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Mine Water and Environment: Ecology and
Ecotoxicology Research.
Ecology of black-stripe minnow (Galaxiella nigrostriata,
Pisces: Galaxiidae) in remnant populations on the Swan Coastal Plain,
Western Australia
Research team:
Dave M. Galeotti (MiWER), Clint McCullough
(MiWER),
Mark Lund (MiWER), Mark Gell (KSS)
What habitat requirements does a fish that live in seasonal wetlands have and how does this relate to rehabilitating these wetlands from mining?
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The
south-west of Western Australia is home to only ten native species of
freshwater fish. Of those ten, eight are endemic and two of those
species live in seasonal wetlands (most fish live where water is
permanent!) One of those species, the black-stripe minnow, Galaxiella
nigrostriata, is currently known only to exist in three locations in
WA: Melaleuca Park near Perth, Kemerton near Bunbury and between Augusta
and Albany. While the ‘southern’ distribution mainly occurs within
National Parks, the two remnant populations are not as protected.
My research will look at
what factors decide
their habitat choice and ultimately what they require to survive. The
information gathered will help direct the conservation and
rehabilitation of wetlands for this unique species by understanding
their ecological requirements. With a continuing drying climate and
further pressures on the wetlands from development and groundwater
extraction, research into this fascinating fish is of great importance.
Wetlands on the Swan Coastal Plain have a history of being filled,
drained and/or degraded for agriculture, mining, urban sprawl and
industrial uses. For example, one
remnant population is on the project area of a sand mine. Luckily, the
mining company is being proactive in their conservation efforts by
funding research such as this.
There are four study components to my
project: habitat and diet preferences, aestivation requirements and
population genetic structure. The first three can be classed as the
ecological requirements of the fish and the genetics component stands alone as an
overall species management issue. Study results will provide information
to help conserve this threatened species, direct wetland rehabilitation
requirements on the mine project area and may be used to identify
habitats likely to contain ‘new’ populations.
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A seasonal
wetland that only sometimes contains black-striped minnow.
September (left) and January (right). |
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Minnows are thought to aestivate in Koonac crayfish burrows. |
Outputs:
Galeotti, D. M.; McCullough,
C. D. & Lund, M. A. (2008).
A synthesis of Black-striped Minnow (Pisces, Galaxiidae: Galaxiella
nigrostriata) ecological requirements, south-western Australia.
Centre for Ecosystem Management
Report 2008-12. Edith Cowan
University, Perth, Australia.
Unpublished report to
Kemerton Silica Sand Pty Ltd.
Galeotti, D. M.; McCullough, C. D. & Lund, M. A. (2010).
Black-stripe minnow Galaxiella nigrostriata (Shipway
1953) (Pisces: Galaxiidae), a review and discussion.
Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 93:
13-20.
Galeotti, D. M.; McCullough, C. D. &
Lund, M. A. (2009). Can meta-population theory explain survival of an
aestivating fish species in a seasonal wetland complex? Australian
Society for Limnology 2009 Congress. Alice Springs, Australia.
McCullough, C. D. (2008). CHS engagement helps a small miner to
operate more sustainably. Cohesion October: 8.
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Temporal variability and ecosystem function of the
aquatic macroinvertebrate communities of seasonal south-western Australia
Wetlands.
Research team: Niall Somesan
(MiWER), Clint McCullough
(MiWER), Mark Lund (MiWER), Mark Gell (KSS)
What are the aquatic macroinvertebrate communities of the
Kemerton Wetlands, and what environmental variables are their primary
determinants?
The physical
structure and chemical properties of detrital flocs and their role in wetland
nutrient dynamics.
Research team: William Phelps
(MiWER), Bea Sommer
(CEM), Mark Lund (MiWER), Clint McCullough
(MiWER)
What role does detrital floc play in nutrient dynamics of
seasonal wetlands?
