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Effects of oyster farming service vehicles on an intertidal sand flat
Citation
MacLeod, CK and Forbes, SE and Shepherd, CJ and Crawford, C, Effects of oyster farming service vehicles on an intertidal sand flat, Aquaculture Research, 40, (7) pp. 772-780. ISSN 1355-557X (2009) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
The definitive published version is available online at: http://interscience.wiley.com
Official URL: http://interscience.wiley.com
DOI: doi:10.1111/j.1365-2109.2008.02156.x
Abstract
A Tasmanian tidalflat receiving differing amounts of vehicle traffic associated with the servicing of oyster farm leases was sampled for sediment properties and benthic community structure. There was a gradient of vehicle usage in both the littoral zone (LZ) and the intertidal zone (IZ), with the highest usage in the intertidal zone equating to the lowest usage in the littoral zone (IZ2=LZ1). Results indicate that the littoral sediments were less compacted where vehicles were present. Species richness and diversity were reduced in the littoral sites (70%) and one intertidal site (50%) where there was vehicle traffic. Multivariate analyses confirmed the univariate findings. Large bivalves and epibenthic snails were generally less abundant where there was vehicle traffic. However, in the intertidal zone one snail showed the opposite pattern. There was less change in the community structure at sites where vehicles spread out across the foreshore than at sites where all vehicles travelled in a narrow lane, but this reduction in impact was offset by a greater area being affected. This study provides preliminary evidence of a measurable impact on sediment and community composition at 16 vehicle trips per day and suggests that management needs to consider the tradeoff between magnitude of impact and area affected.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | vehicle impacts • intertidal ecology • benthic macrofauna • shellfish aquaculture |
| Research Division: | Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences |
| Research Group: | Fisheries sciences |
| Research Field: | Aquaculture and fisheries stock assessment |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Terrestrial systems and management |
| Objective Field: | Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems |
| UTAS Author: | MacLeod, CK (Professor Catriona MacLeod) |
| UTAS Author: | Forbes, SE (Miss Susan Forbes) |
| UTAS Author: | Crawford, C (Dr Christine Crawford) |
| ID Code: | 61030 |
| Year Published: | 2009 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 2 |
| Deposited By: | TAFI - Marine Research Laboratory |
| Deposited On: | 2010-02-24 |
| Last Modified: | 2010-04-22 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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