Montara Surveys: Final Report on Benthic Surveys at Ashmore, Cartier and Seringapatam Reefs
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Environmental Study S6.4 Corals Montara Surveys: Final report on Benthic Surveys at Ashmore, Cartier and Seringapatam Reefs Authors: Andrew Heyward, Ben Radford, Kathryn Burns, Jamie Colquhoun, Cordelia Moore Contributors Paul Tinkler, Kim Brooks, Greg Suosaari, Dave Whillas, Kerryn Johns, Mark Case, Carole Lonergan, Ross Jones, Jamie Oliver Report prepared by the Australian Institute of Marine Science for PTTEP Australasia (Ashmore Cartier) Pty. Ltd. in accordance with Contract No. 000/2009/10-23 October 2010 Enquiries should be addressed to: Andrew Heyward Australian Institute of Marine Science UWA Oceans Institute (M096) 35 Stirling Hwy Crawley, WA 6009 [email protected] © Copyright . PTTEP Australasia (Ashmore Cartier) Pty Ltd 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 PTTEP Australasia (Ashmore Cartier) Pty Ltd 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. Cover Photo : Ashmore Reef – shallow reef crest community on the central northern site A8 in April 2010. ii Benthic surveys at Ashmore, Cartier and Seringapatam Reefs Heyward et al.. Table of Contents Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................... i List of Figures and Tables .......................................................................................................ii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... Executive Summary .................................................................................................................1 Background ................................................................................................................................5 Methods ......................................................................................................................................5 Location ............................................................................................................................................................. 5 Site selection ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 Benthic photo sampling .................................................................................................................................. 7 Analysis of benthic images ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Sediment collection and analysis .................................................................................................................. 8 Coral reproduction ....................................................................................................................................... 16 Results ..................................................................................................................................... 16 Reef sampling sites ......................................................................................................................................... 16 Benthic community analyses ....................................................................................................................... 17 Coral cover and composition ..................................................................................................................... 26 Sediment analyses .......................................................................................................................................... 39 Coral reproduction ....................................................................................................................................... 47 Discussion ............................................................................................................................... 49 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... 51 References .............................................................................................................................. 52 Appendix 1. Metadata summary of all sampling site locations ...................................... 54 Appendix 2. Number and locations of shallowest habitat images, ................................ 60 Appendix 3. Sediment analysis GCMS reconstructed chromatograms ....................... 64 i Benthic surveys at Ashmore, Cartier and Seringapatam Reefs Heyward et al.. List of Figures Figure 1. Location of study sites in relation to modeled relative exposure map of the oil spill. ..... 6 Figure 2. Location of survey sites at Ashmore Reef. ……………………………………………..10 Figure 3. Location of survey sites at Cartier Islet………………………………………………... 11 Figure 4. Location of survey sites at Seringapatam Reef. …………………………………………12 Figure 5. Location of survey sites at East Hook, South Scott Reef. ....................................................... 13 Figure 6. Sediment sampling locations. Each red dot is a duplicate pair collected by hand. ............. 14 Figure 7. Ashmore Reef – diver based photography along defined transect lines was the primary survey tool used to assess benthic communities. ....................................................................................... 15 Figure 8. Cartier Reef shoreline – paired jars of sediments were collected on all dive sites and emergent intertidal strand lines. ..................................................................................................................... 15 Figure 9. Ashmore Reef - mean abundance (+ SE) expressed as percent cover per 20 m transect, of major benthic groups averaged for all depths at each survey site. .................................................... 19 Figure 10. Cartier Reef - mean abundance (+ SE) expressed as percent cover per 20 m transect, of major benthic groups averaged for all depths at each survey site. ................................................... 20 Figure 11. Seringapatam Reef - mean abundance (+ SE) expressed as percent cover per 20 m transect, of major benthic groups at each 3 m survey site. ...................................................................... 21 Figure 12. Ashmore Reef – abundance of major benthic groups on the 3 m transect sites .......... 22 Figure 13. Ashmore Reef – abundance of major benthic groups on the 6 m fixed transects sites ................................................................................................................................................................................. 22 Figure 14. Cartier Reef - major benthic groups on the 3 m fixed transect sites ................................ 23 Figure 15. Cartier Reef - major benthic groups on the 6 m fixed transect sites ................................ 23 Figure 16. Seringapatam Reef - major benthic groups on the 3 m fixed transect sites ..................... 24 ii Benthic surveys at Ashmore, Cartier and Seringapatam Reefs Heyward et al.. Figure 17. Seringapatam Reef - major benthic groups on the 6 m fixed transect sites ..................... 24 Figure 18. Comparison of mean abundance of major benthic groups at each reef on the 3 m and 6 m sites. ............................................................................................................................................................... 25 Figure 19. Ashmore Reef – abundance of dominant coral families on the 3 m fixed transects ..... 28 Figure 20. Ashmore Reef – abundance of dominant coral families on the 6 m fixed transects ...... 28 Figure 21. Cartier Reef – abundance of dominant coral families on the 3 m fixed transects .......... 29 Figure 22. Cartier Reef – abundance of dominant coral families on the 6 m fixed transects sites . 29 Figure 23. Seringapatam Reef – abundance of the dominant coral familiesa at each of the 3 m fixed transect sites ........................................................................................................................................................ 30 Figure 24. Seringapatam Reef – abundance of the dominant coral families at each of the 6 m fixed transect sites ........................................................................................................................................................ 30 Figure 25. Mean live coral cover comparison between Ashmore, Cartier and Seringapatam Reefs for the major families at 3 m and 6 m depths. ............................................................................................. 31 Figure 26. Seringapatam Reef - selective and significant bleaching of Poccilloporid corals on a 6 m transect, which show as bright white colonies.. .......................................................................................... 33 Figure 28. Ashmore Reef - coral bleaching averaged at the shallow (3 m) and deeper (6 m)