from January 2016–March 2017. Ecological classifications: Ac= acid indicator; Ae= aerophilous (frequent wet sediment); N= nutrients; S = high salinity.
2016 2017
Species Ecology REM015 REM018 REM019 REM025 REM026 REM027 REM034 REM035 REM036 REM037 REM042 REM047 REM048 REM049 REM050 REM051 REM052 REM053 REM054 REM055 REM056 REM057
Amphora borealis S 13 48 36 1 1 2 2 13 13 82 3 2
Amphora coffeaeformis S 6 13 9 1 2 1
Amphora micrometra 5 2 8 2 18
Amphora subcapitata 3
Aulacoseira alpigena 2 4
Chaetoceros sp. S 4
Craticula halophila 1 1 1 2
Eolimna minima N 2 2
Eunotia minor Ac 4
Eunotia pectinalis Ac 16
Frustulia rhomboides Ac 2 1 2 1
Gomphonema lagenula N 3
Hantzschia aff. petitiana 138 65 26 6 32 126 6 98 17 12
Hantzschia amphioxys Ae 2 7 11 6 2 1 1 1 1
Luticola goeppertiana Ae, N 1
Luticola mutica Ae, N 2 1 40 4
Luticola nivalis 1
Luticola paramutica Ae, N 2
Nacicula aff minuscula 1
Navicula aff duerrenbergiana 2
Navicula aff egregia 1
Navicula aff recens 3 5 6 5 4
Navicula aff salinicola 2 28 38 5 34 13
Navicula aff tenelloides 1 4 2
Navicula agrestis 2 6 23
Navicula cf festiva 10
Navicula cf minusculus 60
Navicula cf pseudobryophila 2
Navicula cincta var minuta 1
Navicula crucicula 1
Navicula harderi 1
Navicula incertata S 9 11 7 8 29 27 3 1 1
Navicula krasskei 1 2
Navicula leptostriata 1 12 2 4 1 1
Navicula perminuta S 18 5 1 13 7 9 1 62
Navicula salinicola S 42 22 10 1 26 6 1
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2016 2017
Species Ecology REM015 REM018 REM019 REM025 REM026 REM027 REM034 REM035 REM036 REM037 REM042 REM047 REM048 REM049 REM050 REM051 REM052 REM053 REM054 REM055 REM056 REM057
Navicula suchlandtii 2
Navicula tenelloides S 1
Nitzschia aff pellucida 2 1 6 5 1 2
Nitzschia archibaldii 12 10 7 17
Nitzschia cf vasta 2 4 6
Nitzschia clausii 1
Nitzschia closterium 2 12
Nitzschia gracilis 97 2
Nitzschia liebetruthii S 2
Nitzschia linearis 1
Nitzschia palaeaformis 1
Nitzschia palea N 1 3 5 4 2 3
Nitzschia perminuta 1
Nitzschia pumila 4
Nitzschia sociabilis 2 1
Nitzschia tubicola N 3
Nitzschia vitrea 4 5 3
Mitzschia sp. 1 2 Pinnularia gibba Ac 2
Pinnularia microstauron 15
Pinnularia subcapitata Ac 2 4 5
Pleurosigma salinarum S 182
Rossithidium linearis 1
Sellaphora seminulum N 2
Sellaphora sp. 2 2 4
Seminavis sp. 2
Stauroneis anceps comb. 2
Stauroneis obtusa 2 3
Staurophora wislouchii S 2
Staurosira construens 1
Staurosira subsalina 5 6
Stenopterobia delicatissima 2
Tabellaria flocculosa Ac 1 1 1
Total Abundance 4 169 197 54 140 40 207 12 121 117 70 85 59 23 202 198 146 48 32 28 52 31 Total Richness 2 8 12 5 4 3 11 5 8 7 8 16 9 8 8 12 14 14 9 8 8 6
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Appendix 4. Aquatic and semi-aquatic invertebrate species recorded in and around Lake Disappointment in January–February 2016 and March 2017.
