Poster Presentation 2024 Australian Marine Sciences Association Annual Meeting combined with NZMSS

Habitat enhancement approaches within the Swan-Canning Estuary using Living SeaWall technologies (#645)

Lucy M Arrowsmith 1 , Josh Baker 2 , Kerry Trayler 1
  1. Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA), Kensington, WA, Australia
  2. Ocean Ecology, Gloucester, United Kingdom

The Swan-Canning Estuary (SCE) in Western Australia has undergone heavy modification along its shorelines in the last two decades. Due to erosion risks, single-purpose coastal infrastructures, like seawalls, have been used to protect the shorelines, often removing complex intertidal systems. As existing modifications in the SCE reach the end of their lifespan, and new structures are built, the potential to integrate eco-engineered technologies could be an alternative resource to reduce erosion, whilst promoting biodiversity. Using ego-engineered structures from Living SeaWalls, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of five styles of habitat panels in enhancing biodiversity and increasing habitat coverage in the SCE compared to pre-existing seawall infrastructures. We found that habitat panels had a higher species richness and abundance in comparison to the pre-existing seawall at two of the three sites in East Fremantle. We also found that the "Rockpool" habitat panel structures had the highest rate of species richness and diversity in comparison to the other four panel types. The installation of these panels is the first to happen in WA, and our results aim to provide evidence that ego-engineered structures are more valuable at promoting biodiversity than blank seawalls, and should be considered when installing new hard-engineered structures.