@article{cd88033e231446f185da8e553cb696a5,
title = "Habitats and benthic biodiversity across a tropical estuarine–marine gradient in the eastern Kimberley region of Australia",
abstract = "The Kimberley coast situated in north-western Australia has been recognised as one of the world's least human-impacted coastal areas as well as being rich in wilderness and biodiversity values. However, the region is vast and patchily surveyed with many knowledge gaps remaining about the diversity and extent of marine life in nearshore habitats. The King George River, in the far north-east of the region is an area where knowledge is lacking and consequently, to fill these gaps, a multi-taxon biodiversity and habitat survey was conducted in 2014. The survey extended from the base of the King George River twin waterfalls, which mark the upstream limit of marine influence, to the mouth of the river and 15 km offshore into the Timor Sea. At least eleven habitat types were identified. These include extensive stands of mangroves, rocky shores and sandy beaches extending out through the estuary and along the coast. Offshore from the estuary, Lesueur Islet is a low, vegetated islet surrounded by a fringing coral reef that supports a diverse benthic invertebrate fauna and algal flora. Deep-water sedimentary and hard-bottom filter-feeder communities also occur between the estuary and Lesueur Islet and around it. A total of 1374 animal and plant lots were collected, comprising about 3500 specimens with 796 species recorded. There were at least nine new species discovered of which five have since been named. The new species included five crustaceans and four echinoderms. In addition, there were at least twelve new records for Australia (one cnidarian, two echinoderms, nine crustaceans and some molluscs). Eighteen new records of crustaceans were made for Western Australia. Species accumulation curve analyses suggest true species richness may be higher than observed here if greater sampling were conducted on deep hard-bottom substrates in the region. Nevertheless, these results confirm this region contains a highly diverse community of regional and national significance.",
keywords = "Baseline surveys, Cnidaria, Crustacea, Echinoderms, Fishes, Flora, Molluscs, North Kimberley Marine Park, Porifera",
author = "Douglas Bearham and Joanna Strzelecki and Ana Hara and Andrew Hosie and Lisa Kirkendale and Zoe Richards and Huisman, {John M.} and Dongyan Liu and James McLaughlin and Naughton, {Kate M.} and O'Hara, {Timothy D.} and O'Loughlin, {P. Mark} and Glenn Moore and Jane Fromont and Corey Whisson and Monika Bryce and Sue Morrison and Oliver Gomez and Zoe Snedden and Keesing, {John K.}",
note = "Funding Information: This Project was made possible through the financial support of the Total Corporate Foundation, Paris, France , and we are grateful to the Foundation and its staff, especially Laure Fournier for her help and encouragement during the early phase of the project. CSIRO{\textquoteright}s Oceans and Atmosphere also made a significant investment into the project. We thank the master and crew of the RV Solander for their assistance and the Australian Institute of Marine Science for making the vessel available for the research and for contributing to its costs. We also thank Pierre Bouvais (Edith Cowan University) and Peter Speare (AIMS) for assistance in the field and Russell Teede (Landgate), Chris Brouwer (University of Western Australia), Peter Hughes and Nick Mortimer (CSIRO) for help with imagery, sample analyses and data analyses. Loisette Marsh and Ashley Miskelly assisted with echinoderm identifications. Funding Information: This Project was made possible through the financial support of the Total Corporate Foundation, Paris, France, and we are grateful to the Foundation and its staff, especially Laure Fournier for her help and encouragement during the early phase of the project. CSIRO's Oceans and Atmosphere also made a significant investment into the project. We thank the master and crew of the RV Solander for their assistance and the Australian Institute of Marine Science for making the vessel available for the research and for contributing to its costs. We also thank Pierre Bouvais (Edith Cowan University) and Peter Speare (AIMS) for assistance in the field and Russell Teede (Landgate), Chris Brouwer (University of Western Australia), Peter Hughes and Nick Mortimer (CSIRO) for help with imagery, sample analyses and data analyses. Loisette Marsh and Ashley Miskelly assisted with echinoderm identifications. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Elsevier B.V.",
year = "2022",
month = jan,
doi = "10.1016/j.rsma.2021.102039",
language = "English",
volume = "49",
journal = "Regional Studies in Marine Science",
issn = "2352-4855",
publisher = "Elsevier",
}