2016 2017 Higher Lowest Identification Savory Savory 2016 2017 Total Classification Main playa Claypans Main playa Claypans Creek Creek Protozoa Protozoa sp. 10 10 0 10 Gastrotricha Gastrotricha sp. 2 2 0 2 Turbellaria Turbellaria sp. 16 2 50 16 52 68 Nematoda Nematoda sp. 8 1 226 41 2 1 235 44 279 Eurotatoria Bdelloidea Bdelloidea sp. 2:2 58 0 58 58 Bdelloidea sp. 4:4 2 2 0 2 Bdelloidea sp. 6:6 52 0 52 52 Monogononta Conochilidae Conochilus (Conochiloides) coenobasis 105 0 105 105 Conochilus exiguus 10 0 10 10 Conochilus hippocrepis 100 0 100 100 Filiniidae Filinia longiseta 1 0 1 1 Hexarthridae Hexarthra fennica 10 10 0 10 Hexarthra sp. B01 300 300 0 300 Testudinellidae Testudinella patina 41 0 41 41 Testudinella sp. B01 1 1 0 1 Testudinella sp. P2 (PSW) 'janeae' 24 0 24 24 Ploima Asplanchnidae Asplanchna brightwelli 2 0 2 2 Asplanchna sieboldii 1 1 0 1 Brachionidae Brachionus angularis 100 0 100 100 Brachionus cf. ibericus (Lake Disappointment) 10 10 0 10 Brachionus cf. pinneenaus (Lake Disapointment) 51 0 51 51 Brachionus cf. rotundiformis (Lake 10 2 10 2 12 Disappointment) Brachionus lyratus 50 0 50 50 Brachionus nilsoni 2 0 2 2 Brachionus plicatilis s.l. 3 0 3 3 Brachionus quadridentatus 1 16 1 16 17 Brachionus rotundiformis 207 0 207 207 Keratella australis 1 1 0 1 Euchlanidae Euchlanis dilatata 2 5 2 5 7 Euchlanis oropha 6 0 6 6 Lecanidae Lecane aculeata 1 1 0 1 Lecane bulla 10 0 10 10 Lecane crenata 10 0 10 10 Lecane ludwigi 1 25 1 25 26 Lecane luna 1 1 0 1 Lecane punctata 10 0 10 10
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2016 2017 Higher Lowest Identification Savory Savory 2016 2017 Total Classification Main playa Claypans Main playa Claypans Creek Creek Lecane signifera 1 1 0 1 Lecane sp. s.str. 1 1 0 1 Lecane thalera 150 0 150 150 Lecane ungulata 10 0 10 10 Lepadellidae Lepadella (Lepadella) ovalis 1 1 0 1 Notommatidae Cephalodella gibba 2 2 0 2 Cephalodella similis 20 20 0 20 Notommata cf. pachyura (PSW) 1 0 1 1 Proalidae ?Proales sordida 2 0 2 2 Synchaetidae Polyarthra dolichoptera 1 0 1 1 Trichocercidae Trichocerca pusilla 20 0 20 20 Trichocerca similis 72 0 72 72 Chelicerata Arachnida Acari Mesostigmata Mesostigmata sp. 1 1 0 1 Sacroptiformes Oribatida sp. 1 1 0 1 Trombidiformes Hydrachnidae Hydrachna sp. 4 0 4 4 Trombidiidae Trombidiidae sp. 1 1 0 1 Unionicolidae Neumania sp. 1 0 1 1 Crustacea Conchostraca Cyzicidae Eocyzicus nr argillaquus 5 5 0 5 Eocyzicus sp. B02 38 0 38 38 Eocyzicus sp. B04 47 0 47 47 Ozestheria lutraria 13 0 13 13 Ozestheria packardi s.l. 31 22 31 22 53 Ozestheria sp. B01 7 0 7 7 Limnadiidae Eulimnadia nsp. B01 1 1 0 1 Limnadopsis birchii 3 0 3 3 Limnadopsis tatei 2 0 2 2 Paralimnadia sp. B01 (nr flava) 9 0 9 9 Diplostraca Chydoridae Alona rigidicaudis s.l. 24 0 24 24 Armatalona macrocopa 25 0 25 25 Australospilus elongatus 5 0 5 5 Coronatella cf. rectangula novaezelandiae 23 0 23 23 Dunhevedia crassa 1 0 1 1 Ephemeroporus barroisi s.l. 2 0 2 2 Ovalona pulchella 14 0 14 14 Australospilus elongatus 4 4 0 4 Pseudomonospilus diporus 5 5 0 5 Chydroridae Maraura macracantha 1 0 1 1 Daphniidae Ceriodaphnia quadrangula s.l. 50 0 50 50
