Wetland Conservation in the Jerdacuttup-Ravensthorpe Area, WA
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
etland Conservation in the Jerdacuttup-Ravensthorpe area, A Management of the Lake Shaster and Jerdacuttup etland Suites: Assessment and Recommendations A report produced by Green Skills for the South Coast Natural Resource Management Team By etland Project Officer Tim Frodsham July 2007 !!!!!!!! etland Conservation in the Jerdacuttup-Ravensthorpe area, A Management of the Lake Shaster and Jerdacuttup etland Suites: Assessment and Recommendations A report produced by Green Skills for the South Coast Natural Resource Management Team, the Australian Government’s Natural Heritage Trust and National Action Plan By etland Project Officer Tim Frodsham July 2007 Cover Photograph: Aerial view of Lake Shaster (T. Frodsham) January 2007 Contents Executivesummary........................................................................................................1 1.0 Introduction.........................................................................................................2 2.0 ProjectBackground.............................................................................................2 3.0 Definitionsandclassificationsofwetlands.........................................................3 4.0 Location,landtenureandlanduse .....................................................................4 5.0 IndigenousHistoryandLandUse.......................................................................5 6.0 Jerdacuttup- Shasterwetlands............................................................................6 6.1 Climate................................................................................................................6 6.2 GeologyandHydrology......................................................................................7 6.3 GroundwaterDepthandQuality.........................................................................8 7.0 Descriptionofwetlandsuites..............................................................................9 7.1 DunnsSwampsuite.............................................................................................9 7.2 JerdacuttupLakesSuite ....................................................................................10 7.3 JerdacuttupLakeEastSuite..............................................................................12 7.4 ShasterSystem– WestSuite.............................................................................12 7.5 ShasterSystem– DorrinupSuite......................................................................12 7.6 Shastersystem– Parriupsuite ..........................................................................13 7.7 LakeShaster......................................................................................................13 7.8 OldfieldEstuary................................................................................................14 7.9 OldfieldEstuaryeastsuite ................................................................................14 8.0 Soils...................................................................................................................15 9.0 Biological– Characteristics ..............................................................................15 9.1 Waterquality.....................................................................................................15 9.2 Vegetation.........................................................................................................16 9.3 Birds..................................................................................................................16 9.4 WaterbirdusageofJerdacuttup/Shasterwetlands ..........................................17 9.5 FishuseofJerdacuttupShasterwetlands..........................................................17 9.6 YallobupCreekandJerdacuttupRiverCatchment...........................................18 9.7 YallobupCreekandJerdacuttupRiver.............................................................18 10.0 Threats...............................................................................................................19 10.1 Salinity ..............................................................................................................19 10.2 Weeds................................................................................................................20 10.3 BlueGums ........................................................................................................20 10.4 Phytophthoracinnamomi..................................................................................21 10.5 Nutrients............................................................................................................21 10.6 Habitatloss........................................................................................................21 10.7 FeralAnimals....................................................................................................22 10.8 Stock .................................................................................................................23 10.9 AcidSulphateSoils...........................................................................................23 10.10!!PerennialPastures .............................................................................................23 10.11Biologicalpoisons.............................................................................................24 10.12Fire ....................................................................................................................24 10.13!!Mining ...............................................................................................................25 10.14!!GlobalWarming................................................................................................25 11.0 Conclusion ........................................................................................................25 12.0 Recommendations.............................................................................................26 Tables Table1.WetlandManagementPlanProjectssince1999..............................................2 Table2:Salinitycriteriausedinassessment ................................................................4 Table3:Groundwater depthandEC inmonitoringboreswithinthesoil-landscapes zones(fromDAFWA,2006:21) ....................................................................................8 Table4:SiteSpecificRecommendationsfortheJerdacuttupandShasterwetland systems 26 Appendices Appendix1: JerdacuttupandShasterLakes: Tenure,Locations andDrainage Appendix2: CatchmentBoundariesforJerdacuttupLakes Appendix3 RavensthorpeShire Properties &PropertyOwnerNames&Property ID's (fromDepartmentforAgricultureandFood,WA(2007) Appendix4 RamsarWetlandClassification– Modified forAustralianConditions,from ANCA(1996) Appendix5: Aboriginalsitesandheritage surveysfor the RavensthorpeandJerdacuttup area. Appendix6: PhotographsoftheStudyArea. Appendix7: ‘WetlandsAssessed,theirlocation,type,landtenureandpresenceofwater’ Appendix8: Surfacewaterqualityparametersforselectedwetlands. Appendix9: WaterbirdsandvertebratefaunaoftheJerdacuttupShaster wetlands. Appendix10: JerdacuttupWetlandSuite– Wetlandsassessedandnumbered LakeShasterWetlandSuite– Wetlandsassessedandnumbered Acknowledgements GreenSkillswouldliketothankthefollowingorganisationsandpeoplefortheirinvolvement andassistancewiththeproductionofthisreport. ManythanksgotoAndyChapmanforhiscriticalworkthatcontributes greatlytothisreport. ThanksgotoJennyChambersandRodgerWalkerfortheirpatientandhelpfulassistance. JohnSimonsatDepartmentforFoodandAgriculture,Esperance SupportandfundinganddigitalinformationthroughtheSouthCoastNaturalResource Management(SCNRM) andtheFederalGovernments’NaturalHeritageTrust(NHT)and NationalActionPlan(NAP). Alllandholderswhowelcomedsitevisitsincluding:Athertons,RodDawe,Winston Crane andAlec &Mary Smith. Otherlandholderswhowerepresentandassistedtheauthor, includingAnnandDerekWilliams. SupportanddigitalinformationfromKevinHopkinson,DepartmentofEnvironment. Editing offinalreportbyYvonneQuinn at CentreforSustainableLiving,Denmark Allotherpeoplewhoassistedinanymannerwiththeproductionofthereportincluding GreenSkills,DepartmentofWater(Albany),andDepartmentforAgricultureandFood(WA) Staff. o you have any comments or feedback you would like to give? Thisreportisintendedtogeneratecommunitydiscussionastothemosteffective managementpracticesthatcanbeincorporatedintothecatchmentplanningactivitiesof ShasterJerdacuttupsystem. Ifyouhaveanycommentsontherecommendationsprovidedinthisreport,wewouldliketo hearfromyou.Commentscanbedirectedto: Tim Frodsham etlands Project Manager P.O. Box 577, Denmark .A. 6333 Tel: (08) 9848 1019 Fax: (08) 9848 2061 Email [email protected] eb www.greenskills.green.net.au Mobile: 0437 617 292 Executive summary TwentyfivewetlandsbetweenHopetounandOldfieldEstuaryonthesouthcoast!ofWestern Australiawereassessedforwaterbirduse,conditionandpotentialthreats. Ofthese15heldat leastsomewaterafterfivesuccessiveyearsoflessthanaverageannualrainfall. Electrical conductivity! of wetlands’ water ranged from 11.6-164.1 mS/cm (Chapman, 2007:1). Wetlands carried varying levels of total phosphorus and total nitrogen. Wetland size was between6and1,203ha. AccordingtotheRamsarclassificationmostwetlandsareinland salinelakesand/orinlandwoodedswamps. Functionalclassificationandwaterbirdutilisation! isdeterminedbysalinityandwaterlevelbothofwhichchangewithtime. Onewetlandisa coastalestuary. Fortyninewaterbirdspeciesincluding!allducksknownfromsouth-western