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Appendix 5 Baseline Aquatic Biology and Water Quality Study

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Appendix 5 Baseline Aquatic Biology and Water Quality Study Cloverdale Project M-CV-00028 Baseline Aquatic Biology and Water Quality Study including Tiger Gully, Ludlow River and Capel River prepared for by Wetland Research & Management Cloverdale Project M-CV-00028 Baseline Aquatic Biology and Water Quality Study including Tiger Gully, Ludlow River and Capel River Prepared for: Iluka Resources Limited Level 23, 140 St Georges Terrace, Perth WA 6000 GPO Box U1988 Perth WA Ph (61 8) 9360 4700 By: Wetland Research & Management 28 William Street, Glen Forrest, WA 6071, Australia Ph (61 8) 9298 9807, Fax (61 8) 9380 1029, e-mail: awstorey@ cyllene.uwa.edu.au Draft Report April 2006 Frontispiece: (clockwise from main picture) Ludlow River, 1.2 km downstream from the Cloverdale project area; male koonac Cherax plebejus; nightfish Bostockia porosa. ii Study Team 8anagement: Sue Creagh Field Work: Sue Creagh & Jess Lynas Macroinvertebrate Identification: Lisa Chandler & Sue Creagh Data analysis: Sue Creagh & Andrew Storey Report: Sue Creagh Acknowledgements This project was undertaken by Wetland Research & Management (WRM) for Iluka Resources Limited. WRM would like to acknowledge Dr Don Edward (UWA) for assistance with Chironomidae taxonomy and Dr Mark Harvey (WAM) for Acarina taxonomy and Dr Rob Davis (Western Wildlife) for tadpole identifications. The maps of the study area were provided by Iluka Resources Limited. Shannon Jones (Iluka) is thanked for constructive criticism on the draft report and for her efficient overall management of this project on behalf of Iluka. The authors are grateful to Craig and Tom Hutton, Garry Bibby, Jan McKechnie and to the Norton, Armstrong, Weir and Whiteland families, who readily granted access to their pastoral properties. Tom Hutton is especially acknowledged for his assistance in the field and for providing valuable information on the fauna and ecology of the Capel River. Peter Nelson and Denise Barnard (both Iluka) are thanked for kindly providing assistance on-site and Rae McPherson (Capel LCDC) provided water quality monitoring data for Capel River. Recommended Reference Format WRM (2005). Cloverdale Project M-CV-00028: Baseline Aquatic Biology and Water Quality Study including Tiger Gully, Ludlow River and Capel River. Unpublished report by Wetland Research & Management to Iluka Resources Ltd. April 2006. Disclaimer This document was based on the best information available at the time of writing. While Wetland Research & Management (WRM) has attempted to ensure that all information contained within this document is accurate, WRM does not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility to any third party for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information supplied. The views and opinions expressed within are those of WRM and do not necessarily represent Iluka Resources Limited policy. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Iluka Resources Limited and WRM. iii Cloverdale Project Baseline Aquatic Biology & Water Quality Study 2005/06 CONTENTS SUMMARY......................................................................................................................................................................vi 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................ 1 2. METHODS.................................................................................................................................................................... 1 2.1 Study Area ............................................................................................................................................................... 1 2.2 Sites and Sampling Design ...................................................................................................................................... 2 2.3 Riverine Condition Assessment............................................................................................................................... 5 2.4 Physico-chemistry.................................................................................................................................................... 5 2.5 Macroinvertebrate Fauna ......................................................................................................................................... 6 2.6 Fish and Crayfish..................................................................................................................................................... 7 2.7 Frogs and Waterbirds............................................................................................................................................... 7 2.8 Data Analysis........................................................................................................................................................... 7 2.8.1 Univariate Analysis.......................................................................................................................................... 7 2.8.2 Multivariate Analysis ....................................................................................................................................... 7 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION................................................................................................................................... 9 3.1 Riparian and In-stream Habitat Condition............................................................................................................... 9 3.2 Physico-chemistry.................................................................................................................................................. 12 3.2.1 Patterns in Physico-chemical Data................................................................................................................ 15 3.2.2 Comparisons with Known Water Quality Data for Other Systems in the Area ............................................. 18 3.3 Macroinvertebrates ................................................................................................................................................ 18 3.3.1 Taxonomy and Species Richness.................................................................................................................... 18 3.3.2 Conservation Significance of Macroinvertebrates......................................................................................... 20 3.3.3 Functional Feeding Groups........................................................................................................................... 22 3.3.4 Patterns in Macroinvertebrate Community Structure.................................................................................... 23 3.3.5 Comparisons with Other Macroinvertebrate Studies..................................................................................... 28 3.4 Fish and Crayfish................................................................................................................................................... 28 3.4.1 Conservation Significance of Fish Fauna...................................................................................................... 29 3.5 Frogs ...................................................................................................................................................................... 30 3.6 Waterbirds.............................................................................................................................................................. 31 4 CONCLUSIONS.......................................................................................................................................................... 32 4.1 Ecological Values .................................................................................................................................................. 32 4.2 Potential Threats from Mine Activities.................................................................................................................. 33 4.3 Recommendations.................................................................................................................................................. 34 5 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................................ 36 APPENDICES................................................................................................................................................................. 39 Appendix 1. Summary of physico-chemical data from each site................................................................................ 40 Appendix 2. ANZECC/ARMCANZ (2000a) guideline levels ................................................................................... 42 Appendix 3. PCA results for physico-chemical variables .......................................................................................... 45 Appendix 4. Macroinvertebrate taxa occurrences across sites. .................................................................................. 49 __________ Wetland Research & Management __________ iv Cloverdale Project Baseline Aquatic Biology & Water Quality Study 2005/06 List of Figures, Tables and Plates Figures Figure 1. Location of aquatic ecosystem survey sites. .....................................................................................................
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