Table : Monitoring requirements for the Western Port Ramsar Site. Program Indicators and method Frequency Responsibility Linkages to existing Recommended programs / activities locations Water quality Salinity, dissolved oxygen, water clarity, nutrients Monthly and EPA Victoria Current water quality EPA Marine Fixed (dissolved and total) and chlorophyll-a. event based Parks Victoria monitoring by EPA Site Network (FSN) Algal species and enumeration. Melbourne Water Melbourne Water sites and priority Toxicant loads entering site from known sources. funded sediments in toxicant hotspots estuary mouths study Intertidal mud and Extent of intertidal habitats via remote sensing, using Every five years DELWP None found Entire site sand flat extent the methods developed by Murray et al. (2012). Seagrass Mapping extent using the remote sensing methods of Mapping every DELWP Parks Victoria benthic Entire site Blake and Ball (Blake and Ball 2001). five years. habitat mapping at Condition assessment (see (Warry and Hindell 2012) for Condition every French Island and method used in the Gippsland Lakes). two years. Yaringa Marine Parks Melbourne Water Saltmarsh and Extent of saltmarsh and mangroves (as per Boon et al Every ten years DELWP Boon et al (2011) Entire site mangrove extent 2011). CMA mapped saltmarsh communities. Saltmarsh and Purpose built condition assessment that measures: Every five years DELWP Parks Victoria Marine Entire site mangrove condition CMA Protected Area Species composition and abundance (cover) monitoring programs Invasive species Structure Recruitment Invertebrate diversity, Parks Victoria method for monitoring soft sediments Every two to five DELWP Parks Victoria Marine Representative soft abundance and reef communities. years Parks Victoria Protected Area and hard surface monitoring programs habitats Shorebird abundance BirdLife Australia standard methods. Bi-annual DELWP Current: Shorebirds 2020 Priority roosting and diversity (resident sites as per (Hansen and migratory species) et al. 2011). Monitoring of breeding Surveys of priority nest sites. Annual DELWP Victorian Wader Studies Priority beach for beach nesting Camera monitoring for predators. Parks Victoria Group nesting locations species (map) Native fish: abundance Purpose built monitoring program will need to be Annual DELWP Parks Victoria Marine Entire site and trends developed. At a minimum surveys should measure National Parks abundance and community composition. Consideration Monitoring Program given to population age structure, perhaps via the use of otolith samples for a subsample of common species.
Table : Monitoring requirements for the Western Port Ramsar Site. Program Indicators and method Frequency Responsibility Linkages to existing programs / activities Recommended locations Water quality Salinity, dissolved oxygen, water clarity, nutrients (dissolved and total) and chlorophyll-a. Algal species and enumeration. Toxicant loads entering site from known sources. Monthly and event based EPA Victoria Parks Victoria Melbourne Water Current water quality monitoring by EPA Melbourne Water funded sediments in estuary mouths study EPA Marine Fixed Site Network (FSN) sites and priority toxicant hotspots Intertidal mud and sand flat extent Extent of intertidal habitats via remote sensing, using the methods developed by Murray et al. (2012). Every five years DELWP None found Entire site Seagrass Mapping extent using the remote sensing methods of Blake and Ball (Blake and Ball 2001). Condition assessment (see (Warry and Hindell 2012) for method used in the Gippsland Lakes). Mapping every five years. Condition every two years. DELWP Parks Victoria benthic habitat mapping at French Island and Yaringa Marine Parks Melbourne Water Entire site Saltmarsh and mangrove extent Extent of saltmarsh and mangroves (as per Boon et al 2011). Every ten years DELWP CMA Boon et al (2011) mapped saltmarsh communities. Entire site Saltmarsh and mangrove condition Purpose built condition assessment that measures: Species composition and abundance (cover) Invasive species Structure Recruitment Every five years DELWP CMA Parks Victoria Marine Protected Area monitoring programs Entire site Invertebrate diversity, abundance Parks Victoria method for monitoring soft sediments and reef communities. Every two to five years DELWP Parks Victoria Parks Victoria Marine Protected Area monitoring programs Representative soft and hard surface habitats Shorebird abundance and diversity (resident and migratory species) BirdLife Australia standard methods. Bi-annual DELWP Current: Shorebirds 2020 Priority roosting sites as per (Hansen et al. 2011). Monitoring of breeding for beach nesting species Surveys of priority nest sites. Camera monitoring for predators. Annual DELWP Parks Victoria Victorian Wader Studies Group Priority beach nesting locations (map) Native fish: abundance and trends Purpose built monitoring program will need to be developed. At a minimum surveys should measure abundance and community composition. Consideration given to population age structure, perhaps via the use of otolith samples for a subsample of common species. Annual DELWP Parks Victoria Marine National Parks Monitoring Program Entire site
Western-Port-Ramsar-Site-Management-Plan_revised.docx