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Detrital
floc is a form of suspended sediment found in a range of permanent and
seasonal wetlands. It is a complex matrix of microorganisms (generally
bacteria and protozoa), organic particles (cellular debris, detritus,
and extracellular proteins, fibrils), inorganic particles (clay, silts),
and inter-floc spaces called pores. Detrital floc may control a variety
of biogeochemical processes such the fate of particle associated
contaminates by altering the hydrodynamic properties of particles in
transport. Detrital floc may respond to (or be a direct consequence of)
sustained nutrient enrichment events and regulate the overall water
quality through physical and biological processes. It is also likely to
constitute an important part of the food chain in wetlands and may play
crucial biogeochemical and ecological roles in these ecosystems.
While new
developments in sampling, microscopy, molecular science, and modelling
permit increasingly revealing investigations into flocculation
processes, there is still a fundamental lack of knowledge related to
many aspects of detrital floc in wetlands. These include physical
structure and chemical properties of the floc, the variability of the
floc between wetlands and the links between detrital floc structures and
nutrient dynamics of wetlands. |
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Outputs:
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Detrital
floc samples from five wetlands known to contain detrital floc will
investigated for each site by means of correlative microscopy using COM,
SEM and EPMA techniques. Correlative microscopy will provide information
on the number of fibrils, number and species of bacteria, microbes and
other constituents of detrital floc from each site. A focus will be
quantification of the components. Microscopy work, method development
and analysis will be performed at the University of Western Australia.
Detrital floc chemical composition will be investigated for each site
using Atomic Emission Spectrometry and X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry
(total elements/nutrients) at the Perth Assay Laboratory.
This
project will provide conceptual models of floc types in wetlands of the
Swan Coastal Plain and will improve our knowledge of these wetlands for
their management. The project will shed light on currently
under-explained occurrences in these wetlands including eutrophication,
midge plague patterns and nutrient retention. This is work which has not
been achieved before on the Swan Coastal Plain and will provide a
reference point to any future research on wetland management in the
future locally, nationally and internationally. |
Ecotoxicity limitations following liming and nutrient enrichment to remediate
acid mine lakes
Research team:
Clint McCullough
(MiWER),
Luke Neil (CUT),
Mark Lund (MiWER),
Jess Sackmann (CWR, UWA), Anas Ghadouani (CWR, UWA), Yuri Tsvetnenko (CUT),
Jim Ranville (DCG-CSM), Louis Evans
(CUT)
Is liming and enhanced primary production able to reduce ecological toxicity and increase biodiversity of Collie lakes ?
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Twelve 1,200 L mesocosms at ECU have been filled with a 40 mm
layer of lake sediment from the bottom of the fast river-filled Lake
Kepwari. This representative sediment layer has then been covered with
Lake Kepwari water. Treatments have been allocated in a randomised two-way
factorial design to test the effects of liming, phosphorus enrichment and combined liming and
phosphorus amendment on different aspects of the AMD water chemistry,
ecotoxicity and ecology.
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Not limed |
Limed |
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No nutrients |
U U U |
U U U |
| Nutrients |
U U U |
U U U |
|
Collecting
sediment from Lake Kepwari. |
|
The mesocosms
back @ ECU. |
This is a collaborative
multidisciplinary project with co-supervised students at Curtin
University of Technology and University of
Western Australia. The Edith Cowan
University team is examining water chemistry, sediment and periphyton dynamics,
including the effect of liming and enhanced primary production upon
dissolved heavy metal and nutrient concentrations, alkalinity and pH.
Jess Sackmann is examining correlations between phytoplankton community
water quality, and Luke Neil is examining the effect of
different
treatments on aquatic ecotoxicity between each other and over time.
Outputs:
Neil, L. L. (2008). Bioassay assessment of mine pit lake
water for aquaculture and biodiversity conservation, Ph.D.
thesis, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia.
298pp.
Neil, L.; McCullough, C. D.;
Lund, M.A. Tsvetnenko, Y. & Evans, L. (in press). Toxicity
assessment of mining pit lake water remediated with limestone and
phosphorus. Environmental Safety and Ecotoxicology.
Neil, L. L.; McCullough, C. D.;
Tsvetnenko, Y. & Evans, L. (2006). Toxicity
assessment of limed and phosphorus amended mine pit lake
water. Proceedings of RACI/ASE Interact 2006
conference. Perth, Australia 24-28 September.
