| Summary | Australian Sea Lion (Neophoca cinerea) is an endemic species that feeds on benthic dwelling fish, cephalopods, crustaceans and sharks - and as a higher trophic level predator is used in this case as a proxy for ecosystem health. |
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| Project | SESMAD |
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| Subtype | Natural Resource Unit |
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| Sector | Marine protected areas |
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| Biotic | Yes |
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| Explanation | |
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| Commons Aggregation | Population |
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| Explanation | |
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| Commons Boundaries | |
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| Explanation | Australian endemic species restricted to South and Western Australia. It has known breeding grounds, and foraging grounds are though to extend across a large proportion of the shelf adjacent to south Australia. |
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| Commons Indicator | ["Ecosystem health and/or biodiversity"] |
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| Explanation | A higher trophic level species found to eat benthic dwelling fish, cephalopods, crustaceans and sharks (McIntosh et al. 2006). |
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| Commons Unit Size | Medium (3) |
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| Explanation | Males can become very large, 185–225 cm in length and weighing 180–250 kg. Females are smaller, 130–185 cm at in length and weighing 65–100 kg. |
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| Environmental Medium | Oceanic |
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| Explanation | |
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| Inter Annual Predictability | Moderate (2) |
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| Explanation | Supra-annual breeding cycle of 17-18 months = pupping seasons do not occur at the same time each year, making predictions difficult (Shaughnessy et al. 2011) |
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| Intra Annual Predictability | Moderate (2) |
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| Explanation | Duration of pupping season varies between colonies (from 5 - 8 months) - complicate assessing abundance (Shaughnessy et al. 2011) |
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| Commons Renewability | Renewable (1) |
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| Explanation | |
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| Productivity | Poorly productive (1) |
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| Explanation | Lower level of fecundity when compared to annually breeding pinnipeds, such as the conspecific NZ fur seal |
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| Commons Accessibility | Very accessible (3) |
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| Explanation | Known haul out and breeding sites on land, and also often in near shore areas where fishing and recreational activities take place |
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| Commons Heterogeneity | Moderate (2) |
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| Explanation | |
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| Commons Mobility | Medium (2) |
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| Explanation | |
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| Commons Spatial Extent | |
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| Explanation | |
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| Technical Substitute | No |
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| Explanation | |
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