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Resources required for ecological function and
maintenance of migratory birds and Black swans
on the Vasse Wonnerup estuary.
• The Ramsar-listed Vasse Wonnerup Estuary has a diverse array of
aquatic plant communities, some of which are the primary food
source for the the largest regular breeding colony of Black Swan in
south-western Australia. Maintaining this plant diversity is integral to
the conservation and management of the waterbirds, as well as the
ecological health of the lagoons. A number of potential projects,
supported by SWCC, State NRM, Dept of Water, DPaW and GeoCatch,
will be available that complement a new federally funded research
node understanding the ecological function and social values of the
wetlands. Mid year start.
Water quality indicators for iconic
urban wetlands
• Chemical analysis of water quality parameters such
as nutrients and chlorophyll α requires specialist
knowledge and can be prohibitively expensive.
This project seeks to define water quality indicators
readily utilisable by schools, community or local
government, that will enable a rapid assessment of
wetland health. These might include: abundance of
midge larvae or algae, presence/absence of
indicator species (algae, macroinvertebrates or
others). The project will be carried out at Lake
Richmond and will include trialling the indicators
with community groups.
• Supervisors: Jane Chambers, Catherine Baudains
and Belinda Robson
Turtles at Lake Richmond
• Possible project on the Oblong turtle (Chelodina colliei) at Lake
Richmond. Project design still being developed.
• Supervisors: Jane Chambers, Stephen Beatty, Trish Fleming
“Operation Jailbreak!”
• This project investigates the difference between
fenced and unfenced water features (wetlands,
creeks, drains) in the Perth landscape. It
compares water quality and ecosystem services
they provide, together with people’s perception
and values of these features. The project seeks
to inform managers with a view to bringing these
assets into public greenspace.
• Supervisors: Jane Chambers and Catherine
Baudains
Climate change and
anthropogenic impacts on
salt marsh communities of the
Swan Canning River
• Following recent international interest in conserving
mediterranean salt marshes (California, South Africa,
WA), this project uses previous research on the fringing
marshes of the Swan Canning River undertaken by Luke
Pen for his Honours in 1981 as a baseline. Over 30
years later, this project will use GIS to map the the salt
marshes and seek the primary reasons for changes
observed. This work will inform management and
conservation of these precious areas and inform the
international comparative study.
• Supervisors: Jane Chambers and Margaret Andrews
Management implications of the newly
constructed golf course on the ecological
condition of lakes on Rottnest Island
• Nutrient and other input from a newly constructed golf course
adjacent to Garden and Hershel Lakes on Rottnest Island has the
capacity to degrade their ecological condition. The lakes currently
have microbialites and other high conservation value assets. This
project, funded by the Rottnest Island Board, will examine baseline
data and collect physiochemical and ecological data on the lakes to
determine the potential impact of the golf course and recommend
management guidelines to minimise that impact.
Street verges as biodiversity
habitat and corridors
• This is part of suite of projects supervised by
Michael Hughes, Catherine Baudains and Jane
Chambers looking at the social and ecological
implications of replanting road verges with native
plants. Initially funded by the City of Vincent but
potential for a wider scale project.
Are there freshwater refuges in salinized
catchments in the WA wheatbelt?
This project will be a field survey aimed at determining
whether winter rains create short term freshwater refuges
for invertebrates and aquatic plants. Potential waterbodies
will be located and sampled and plant and animal species
identified. Salinity measurements will be made at many
locations across the landscape.
Mid year start. Fieldwork
Distribution of larval dragonflies on the SCP
Recent surveys indicate changes in the
distribution of dragonfly breeding sites on the
SCP and the potential presence of Pilbara
species. Feb or Mid-year start.
This project will involve field surveys and also
laboratory work hatching dragonfly eggs and
growing out larvae to adult stages to confirm
some larval identifications.
Mid year start, fieldwork, lab experiments
The effect of 2 decades of climatic
drying on wetland biodiversity in Perth.
In the early 1990s a large project, the 40 wetlands
project, described the invertebrate fauna of 40
Perth wetlands. Water regimes in many of these
wetlands have changed since then. Crustaceans are
quite susceptible to water regime change, so this
project will sample crustaceans from a subset of
these natural wetlands to determine what water
regime change and increased temperatures have
done to the distribution of crustacean species. Field
project in the Perth region.
Mid-year start. Fieldwork
How do sediments in urban wetlands protect
plants and animals from climate change?
Recent research in Perth wetlands shows that
some types of sediment can protect seeds,
invertebrate eggs and live invertebrates from
prolonged wetland drying. We need to know
more about which sediments assist biodiversity,
how they do it and how wetlands can be
managed to support these processes.
Feb start – experiments and fieldwork
Restoration ecology
A variety of projects on wetland and stream
restoration, assessing the effectiveness of
restoration are also possible.