Inland aquatic systems and their fauna at Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, Western Australia, with emphasis on microinvertebrates

Stuart A. Halse; Andrew W. Storey

doi:10.1071/PC24094

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Previous Contents Vol 31(1)

Inland aquatic systems and their fauna at Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, Western Australia, with emphasis on microinvertebrates

Stuart A. Halse ^A and Andrew W. Storey

^B ^*

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Bennelongia Environmental Consultants, 5 Bishop Street, Jolimont, WA 6014, Australia.

^B School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: andrew.storey@uwa.edu.au

Handling Editor: Mike Calver

Pacific Conservation Biology 31, PC24094 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC24094

Submitted: 3 December 2024 Accepted: 5 December 2024 Published: 6 January 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Decisions about fauna conservation priorities in a region, and management actions required to facilitate conservation objectives, require as much information as possible about the ecology of fauna species present.

Aims

This paper summarises information on the inland aquatic fauna of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve as part of the process of documenting the Reserve’s conservation values.

Key Results

Surveys in the early 1990s, and subsequently, show that rivers, creeks, and lakes of the Reserve support a rich aquatic invertebrate fauna. The microinvertebrate community is unusually rich in rotifers and cladocerans. Probably nine Indigenous fish species occur in the Reserve, including the vulnerable Nannatherina balstoni, restricted Galaxias maculatus and critically endangered Galaxias truttaceus. The installation of a vertical slot fish ladder on the Goodga River weir has likely helped these species by expanding available habitat. Although the low nutrient status and relatively deep water of the lakes limit their waterbird value, considered together the Reserve’s lakes fall just outside the top 10% of nature reserves in Western Australian for number of waterbird species supported.

Conclusions

The richness of aquatic invertebrate species in the Reserve’s lakes contrasted with previous results from rivers in south-western Australia and has led to a changed understanding of both the diversity and conservation significance of the inland aquatic invertebrate fauna in Western Australian lakes.

Implications

Invertebrate community composition and conservation values are not recognised unless surveyed by people with appropriate taxonomic expertise. Without such surveys the focus of conservation effort and management may be, at least partially, misdirected.

Keywords: Cladocera, conservation value, fish, macroinvertebrates, microinvertebrates, Rotifera, waterbirds, wetlands.

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