Journal article
Patterns of infaunal macromollusc assemblages in a subtropical marine park: implications for management
Marine & Freshwater Research, Vol.69(4), pp.502-513
2018
Metrics
20 Record Views
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: InCites
Abstract
Characterisation of habitats and communities is necessary to allow managers knowledge of the ecological resources they are charged with conserving. However, the high cost of gathering such data often precludes their incorporation into conservation planning, and habitat surrogates are often relied upon to represent underlying biotic patterns. In New South Wales (NSW), Australia, extensive surveys informed the development of a state-wide habitat classification scheme (HCS) for biodiversity management based on the distribution of habitat types by water depth. To test the suitability of the current HCS for soft sediments, we compared infaunal mollusc assemblages at two different depths, and at scales of kilometres to tens of kilometres, within five coastal regions of the Cape Byron Marine Park (CBMP). Mollusc assemblages differed significantly between depths and among the range of spatial scales examined, and patterns were significantly correlated with mean grain size and sorting. Species richness also differed between depths and among sampling locations, whereas abundance differed between depths and among sites nested within locations. Although the present study provides preliminary support for the relevance of the NSW HCS depth categories in the CBMP, it also suggests that future refinement should consider the inclusion of categories based on sediment characteristics.
Details
- Title
- Patterns of infaunal macromollusc assemblages in a subtropical marine park: implications for management
- Creators
- Jennifer E Marshall - Southern Cross UniversityDaniel J Bucher - Southern Cross UniversityStephen D. A Smith - Southern Cross University
- Publication Details
- Marine & Freshwater Research, Vol.69(4), pp.502-513
- Publisher
- CSIRO Publishing
- Identifiers
- 991012927080202368
- Copyright
- Journal compilation © CSIRO 2018
- Academic Unit
- Marine Ecology Research Centre; Science; School of Environment, Science and Engineering; National Marine Science Centre; Faculty of Science and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article