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Port of Abbot Point Ambient Coral Monitoring Program: Report 2017

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Port of Abbot Point Ambient Coral Monitoring Program: Report 2017 Port of Abbot Point Ambient Coral Monitoring Program: Report 2017 NQ Bulk Ports Angus Thompson, Johnston Davidson, Paul Costello AIMS: Australia’s tropical marine research agency Townsville 2018 Australian Institute of Marine Science PMB No 3 PO Box 41775 Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre Townsville MC Qld 4810 Casuarina NT 0811 University of Western Australia, M096 Crawley WA 6009 This report should be cited as: Thompson A, Costello P, Davidson J (2018) Port of Abbot Point Ambient Monitoring Program: Report 2017. Report prepared for North Queensland Bulk Ports. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville. (39 pp) © Copyright: Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) 2018 All rights are reserved and no part of this document may be reproduced, stored or copied in any form or by any means whatsoever except with the prior written permission of AIMS DISCLAIMER While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this document are factually correct, AIMS does not make any representation or give any warranty regarding the accuracy, completeness, currency or suitability for any particular purpose of the information or statements contained in this document. To the extent permitted by law AIMS shall not be liable for any loss, damage, cost or expense that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of or reliance on the contents of this document. Vendor shall ensure that documents have been fully checked and approved prior to submittal to client Revision History: Name Date Comments Prepared by: Angus Thompson 24/01/2018 1 Approved by: Britta Schaffelke 24/01/2018 2 Cover photo: Corals at Camp West in May 2017 i Port of Abbot Point Ambient Coral Monitoring 2017 CONTENTS 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................. 1 2 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................................... 1 3 METHODS .......................................................................................................................................................... 1 3.1 Sampling Design ........................................................................................................................................ 1 3.2 Sampling methods ..................................................................................................................................... 3 3.2.1 Photo point intercept transects ....................................................................................................... 3 3.2.2 Juvenile coral surveys .......................................................................................................................... 3 3.2.3 Scuba search transects ........................................................................................................................ 3 3.3 Coral community Indicators .................................................................................................................. 3 3.3.1 Coral Cover .......................................................................................................................................... 4 3.3.2 Juvenile Density .................................................................................................................................... 4 3.3.3 Macroalgae Proportion ....................................................................................................................... 4 3.3.4 Scoring of indicators ........................................................................................................................... 4 3.4 Key pressures ............................................................................................................................................ 5 3.4.1 Thermal bleaching ................................................................................................................................ 5 3.4.2 Runoff ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 3.4.3 Cyclones and storms........................................................................................................................... 6 3.5 Spatial and temporal analysis ................................................................................................................. 7 3.6 Environmental setting of reefs ............................................................................................................... 7 3.6.1 Ambient Water Quality ..................................................................................................................... 7 3.6.2 Sediment characteristics – Hydrodynamic setting ....................................................................... 8 3.6.3 Wave height data ................................................................................................................................. 9 3.6.4 Aggregation of indicator scores ....................................................................................................... 9 4 RESULTS ............................................................................................................................................................ 10 4.1 Environmental pressures ...................................................................................................................... 10 4.1.1 Coral bleaching ................................................................................................................................... 10 4.1.2 Tropical Cyclone Debbie ................................................................................................................. 10 4.1.3 Runoff ................................................................................................................................................... 12 4.1.4 Coral predators .................................................................................................................................. 13 4.2 Coral community condition assessment ........................................................................................... 13 4.3 Coral Cover ............................................................................................................................................. 13 ii Port of Abbot Point Ambient Coral Monitoring 2017 4.4 Macroalgae proportion ......................................................................................................................... 17 4.5 Juvenile Density....................................................................................................................................... 20 5 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................................................. 23 6 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................................... 25 7 APPENDIX 1 .................................................................................................................................................... 28 8 APPENDIX 2 Illustration of impacts of TC Debbie ............................................................................... 37 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Coral monitoring locations........................................................................................................................ 2 Figure 2 Ambient water quality conditions. ............................................................................................................ 8 Figure 3 Temperature anomalies. ......................................................................................................................... 10 Figure 4 Tropical Cyclone Debbie track. ................................................................................................................ 11 Figure 5 Wave record from Holbourne Island. ...................................................................................................... 12 Figure 6 Sequence of ‘atramentous necrosis’ infection stages observed at Camp East in November 2017. ........ 16 Figure 7 Benthic community composition biplot. ................................................................................................. 17 Figure 8 Example of the calcareous red algae present at Holbourne West in November 2017. .......................... 19 Figure A1. 1 Cover hard coral families, soft coral (hanging) and macroalgae (hanging). .................................... 35 Figure A1. 2 Density of hard coral juveniles by family. ......................................................................................... 36 Figure A2. 1 Change in benthic community at Holbourne East, Site 1, 5 m depth. .............................................. 37 Figure A2. 2 Change in benthic community at Holbourne West, Site 1, 5 m depth. ............................................. 38 Figure A2. 3 Change in benthic community at Holbourne West, Site 2, 5 m depth. ............................................. 39 Figure A2. 4 Change in benthic community at Holbourne West, Site 1, 2 m depth. ............................................. 40 Figure A2. 5 Deposition of sand and rubble partially burying a transect marker at Holbourne West .................. 40 LIST OF TABLES Table 1Sampling design .........................................................................................................................................
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