Majority Of Wetlands Research Articles

Assessing the potential of integrating distribution and structure of permanent open-water wetlandscapes in reclamation design: a case study of Alberta, Canada

Wetlands are multi-functional systems that provide a disproportionatenumber of ecosystem services given the spatial extent they occupy bothnationally and globally. The ecological functioning of these wetlands isdependent on the structure of the landscape, which poses unique challenges whenreclaiming wetlands in areas where resource extraction is occurring. Resource extraction mega-projects requirethat entire wetlandscapes be reclaimed and often involve timelines thatnecessitate the consideration of climate projections to create self-sustaining,naturally appearing wetlandscapes that meet policy objectives. To understandwetlandscape structure and guide reclamation planning and closure permittingevaluation, a random sample of 13,676 1-km2 landscapes weresubselected to identify 1684 permanent open-water wetlandscapes. A parsimoniousset of landscape metrics were applied and compared across levels ofanthropogenic disturbance and across natural regions (i.e., Grassland, Parklandand Boreal). Results demonstrated that permanent open-water wetlands arerelatively rare (12.3% of our total random sample) and typically occupy lessthan 8% of wetlandscapes when present. The majority of wetlands in the study area are lesspermanent and more variable in nature than the permanent open waterwetlandscapes created by megaproject reclamation, which has the potential to alter thedistribution and size of open-water wetlands beyond their natural occurrence.Comparison across disturbance levels and natural regions yield statisticaldifferences among landscape structure. General wetland landscapes representinga combination of disturbance level and natural region can be created for eachmetric to guide reclamation design and closure planning approval.

Assessment of the ability to meet environmental water requirements in the Upper South East of South Australia

Often there are a number of criteria that must be considered when evaluating water resource management options, for example both water quantity and quality issues. Each criterion generally requires a separate model to assess the outcomes from different possible scenarios. Each model will have its own uncertainties and limitations, and the combination of all of these considerations can make the identification of acceptable, let alone optimal, options difficult. In this work, a resources management problem to identify the optimal operation of a large drainage network to support ecosystems at a number of key wetlands has been considered. These ecological outcomes were assessed by the ability to deliver sufficient volumes of water below important salinity thresholds. It was found that even with an unknown volume of water available, the optimal operations of the drainage network were generally constant. For the majority of wetlands considered, the ability to supply sufficient water below a given salinity threshold was mostly insensitive to uncertainty in the contributing groundwater salinity. However, in some wetlands, water of desirable salinity levels was unlikely to be available for all scenarios at one target wetland, the variability in groundwater salinity considered had a large influence on the availability of water of suitable quality. This work highlights the importance of keeping the modelling objectives in mind when considering the outputs and uncertainties involved in integrated modelling assessment.

Frog breeding in rain-fed wetlands after a period of severe drought: implications for predicting the impacts of climate change

Globally, rain-fed wetlands provide critical habitat for a wide range of amphibian species, however, information on the use of rain-fed wetlands by Australian frog species is extremely limited. This study examined the distribution of frog breeding in rain-fed wetlands following the first significant rain event after a period of severe drought (2002–2009) in order to predict how frog communities may be affected in the future by changed climate. Tadpole communities along with vegetation and water quality variables were described in 35 rain-fed wetlands across the South West Slopes and Riverina bioregions of inland south-eastern Australia. In addition, weekly tadpole surveys were conducted in a subset of these wetlands to describe temporal patterns of occupancy. Despite the protracted dry period prior to this study 50% of the rain-fed wetlands surveyed contained tadpoles. However, frog communities were species poor with only five species recorded. The majority of wetlands were dominated be a single species, Limnodynastes tasmaniensis which is also common within permanent waterbodies such as farm dams and irrigation infrastructure in both bioregions. Tadpoles of two burrowing species L. interioris and Neobatrachus sudelli were restricted to a small number of wetlands mostly in the South West Slopes. The composition of tadpole communities changed over time, and Crinia parinsignifera was the only species that continued to breed over winter. The dominance of generalist species within rain-fed wetlands indicates that characteristics such as dispersal capability, flexibility in breeding times and the ability to utilise created habitats may be more important than burrowing ability and longevity when predicting vulnerability to climate change.