Peran Bray

Student number: 43030518

Effect of seawalls on Moreton Bay mangrove ecosystems: A study on crab and Avicennia marina pneumatophore abundance.
Abstract Mangroves provide many ecosystem services providing habitats for numerous organisms proving to be ecologically and economically important. This project aims to test for a relationship between seawalls, pneumatophore density and crabhole density. Sampling by using quadrats and counting pneumatophores and crabholes was conducted from various sites within the Moreton Bay area in Queensland, Australia. This data was then tested using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to see if there were any significant relationships between the variables. The tests showed no statistically significant relationship between the variables however there were results that were close to being statistically significant suggesting that increasing sampling sizes may show a relationship between certain variables. Introduction Less than 1% of the planets surface is covered by mangrove ecosystems yet they are both economically and ecologically important (Saenger, 2002). The mangrove species at the centre of this study is Avicennia marina which is a salt-tolerant plant found in marine intertidal zones in tropical and sub-tropical regions around the world. They have adapted to fluctuating saline conditions and anoxic soils by secreting excess salt through their leaves (Hogarth 2007) and using pneumatophores which transport atmospheric oxygen to root tissues (Hogarth 2007). They also provide a habitat for various crustaceans and other organisms to live in. In the Moreton Bay region these crustaceans include members of the Grapsidae and Ocypodidae families (Wild Guide To Moreton Bay And Adjacent Coasts 2011) which many of the species from these families are burrowing crabs which provide various ecoservices such as bioturbation providing aeration of the soil and improving the redox potential of the soil (Arajo Jr et al. 2012), also consuming detritus matter such as leaf litter allowing some of the nutrients to be retained in that system rather than be removed via tidal action (Robertson AI, 1988). This experiment hypothesises that a concrete seawall does have an impact on A. marina (grey mangrove) ecosystems by increasing pneumatophore densities and decreasing crab densities. The increased pneumatophore density could be a result of the ground around the roots being submerged longer and deeper due to sediments being eroded in front of the seawalls (Dugan et al. 2008).
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Peran Bray

Student number: 43030518

Materials and Methods

The experiment was conducted by first identifying suitable sites, for the control sites the mangrove forests were required to not be near any type of wall, natural or anthropogenic, the treatment sites were to be near a concrete seawall. The sites selected were also similar in sediment composition and within the same geographic area, it was also required that the sites be populated by A. Marina. A total of eight sites were considered suitable for sampling with four of these being treatment sites and four being control sites. To conduct sampling at the sites, a large ten meter square quadrat was deployed at the high tide mark along a random part of the site and from within that quadrat smaller one square meter quadrats were randomly taken. Visual counts of pneumatophores and crabholes contained within the quadrats were conducted with those results being recorded. Using the statistical program R, the hypothesis was tested by applying ANCOVA (analysis of covariance) to the data. The test was applied to the density of crabholes using the density of pneumatophores as the continuous predictor and the type of site (seawall or non-seawall) as the nominal predictor. Results

No significant relationship was found between the density of pneumatophores and presence or absence of a seawall, (P=0.13), the same model was retested without an interaction effect and once again found no significant result (P=0.0507). A third ANCOVA test was performed on whether there was a relationship between pneumatophore density and crabhole density, this was also found to not have a significant relationship (P=.0504). Our hypothesis was expecting that there would be an increase in pneumatophores density around the treatment resulting in lower crabhole densities.

Peran Bray

Student number: 43030518

Figure 1: Results from ANCOVA showing no significant interaction between crabhole and pneumatophore densities. Table 1: Comparison of mean results between seawall and no seawall Standard Error - Seawall 412.83 6.5 33.62 2.6 Standard Error No Seawall 31.95 11.7

Seawall Average Pneumatophores Average Crabholes

No Seawall 266.75 42.5

Discussion and conclusion As can be seen in Figure 1, the ANCOVA showed that there was no significant relationship between either the presence of a seawall and pneumatophores or between the pneumatophore and crabhole density. However when the data was retested both without and interaction effect the P value was 0.0507, 0.0007 above what is considered significant, with the treatment groups lumped the P value was 0.0504, 0.0004 above what is considered significant. There were limited opportunities to take samples and if it was possible to collect more per site or find more suitable sites there may have been a result that would classify as significant. In Table 1 the average pneumatophores and crabhole counts are displayed and sorted by the absence or presence of the seawall. It does help to illustrate disparity in densities between where there is no seawall and a seawall present, this is emphasized particularly by the crabhole density, the difference of which is shown to be over six times greater. If the lack of visual crabhole density in sites with a seawall proves to be due to a reduction in species abundance of the crabs, the implications of reduced of a reduced crab population could
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Peran Bray

Student number: 43030518

adversely impact on the food supplies for wading birds which often prey on crustacea such as Uca spp (Miranda & Collazo 1997). The burrowing activities of crabs can increase aeration of otherwise hypoxic or anoxic soils (Warren & Underwood 1986) as well as increasing the oxidising potential of the soil thereby enhancing the decomposition of organic matter (Arajo Jr et al. 2012). A decrease in burrowing crabs could reduce these benefits resulting in adverse consequences to the local ecology. This experiment was performed to test the hypothesis that there is a significant relationship between the health of mangrove ecosystems and the presence of a seawall using crabhole and pneumatophore densities as bio-indicators. While there was no significant relationship found the experiment was conducted on a small scale, considering that mangrove habitats play an important role in fisheries production (Manson et al. 2005), there are economic and conservation reasons to continue further research by testing more sites not only within Moreton Bay but on a broader geographic scale to try and avoid pseudo replication. References Arajo Jr, JMC, Otero, XL, Marques, AGB, Nbrega, GN, Silva, JRF, Ferreira, TO, 2012, Selective Geochemistry of iron in mangrove soils in a semiarid tropical climate: effects of the burrowing activity of the crabs Ucides cordatus and Uca maracoani, GEO-MARINE LETTERS, vol.32, no.4, pp.289-300 Hogarth, P 2007, The Biology of mangroves and Seagrasses, Oxford scholarship online, New York. Manson, FJ, Loneragan, NR, Harch, BD, Skilleter, GA, Williams, L, 2005, A broadscale analysis of links between coastal fisheries production and mangrove extent: A case-study for northeastern Australia, FISHERIES RESEARCH, vol.74, no.1-3, pp.69-85 Miranda, L & Colazo, JA 1997, Food Habits of 4 species of wading birds (Ardeidae) in a tropical mangrove swamp, Colonial Waterbirds, vol.20,no. 3, pp. 413-418 Robertson, AI, 1988,Leaf-burying crabs: Their influence on energy aflow and export from mixed mangrove forests (Rhizophora spp.) in northeastern Australia, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, vol.102 no.2-3, pp.237-248 Saenger, P 2002, Mangrove ecology, silviculture and conservation, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht Schlacher, TA, Schoeman, DS, Dugan, J, Lastra, M, Jone, A, Scapini, F, McLachlan, A, 2008, Sandy beach ecosystems: key features, sampling issues, management
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Peran Bray

Student number: 43030518

challenges and climate change impacts, Marine Ecology- An Evolutionary Perspective, vol.29. no.1 pp.79-90 Warren, J & Underwood, AJ 1986, Effects of burrowing crabs on the topography of mangrove swamps in New South Wales, Journal of experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, vol.102, no. 2-3, pp.223-235 Wild Guide To Moreton Bay And Adjacent Coasts 2011, Queensland Museum, Brisbane.