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2016 2017 Higher Lowest Identification Savory Savory 2016 2017 Total Classification Main playa Claypans Main playa Claypans Creek Creek Daphnia carinata s.l. 14 0 14 14 Macrothricidae Macrothrix breviseta 135 0 135 135 Macrothrix capensis 100 0 100 100 Moinidae Moina micrura s.l. 192 0 192 192 Moina sp. B01 1 1 0 1 Moina micura s.l. 139 139 0 139 Moina tenuicornis 6 6 0 6 Neothricidae Neothrix sp. 3 3 0 3 Sididae Diaphanosoma unguiculatum 77 0 77 77 Notostraca Triopsidae Triops australiensis australiensis 85 1 85 1 86 Anostraca Branchiopodidae Parartemia laticaudata 27 33 23 91 83 91 174 Thamnocephalidae Branchinella affinis 27 6 27 6 33 Branchinella mcraeae 1 0 1 1 Branchinella sp. B02 (nr proboscida) 20 20 0 20 Branchinella sp. B03 43 0 43 43 Branchinella wellardi 20 20 0 20 Copepoda Calanoida Centropagidae Boeckella sp. B01 26 26 0 26 Calamoecia baylyi 220 200 220 200 420 Calamoecia canberra 100 0 100 100 Cyclopoida Cyclopidae Apocyclops dengizicus 101 15 126 160 20 16 242 196 438 Meridiecyclops sp. 2 2 0 2 Mesocyclops brooksi 90 0 90 90 Metacyclops sp. 29 29 0 29 Thermocyclops decipiens 140 0 140 140 Thermocyclops nr emini (PSW) 20 0 20 20 Harpacticoida Canthocamptidae Cletocamptus deitersi 20 0 20 20 Ostracoda Cyprididae Bennelongia sp. BOS565 31 19 31 19 50 Bennelongia coondinerensis 3 0 3 3 Bennelongia koendersae 196 0 196 196 Cypretta sp. BOS865 5 0 5 5 Cypretta sp. BOS902 20 0 20 20 Cypretta sp. BOS917 202 0 202 202 Cypricercus sp. BOS841 1000 0 1000 1000 Cypricercus sp. BOS843 1 0 1 1 Cyprinotus sp. BOS899 100 0 100 100 Cyprinotus sp. BOS946 10 0 10 10 Diacypris sp. 2 2 0 2 Hemicypris megalops 1 0 1 1
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2016 2017 Higher Lowest Identification Savory Savory 2016 2017 Total Classification Main playa Claypans Main playa Claypans Creek Creek Heterocypris gen. nov. sp. BOS560 20 4 24 0 24 Heterocypris sp. BOS898 20 20 0 40 40 Ilyodromus ?dikrus 10 10 0 10 Ilyodromus sp. BOS953 21 0 21 21 `Patcypris outbacki` 1056 2 0 1058 1058 Reticypris sp. 200 0 200 200 Strandesia sp. BOS564 10 10 0 10 Strandesia sp. BOS914 1 0 1 1 Limnocytheridae ?Limnocythere sp. BOS901 10 0 10 10
Limnocythere sp. BOS900 100 0 100 100
Limnocythere sp. BOS837 2 0 2 2
Insecta Coleoptera Carabidae Carabidae sp. 3 3 0 3 Curculionidae Curculionidae sp. 1 1 0 1 Dytiscidae Allodessus bistrigatus 17 0 17 17 Cybister tripunctatus 1 0 1 1 Eretes australis 7 43 7 43 50 Hydroglyphus grammopterus 42 0 42 42 Hyphydrus lyratus 2 0 2 2 Laccophilus clarki 2 0 2 2 Laccophilus sharpi 2 0 2 2 Gyrinidae Dineutus (Cyclous) australis 7 0 7 7 Hydrophilidae Berosus (Berosus) pulchellus 2 1 0 3 3 Enochrus (Methydrus) elongatulus 1 1 0 1 Enochrus (Methydrus) eyrensis 2 0 2 2 Helochares (Hydrobaticus) tatei 1 0 1 1 Laccobius (Notoberosus) zietzi 