Wetland ecosystem condition: macroinvertebrate index
Indicator Status: For Advice
Department of the Environment and Heritage
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Why do we need to monitor macroinvertebrates in wetland ecosystems?
Aquatic invertebrates are responsible for a significant proportion of the secondary production occurring in wetlands through grazing and detrital food chains. The detrital food chain comprises organisms that feed on dead and decaying plant and animal material and, therefore, plays an important role in decomposition, recycling essential elements back into the ecosystem.
Monitoring macroinvertebrates provides a means of directly assessing the status of the aquatic biota and hence water quality, nutrient cycling and ecosystem function. While measurement of physical and chemical parameters provides instantaneous information on water quality, macroinvertebrates, with lifespans ranging from several months to several years, can act as indicators of the water quality history of a wetland.
SWAMPS was developed to enable rapid assessment of the biological values of a wetland using the presence and abundance of macroinvertebrates in the Perth region and could be adapted to other regions. In it, numerical values between 1 and 100 are assigned to wetland macroinvertebrates, at the family level, to reflect the sensitivities of these taxa to disturbance from human activities.
How will monitoring macroinvertebrates in wetland ecosystems assist in maintaining wetland health?
Monitoring the macroinvertebrates of a wetland will assist in reporting on investments related to wetlands that are made under regional plans that address the matter for target: the integrity of inland aquatic ecosystems (rivers and other wetlands).
The NHT has identified the following as necessary areas of activity:
- protecting and restoring significant freshwater, marine and estuarine ecosystems; and
- protecting and restoring the habitat of threatened species, threatened ecological communities and migratory birds.
The National NRM Standards and Targets Framework has identified the following as required national resource condition outcomes:
- that the extent, diversity and condition of native ecosystems are maintained or rehabilitated;
- that populations of significant species and ecological communities are maintained or rehabilitated; and
- that ecosystem services and functions are maintained or rehabilitated.
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