Condition of Freshwater Fish Communities in the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Management Region
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Condition of Freshwater Fish Communities in the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Management Region Dale McNeil, David Schmarr and Rupert Mathwin SARDI Publication No. F2011/000502-1 SARDI Research Report Series No. 590 SARDI Aquatic Sciences 2 Hamra Avenue West Beach SA 5024 December 2011 Survey Report for the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board Condition of Freshwater Fish Communities in the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Management Region Dale McNeil, David Survey Report for the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board Schmarr and Rupert Mathwin SARDI Publication No. F2011/000502-1 SARDI Research Report Series No. 590 December 2011 Board This Publication may be cited as: McNeil, D.G, Schmarr, D.W and Mathwin, R (2011). Condition of Freshwater Fish Communities in the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Management Region. Report to the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board. South Australian Research and Development Institute (Aquatic Sciences), Adelaide. SARDI Publication No. F2011/000502-1. SARDI Research Report Series No. 590. 65pp. South Australian Research and Development Institute SARDI Aquatic Sciences 2 Hamra Avenue West Beach SA 5024 Telephone: (08) 8207 5400 Facsimile: (08) 8207 5406 http://www.sardi.sa.gov.au DISCLAIMER The authors warrant that they have taken all reasonable care in producing this report. The report has been through the SARDI Aquatic Sciences internal review process, and has been formally approved for release by the Chief, Aquatic Sciences. Although all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure quality, SARDI Aquatic Sciences does not warrant that the information in this report is free from errors or omissions. SARDI Aquatic Sciences does not accept any liability for the contents of this report or for any consequences arising from its use or any reliance placed upon it. © 2011 SARDI This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), no part may be reproduced by any process, electronic or otherwise, without the specific written permission of the copyright owner. Neither may information be stored electronically in any form whatsoever without such permission. Printed in Adelaide: December 2011 SARDI Publication No. F2011/000502-1 SARDI Research Report Series No. 590 Author(s): Dale McNeil, David Schmarr and Rupert Mathwin Reviewer(s): Jason Nicol, Phillipa Wilson and Rehanna Halfyard Approved by: Dr. Jason Nicol A/Principal Scientist – Inland Waters & Catchment Ecology Signed: Date: 12 December 2011 Distribution: ALMLRNRM Board, SAASC Library, University of Adelaide Library, Parliamentary Library, State Library and National Library Circulation: Public Domain McNeil et al. Regional Fish Monitoring for the WMLR TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................. I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................. III EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................... 1 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 2 1.1. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................. 2 2. METHODS .............................................................................................................................................. 5 2.1. STUDY SITE SELECTION ..................................................................................................................... 5 2.2. WATER QUALITY & HABITAT .............................................................................................................. 5 2.3. SAMPLING PROTOCOL ....................................................................................................................... 8 2.4. DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................................ 9 2.4.1. Scorecard condition ratings .................................................................................................... 9 2.4.2. Multivariate Analysis .............................................................................................................10 3. RESULTS .............................................................................................................................................11 3.1. GENERAL RESULTS .........................................................................................................................11 3.2. RESULTS BY RIVER .........................................................................................................................17 3.2.1. Bungala ................................................................................................................................17 3.2.2. Deep Creek ..........................................................................................................................18 3.2.3. Field River ............................................................................................................................18 3.2.4. Gawler River .........................................................................................................................18 3.2.5. Hindmarsh River ...................................................................................................................19 3.2.6. Inman River ..........................................................................................................................20 3.2.7. Light River ............................................................................................................................21 3.2.8. Little Para River ....................................................................................................................21 3.2.9. Maslin Creek .........................................................................................................................21 3.2.10. Myponga River .....................................................................................................................22 3.2.11. Onkaparinga River ................................................................................................................22 3.2.12. Patawalonga River ...............................................................................................................23 3.2.13. Pedler Creek .........................................................................................................................24 3.2.14. Torrens River ........................................................................................................................24 3.2.15. Tunkalilla Creek ....................................................................................................................25 3.2.16. Washpool Creek ...................................................................................................................25 3.2.17. Willunga Creek .....................................................................................................................26 3.2.18. Yankalilla River .....................................................................................................................26 3.3. FISH HEALTH INDEX BY WATER PLANNING AREA ..............................................................................31 3.4. MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................33 3.5. GEOGRAPHIC MULTIVARIATE GROUPINGS ........................................................................................35 4.1. DISCUSSION BY SITE .......................................................................................................................37 4.1.1. Bungala River .......................................................................................................................37 4.1.2. Deep Creek ..........................................................................................................................38 4.1.3. Field River ............................................................................................................................38 4.1.4. Gawler River Catchment ......................................................................................................39 4.1.5. Hindmarsh River ...................................................................................................................40 I McNeil et al. Regional Fish Monitoring for the WMLR 4.1.6. Inman River ..........................................................................................................................41 4.1.7. Light River ............................................................................................................................41 4.1.8. Little Para River ....................................................................................................................42 4.1.9. Myponga River .....................................................................................................................42 4.1.10. Onkaparinga River ................................................................................................................43