23 5 23 5 28 Scarabidae Scarabidae sp. 1 1 0 1 Staphylinidae Staphylinidae sp. 1 3 4 0 4 Diptera Ceratopogonidae Culicoides sp. 20 4 24 0 24 Dasyhelea sp. 20 1 20 1 21 Forcypomyiinae sp. 2 0 2 2 Monohelea sp. 10 0 10 10 Nilobezzia sp. 10 0 10 10 Chironomidae Ablabesmyia sp. B01 3 0 3 3 Chironomus aff. alternans (V24) (CB) 20 0 20 20 Cladotanytarsus sp. 12 0 12 12 Cryptochironomus griseidorsum 6 0 6 6 Dicrotendipes `CA1` Pilbara type 2 (PSW) 55 0 55 55 Dicrotendipes sp. B01 11 0 11 11 Larsia albiceps 54 0 54 54 Microchironomus `K1` 10 0 10 10 Microchironomus sp. 2 2 0 2
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2016 2017 Higher Lowest Identification Savory Savory 2016 2017 Total Classification Main playa Claypans Main playa Claypans Creek Creek Parachironomus `K2` 11 0 11 11 Polypedilum (Polypedilum) nubifer 2 2 0 2 Procladius (Procladius) paludicola 79 0 79 79 Tanytarsus `K12` 20 0 20 20 Tanytarsus barbitarsis 1 12 43 1 55 56 Tanytarsus fuscithorax/semibarbitarsus 1 47 1 47 48 Tanytarsus sp. P05 (PSW) 3 0 3 3 Tanytarsus sp. P09 (PSW) 20 0 20 20 Culicidae Anopheles annulipes s.l. 1 0 1 1 Culex starkae 3 0 3 3 Muscidae Muscidae sp. 3 4 3 10 0 10 Stratiomyidae Stratiomyidae sp. 1 3 1 3 4 Ephemeroptera Baetidae Cloeon sp. 32 0 32 32 Hemiptera Corixidae Agraptocorixa parvipunctata 5 0 5 5 Micronecta gracilis 19 0 19 19 Micronecta halei 15 0 15 15 Micronecta lansburyi 21 0 21 21 Micronecta virgata 9 0 9 9 Gerridae Limnogonus sp. 2 0 2 2 Notonectidae Anisops gratus 13 0 13 13 Anisops hackeri 1 0 1 1 Anisops nasutus 89 0 89 89 Anisops semitus 1 0 1 1 Anisops stali 1 65 1 65 66 Anisops thienemanni 2 0 2 2 Ochteridae Ochterus secundus pseudosecundus 1 0 1 1 Saldidae Saldula sp. 2 0 2 2 Odonata Aeshnidae Anax papuensis 24 0 24 24 Coenagrionidae Ischnura aurora aurora 26 0 26 26 Ischnura heterosticta heterosticta 2 2 0 2 Xanthagrion erythroneurum 16 0 16 16 Hemicorduliidae Hemicordulia tau 2 2 2 2 4 Lestidae Austrolestes analis 1 0 1 1 Libellulidae Diplacodes bipunctata 35 0 35 35 Orthetrum caledonicum 1 4 1 4 5 Pantala flavescens 11 0 11 11 Trichoptera Ecnomidae Ecnomus sp. 1 0 1 1 Leptoceridae Oecetis sp. 5 0 5 5 Triplectides australis 3 0 3 3 Total Abundance 195 140 1430 1569 324 5023 1765 6916 8681 Total Richness 10 12 57 7 14 135 68 147 193
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Appendix 5. Higher-order invertebrate identifications omitted from final list of species to avoid artificial inflation. 2016 2017 Higher Classification Lowest Identification Lake Disappointment Savory Creek Surrounding Claypans Lake Disappointment Savory Creek Surrounding Claypans Eurotatoria Rotifera sp. 200 Bdelloidea Bdelloidea sp. 67 Monogononta Flosculariacea Testudinellidae Testudinella sp. 3 Ploima Brachionidae Brachionus sp. 156 Euchlanidae Euchlanis sp. 11 Lepadellidae Lepadella sp. 1 Proalidae Proales sp. 60 10 100 Synchaetidae Polyarthra sp. 300 Trichocercidae Trichocerca sp. 62 Chelicerata Arachnida Arachnida sp. 4 Acari Trombidiformes Acari sp. 1 Crustacea Branchiopoda Phyllopoda Conchostraca Cyzicidae Eocyzicus sp. 3 3 6 Diplostraca Cladocera sp. unident. 