WAMSI 2 - Dredging Node - Project 7.3 - Effects of Dredging Related Pressures on Critical Ecological Processes for Coral - FERTILIZATION STUDIES, Western Australia

Data will be in the form of a report, which will be a secured (printable, non-editable), searchable, Portable Document Format (PDF) showing the results of the experiments. Fertilization studies (Project 7.3): The fertilization of broadcast spawning corals occurs at the ocean surface where interactions with dredging plumes are likely. The objectives of Project 7.3 are to examine if success fertilization of corals gametes is affected by water quality conditions that can occur during dredging programs. Fertilization experiments will be conducted with two broadcast-spawning species and involve examining fertilization success in response to a realistic range of TSS concentrations and PSDs over an incubation period of several hours. Experiments will be conducted each year (over a 3 year period) during the coral spawning period (October-December of 2013, 2014 and 2015). The first 6 months of the project will involve developing protocols and experimental procedures and equipment to conduct the work.