Sackmann, J. (2006). The effect of
experimental liming and nutrient addition on phytoplankton of an
acidic mine lake, B.E. (hons) thesis, University of Western
Australia, Perth, Australia. 50pp. |
Wetland riparian vegetation structure of natural wetlands
as guidelines to dredge pond rehabilitation, south-western Australia
Research team: Eddie van Etten (MiWER), Clint McCullough
(MiWER), Mark Lund (MiWER), Mark Gell (KSS)
What is the vegetation structure of typical seasonal
wetlands of the Kemerton region?
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Silica sand mining by Kemerton Silica Sand Pty. Ltd. in the Kemerton
region, south-western
Australia, is followed by rehabilitation of mined lands into
conservation areas after ore extraction is complete. Successful
rehabilitation to a natural structure is involving first studies into
what type of wetland (e.g., wetland riparian vegetation structure) is
typical of the area, and hence acceptable as a rehabilitation outcome.
Studies are focussing on both understanding natural wetland structure,
dynamics and environmental drivers, on also on understanding how
rehabilitation efforts are achieving desirable rehabilitation outcomes.
Outputs:
van Etten, E.; McCullough, C.
D. & Lund, M. A. (2008). Evaluation of rehabilitation efforts
at the Kemerton Silica Sand Pty. Ltd. project area, June 2007.
Report number 2008-10. Centre for Ecosystem Management, Edith
Cowan University, Perth, Australia. 60pp. Unpublished report to
Kemerton Silica Sand Pty Ltd.
van Etten, E.;
McCullough, C. D. & Lund, M. A. (2009). Riparian
vegetation characteristics of seasonal wetlands in
Kemerton, south-western Australia Report number 2008-17.
Mine Water Environment Research, Centre for Ecosystem
Management, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia.
Unpublished report to Kemerton Silica Sand Pty
Ltd.
van Etten, E. J. B.; McCullough, C. D. &
Lund, M. A. (2009). How precisely do we need to match topsoil to site
for successful restoration of post-mining environments? A case study
from wetlands in south-western Australia. 19th Conference of the
Society for Ecological Restoration International (SERI). Perth, Western
Australia, Australia. 23 August – 27 August 2009.
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A typical seasonal waterbody of the
Kemerton wetlands. |
Dr. Eddie van Etten surveying
vegetation rehabilitation success and rehabilitated slope topography and
soil structure. |
Topography, vegetation structure
and soil structure profile of a seasonal Kemerton wetland. |
Aquatic macroinvertebrate communities of the seasonal Kemerton
Wetlands, south-western Australia
Research team: Clint McCullough
(MiWER), Mark Lund (MiWER), Mark Gell (KSS)
What are the aquatic macroinvertebrate communities of the
Kemerton Wetlands, and what environmental variables are their primary
determinants?
|
Silica sand mining by Kemerton Silica Sand Pty. Ltd. in the Kemerton wetlands, south-western
Australia, is followed by rehabilitation of mined lands into
conservation areas after ore extraction is complete. Assessment of
successful rehabilitation to a natural wetland ecological community
involves comparing biotic communities of rehabilitated wetlands with
local natural reference wetland communities. Aquatic macroinvertebrates
are a industry-standard for such ecological assessment. Studies are
examining what aquatic macroinvertebrate communities are present in
seasonal Kemerton wetlands, and what environmental parameters are the
major determinants of these communities. This understanding will also
lead to guidelines as to what entails a rehabilitated wetland, and how
it may best be achieved.
Outputs:
McCullough, C. D. & Lund, M. A.
(2008). Aquatic macroinvertebrates in seasonal and
rehabilitated wetlands of the Kemerton Silica Sand Pty
Ltd project area (2007). Mine Water and Environment
Research/Centre
for Ecosystem Management Report 2008-16. Edith Cowan
University, Perth, Australia. Unpublished report
to Kemerton Silica Sand Pty Ltd. 75pp.
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Dr. Clint McCullough collecting
water quality data from a seasonal Kemerton Wetland in late winter. |
Assoc. Prof. Mark Lund collecting a
macroinvertebrate sample along a stratified-habitat transect line. |
Abundance and
biodiversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates in Kemerton Wetlands. |
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