150 5 Chydoridae Alona sp. 12 Chydoridae sp. 1 Daphniidae Daphniidae sp. 1 Moinidae Moinidae sp. 1 Neothricidae Neothrix sp. 3 Sididae Diaphanosoma sp. 5 Sarsostraca Anostraca Anostraca sp. unident. 1 61 Branchiopodidae Parartemia sp. 11 1 Thamnocephalidae Branchinella sp. 2 Maxillopoda Copepoda Calanoida Calanoida sp. 400 Cyclopoida Cyclopoida sp. 13 2 Ostracoda Popocopa Popocopida Ostracoda sp. unident. 11 11 Cypretta sp. 3 1011 Cyprididae Ilyodromus sp. 2 Limnocytheridae Limnocythere sp. 3 Hexapoda Insecta
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2016 2017 Higher Classification Lowest Identification Lake Disappointment Savory Creek Surrounding Claypans Lake Disappointment Savory Creek Surrounding Claypans Coleoptera Coleoptera sp. 1 1 Dytiscidae Bidessini sp. 5 1 Cybister sp. 1 Hyphydrus sp. 22 Laccophilus sp. 8 Gyrinidae Dineutus sp. 5 Hydrophilidae Berosus sp. 1 Enochrus sp. 2 Laccobius sp. 2 Diptera Ceratopogonidae Ceratopogonidae sp. 1 Chironomidae Chironominae sp. 1 Chironomini sp. 1 Dicrotendipes sp. 1 Culicidae Culicidae sp. 1 Hemiptera Hemiptera sp. 1 Corixidae Agraptocorixa sp. 4 Micronecta sp. 2 1 1 Notonectidae Anisops sp. 2 49 Odonata Coenagrionidae Ischnura sp. 6 Total Abundance 98 10 1170 2 6 1531
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Appendix 6. Common and scientific bird names.
Family common name Taxon name Taxon scientific name Pink-eared Duck Malacorhynchus membranaceus Hardhead Aythya australis Ducks, Geese and Swans Pacific Black Duck Anas superciliosa Grey Teal Anas gracilis Australian Wood Duck Chenonetta jubata Australian Grebe Tachybaptus novaehollandiae novaehollandiae Grebes Hoary-headed Grebe Poliocephalus poliocephalus Black-tailed Native-hen Tribonyx ventralis Crakes, Rails and Swamphens Eurasian Coot Fulica atra Banded Stilt Cladorhynchus leucocephalus Stilts and Avocets Red-necked Avocet Recurvirostra novaehollandiae Black-winged Stilt Himantopus leucocephalus Red-capped Plover Charadrius ruficapillus Black-fronted Dotterel Elseyornis melanops Plovers, Dotterel and Lapwings Banded Lapwing Vanellus tricolor Red-kneed Dotterel Erythrogonys cinctus Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Calidris acuminata Snipe, Sandpipers, Godwits, Red-necked Stint Calidris ruficollis Curlew, Stints and Phalaropes Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia Silver Gull Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae Gulls, Terns and Noddies Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida Nankeen Night-Heron Nycticorax caledonicus Herons, Egrets and Bitterns Great Egret Ardea alba White-faced Heron Egretta novaehollandiae
Little Egret Egretta garzetta Ibis and Spoonbills Straw-necked Ibis Threskiornis spinicollis Eagles, Kites, Goshawks Swamp Harrier Circus approximans
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