frc environmental Edge Habitat In edge habitat, PET richness was low (<4) at each site and no PET taxa were caught at site ST5 (Figure 6.6). PET taxa are sensitive to pollutants and changes in water quality and / or environmental degradation. It must be noted that stonefly larvae are unlikely to occur in the region as their preferred habitat is alpine and semi-alpine streams (Gooderham & Tsyrlin 2002). The absence of stoneflies negatively affects PET richness calculations at all sites. 5 – dry site 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 Mean PET Richness 1.5 1 0.5 – – – – – – – 0 ST1 ST3 NT13a NT14 W12 ST2 ST6 ST7 W11 ST4 ST5 NT9 NT13 C1 C2 Within Site Boundary Within Development Downstream of Site Comparative Footprint Boundary Sites Figure 6.6 Mean PET richness in edge habitat at each site. Boral Gold Coast Quarry EIS: Aquatic Ecology Assessment 83 frc environmental 6.5 Mean SIGNAL 2 Scores Bed Habitat In bed habitat, mean SIGNAL 2 scores varied between sites (Figure 6.7). Mean SIGNAL 2 scores were low (<4) at all sites, except comparative site C1, and indicative of pollution (DSEWPC 2005); although the low scores may also reflect the harsh physical conditions of ephemeral waterbodies. However, the low scores at the perennial wetlands were likely to be related to the high cover of finer substrates (i.e. sand and silt and / or clay) at these sites. 4.5 – dry site x habitat not present 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 Mean SIGNAL 2 Scores Mean SIGNAL 1 0.5 – – – – – – x – x 0 C1 C2 ST1 ST3 ST2 ST6 ST7 ST5 ST4 NT9 W11 W11 W12 NT13 NT14 NT13a Within Site Boundary Within Development Downstream of Site Comparative Footprint Boundary Sites Figure 6.7 Mean SIGNAL 2 scores in bed habitat at each site. Boral Gold Coast Quarry EIS: Aquatic Ecology Assessment 84 frc environmental Edge Habitat In edge habitat, SIGNAL 2 scores were relatively similar between sites (Figure 6.8). Similar to bed habitat, mean SIGNAL 2 scores were low (<4), except at comparative site C1. This was also likely to be related to the ephemeral nature of these waterways and / or low substrate and habitat diversity at the wetland sites. 5 – dry site 4.5 4 – 3.5 – 3 2.5 2 1.5 Mean SIGNAL 2 Scores Mean SIGNAL 1 0.5 – – – – – 0 ST1 ST3 NT13a NT14 W12 ST2 ST6 ST7 W11 ST4 ST5 NT9 NT13 C1 C2 Within Site Boundary Within Development Downstream of Site Comparative Footprint Boundary Sites Figure 6.8 Mean SIGNAL 2 scores in edge habitat at each site. 6.6 Macrocrustaceans Three species of macrocrustaceans were caught, including: ⋅ freshwater shrimp (family Atyidae) (Figure 6.9) ⋅ freshwater prawns (family Palaemonidae) (Figure 6.10), and ⋅ yabbies (family Parastacidae) (Figure 6.11). The abundance of macrocrustaceans was zero to low at most sites with water, except sites W11, NT9 and C1 (Table 6.1). High abundaces of macrocrustaceans at these sites were due to the larger amount of water retained in these watercourses. No species listed under the Commonwealth’s EPBC Act or Queensland’s NCWR were found. Boral Gold Coast Quarry EIS: Aquatic Ecology Assessment 85 frc environmental Figure 6.9 Freshwater shrimp. Figure 6.10 Freshwater prawn. Figure 6.11 Yabby. Boral Gold Coast Quarry EIS: Aquatic Ecology Assessment 86 frc environmental Table 6.1 Abundance of macrocrustaceans at each site. Within Site Boundary Downstream of Site Boundary Comparative Sites Family Common Name ST1 ST2 ST3 ST6 ST7 W11 W12 NT13a NT14 ST4 ST5 NT9 NT13 C1 C2 Atyidae 1 – – – – 0 0 – – 7 0 709 – 102 0 Freshwater shrimp Palaemonidae 0 – – – – 137 0 – – 0 0 0 – 88 0 Freshwater prawn Parastacidae 1 – – – – 0 0 – – 0 0 31 – 0 0 Yabbies Total 2 – – – – 137 0 – – 7 0 740 – 190 0 – dry site Boral Gold Coast Quarry EIS: Aquatic Ecology Assessment 87 frc environmental 6.7 Macroinvertebrates of the Region The Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program (EHMP), a comprehensive aquatic ecosystem monitoring program for South east Queensland, conducted Spring and Autumn surveys of edge habitat in the region from 2002 to 2012. EHMP only surveyed edge habitat for macroinvertebrates; the current survey sampled both edge and bank habitats. EHMP sample macroinvertebrates using the Australian River Assessment System (AUSRIVAS), which includes one 10 m long sections of habitat and is designed to provide a broad description of macroinvertebrate communities, rather than a quantitative assessment used in this survey (DNRM 2001). EHMP surveyed five sites within the Nerang River catchment and five sites within the Tallebudgera / Currumbin catchment. Therefore results from EHMP may differ slightly to those of this survey. All sites surveyed had mean taxonomic richness above the biological WQO; however, the mean taxonomic richness at sites surveyed by EHMP in Spring was higher than the total taxonomic richness (based on data pooled from the five samples) in the current survey (Figure 6.12). The mean PET richness at sites survyed