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Ashmore Reef Commonwealth Marine Reserve Ramsar Site Ecological Character Description

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Ashmore Reef Commonwealth Marine Reserve Ramsar Site Ecological Character Description Ashmore Reef Commonwealth Marine Reserve Ramsar Site Ecological Character Description September 2013 Citation: Hale, J. and Butcher, R. (2013) Ashmore Reef Commonwealth Marine Reserve Ramsar Site Ecological Character Description. A report to the Department of the Environment, Canberra Steering committee members: Department of the Environment (Canberra) Parks Australia (Canberra) Copyright © Copyright Commonwealth of Australia, 2013. Ashmore Reef Commonwealth Marine Reserve Ramsar Site Ecological Character Description is licensed by the Commonwealth of Australia for use under a Creative Commons By Attribution 3.0 Australia licence with the exception of the Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Australia, the logo of the agency responsible for publishing the report, content supplied by third parties, and any images depicting people. For licence conditions see: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/ This report should be attributed as ‘Ashmore Reef Commonwealth Marine Reserve Ramsar Site Ecological Character Description, Commonwealth of Australia, 2011’. The Commonwealth of Australia has made all reasonable efforts to identify content supplied by third parties using the following format ‘© Copyright, [name of third party] ’. Introductory Notes This Ecological Character Description (ECD Publication) has been prepared in accordance with the National Framework and Guidance for Describing the Ecological Character of Australia’s Ramsar Wetlands (National Framework) (Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, 2008). The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) prohibits actions that are likely to have a significant impact on the ecological character of a Ramsar wetland unless the Commonwealth Environment Minister has approved the taking of the action, or some other provision in the EPBC Act allows the action to be taken. The information in this ECD Publication does not indicate any commitment to a particular course of action, policy position or decision. Further, it does not provide assessment of any particular action within the meaning of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cath), nor replace the role of the Minister or his delegate in making an informed decision to approve an action. This ECD Publication is provided without prejudice to any final decision by the Administrative Authority for Ramsar in Australia on change in ecological character in accordance with the requirements of Article 3.2 of the Ramsar Convention. Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Government or the Minister for the Environment. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the contents of this ECD are correct, the Commonwealth of Australia as represented by the Department of the Environment does not guarantee and accepts no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to the currency, accuracy, completeness, reliability or suitability of the information in this ECD. Note: There may be differences in the type of information contained in this ECD publication, to those of other Ramsar wetlands. Cover photo credits: Australian Heritage Commission, Anna Farnham, John Hicks (© Copyright Director of National Parks), Anna Farnham and Anna Farnham. Table of contents Glossary ..................................................................................................................................... iii List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................... vi Executive summary .................................................................................................................. vii 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Site details........................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Statement of purpose ....................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Relevant treaties, legislation and regulations .................................................................. 3 1.4 Method ............................................................................................................................. 5 2. General description of the Ashmore Reef Ramsar Site ........................................................ 6 2.1 Location ............................................................................................................................ 6 2.2 Land tenure ...................................................................................................................... 6 2.3 Wetland types .................................................................................................................. 6 2.4 Ramsar criteria ................................................................................................................. 7 2.4.1 Criteria under which the site was designated ........................................................... 7 2.4.2 Assessment based on current information and Ramsar criteria ............................... 8 3. Critical components and processes .................................................................................... 16 3.1 Identifying critical components and processes .............................................................. 16 3.2 Supporting components and processes ........................................................................ 18 3.2.1 Climate .................................................................................................................... 18 3.2.2 Geomorphic setting ................................................................................................. 18 3.2.3 Tides and currents ................................................................................................... 20 3.2.4 Water quality ........................................................................................................... 21 3.2.5 Vegetation ............................................................................................................... 22 3.3 Critical components and processes ............................................................................... 25 3.3.1 Marine invertebrates ................................................................................................ 26 3.3.2 Fish .......................................................................................................................... 30 3.3.3 Seasnakes ............................................................................................................... 31 3.3.4 Turtles...................................................................................................................... 32 3.3.5 Seabirds and shorebirds ......................................................................................... 32 3.3.6 Dugong .................................................................................................................... 35 4 Ecosystem services .............................................................................................................. 36 4.1 Overview of benefits and services ................................................................................. 36 4.2 Identifying critical ecosystem services and benefits ...................................................... 37 4.3 Critical services .............................................................................................................. 37 4.3.1 Supports near natural wetland types ....................................................................... 37 4.3.2 Supports biodiversity ............................................................................................... 38 4.3.3 Provides physical habitat for breeding waterbirds .................................................. 40 4.3.4 Priority wetland species – supports migratory birds ................................................ 41 4.3.5 Supports threatened species .................................................................................. 44 4.4 Non-critical Services ...................................................................................................... 49 4.4.1 Recreation and tourism ........................................................................................... 49 4.5.2 Cultural heritage ...................................................................................................... 49 4.5.3 Scientific research ................................................................................................... 49 5. Threats to ecological character ........................................................................................... 50 5.1 Biological resource use .................................................................................................. 52 5.2 Oil and gas exploration and mining ............................................................................... 52 5.3 Invasive species ............................................................................................................. 53 5.3.1 Ginger ants .............................................................................................................. 53 5.3.2 Other invasive species ...........................................................................................
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