by EHMP was similar to or higher than the total PET richness at sites in the current survey, and at or above the WQO at each site, except for sites ST4 and ST5 downstream of the site boundary (Figure 6.13). The mean SIGNAL 2 scores were comparable to or higher than the total SIGNAL 2 scores in the current survey (Figure 6.14). All sites, except for site NT9 downstream of the site boundary and comparative site C1, had SIGNAL 2 scores below the WQO. Mean SIGNAL 2 scores for all sites surveyed by EHMP in 2010 and 2011 had mean SIGNAL 2 scores above the biological WQO. Previous studies by frc environmental in the region have also found relatively diverse macroinvertebrate communities with a similar species composition, with between four and 25 species recorded at sites surveyed. It should be noted that the highest number of species, 25, were recorded at riffle habitat, which was not sampled in this survey (frc environmental 2006; 2007). The results of this study are relatively consistent with these results; however, the sites downstream of the proposed disturbance area have been negatively affected by surrounding residential land uses. Overall, the results indicate that the macroinvertebrate communities in the survey area typically meet the WQOs for richness and PET richness, but communities are dominated by relatively tolerant taxa (as indicated by the low SIGNAL 2 scores). Communities in the survey area are indicative of slightly poorer habitat and water quality condition than communities sampled from other sites within the catchment. Boral Gold Coast Quarry EIS: Aquatic Ecology Assessment 88 frc environmental 35 30 25 20 15 10 WQO 5 Taxonomic Richness Taxonomic 0 C1 C2 ST1 ST5 NT9 ST4 W11 W11 W12 2011 2011 2010 Nerang River Nerang River Tallebudgera / Tallebudgera Tallebudgera / Tallebudgera Currumbin 2011 Currumbin 2011 Currumbin 2010 Within Site Downstream of Site Comparative Sites EHMP Boundary Boundary Within Development Footprint Figure 6.12 Total taxonomic richness in edge habitat in the current survey compared with mean taxonomic richness in EHMP surveys in the Nerang River and Tallebudgera / Currumbin catchments. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 WQO PET Richness 1 0 C1 C2 ST5 ST1 NT9 ST4 W11 W11 W12 2011 2011 2010 Nerang River Nerang River Tallebudgera / Tallebudgera Tallebudgera / Tallebudgera Currumbin 2011 Currumbin 2011 Currumbin 2010 Within Site Downstream of Site Comparative Sites EHMP Boundary Boundary Within Development Footprint Figure 6.13 Total PET richness in edge habitat in the current survey compared with mean PET richness in the EHMP surveys in the Nerang River and Tallebudgera / Currumbin catchments. Boral Gold Coast Quarry EIS: Aquatic Ecology Assessment 89 frc environmental 5 4.5 4 WQO 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 SIGNAL 2 scores SIGNAL 0.5 0 C1 C2 ST5 ST1 NT9 ST4 W11 W11 W12 2011 2011 2010 Nerang River Nerang River Tallebudgera / Tallebudgera Tallebudgera / Tallebudgera Currumbin 2011 Currumbin 2011 Currumbin 2010 Within Site Boundary Downstream of Site Boundary Comparative Sites EHMP Within Developmentopm Footprint Figure 6.14 Total SIGNAL 2 scores in edge habitat in the current survey compared with mean SIGNAL 2 scores in the EHMP surveys in the Nerang River and Tallebudgera / Currumbin catchments. Boral Gold Coast Quarry EIS: Aquatic Ecology Assessment 90 frc environmental 7 Aquatic Vertebrates 7.1 Fish Communities 7.1.1 Fish Community Composition A total of seven species of fish were caught: ⋅ common carp gudgeons (Hypseleotris spp.) (Figure 7.1) ⋅ flathead gudgeon (Philypnodon grandiceps) (Figure 7.2) ⋅ striped gudgeon (Gobiomorphus australis) (Figure 7.3) ⋅ marbled eel (Anguilla reinhardtii) (Figure 7.4) ⋅ mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) (Figure 7.5) ⋅ Australian smelt (Retropinna semoni) (Figure 7.6), and ⋅ mullet (Mugil cephalus) (Figure 7.7). Figure 7.1 Common carp gudgeon. Boral Gold Coast Quarry EIS: Aquatic Ecology Assessment 91 frc environmental Figure 7.2 Flathead gudgeon. Figure 7.3 Striped gudgeon. Figure 7.4 Marbled eel. Boral Gold Coast Quarry EIS: Aquatic Ecology Assessment 92 frc environmental Figure 7.5 Mosquitofish. Figure 7.6 Australian smelt. Figure 7.7 Juvenile mullet. Boral Gold Coast Quarry EIS: Aquatic Ecology Assessment 93 frc environmental 7.1.2 Fish Abundance The most abundant species and most widespread (caught at most sites) was the striped gudgeon and common carp gudgeons (Table 7.1). Waterways and wetlands within Lot 105 had a low abundance of fish compared with sites downstream. No fish were caught at site W12, which is likely to be due to the lack of connectivity to any inflow or outflowing creeks and / or tributaries. However, it is likely that sites in Lot 105 provide breeding habitat during the wet season. Boral Gold Coast Quarry EIS: Aquatic Ecology Assessment 94 frc environmental Table 7.1 Abundance of each fish species at each site.