Pimpama River Catchment Study Guide 2013 Pimpama River Catchment Study Guide Document control sheet Title: Pimpama River Catchment Study Guide Authors: Michael Brett, Sarah Butler, Dionne Coburn, Lucy Fouche, Diana Kiss, Kate Leopold, Linda McLeay, Rosie Palmer, Kieran Richardt, Emma Tait File reference: NED12-0013_Pimpama River Catchment Study Guide Project leader: Kieran Richardt Email: [email protected] Client: City of Gold Coast Client contact: Roslynne O’Connell Revision History Version: Purpose: Issued by: Date Reviewer: Date: Draft Client review Natura Pacific 6/5/2013 Roslynne O’Connell 6/5/2013 2nd Draft Client review Natura Pacific 21/5/2013 Roslynne O’Connell 30/5/2013 3rd Draft Client review Natura Pacific 24/6/2013 Roslynne O’Connell 27/6/2013 2 Pimpama River Catchment Study Guide Table of contents Section 1 Background ......................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 The Pimpama River Catchment Study Guide ......................................................... 6 1.2 Aims and objectives ................................................................................................ 6 1.3 How to use this study guide .................................................................................... 7 Section 2 The Pimpama River catchment ........................................................................................... 8 2.1 Pimpama River catchment history .......................................................................... 8 2.1.1 The Pimpama River catchment arose from Gondwana .................... 8 2.1.2 Aboriginal cultural heritage ................................................................ 8 2.1.3 European settlement of the catchment ............................................ 10 2.2 Catchment location ................................................................................................ 10 2.3 Environmental features ......................................................................................... 12 2.3.1 Waterways ....................................................................................... 12 2.3.2 Reaches of the catchment ............................................................... 12 2.3.3 Catchment vegetation ...................................................................... 14 2.4 Environmental processes ...................................................................................... 17 2.4.1 Maintenance of water quantity and flood mitigation ........................ 17 2.4.2 Maintenance of water quality ........................................................... 18 2.5 Environmental significance ................................................................................... 18 2.5.1 Areas of environmental significance ................................................ 18 2.5.2 Rare and threatened flora ................................................................ 21 2.5.3 Rare and threatened fauna .............................................................. 24 2.6 Current catchment land use .................................................................................. 28 2.7 Current catchment health ...................................................................................... 28 2.7.1 Catchment health ............................................................................. 28 2.7.2 Estuarine health ............................................................................... 28 2.8 Catchment management issues and management .............................................. 30 2.8.1 Vegetation loss ................................................................................ 30 2.8.2 Stormwater quality and movement .................................................. 32 2.8.3 Drinking water quality and management ......................................... 33 Section 3 Study guide resources ...................................................................................................... 34 3.1 Waterway and catchment health monitoring ......................................................... 34 3.1.1 Macroinvertebrates .......................................................................... 34 3.1.2 Habitat assessment ......................................................................... 43 3.1.3 Physico-chemical testing ................................................................. 46 3.1.4 Recording data ................................................................................ 54 3.1.5 Safety ............................................................................................... 56 3.2 Useful reports ........................................................................................................ 57 3.3 Useful websites ..................................................................................................... 57 Section 4 Activities toolkit .................................................................................................................. 58 4.1 How to use this toolkit ........................................................................................... 58 4.2 Curriculum objectives / links .................................................................................. 58 4.3 Broad learning activities ........................................................................................ 60 Activity 1 Conservation in the Pimpama River Catchment ............................. 61 Activity 2 News flash ....................................................................................... 64 Activity 3 Soundscape exploration .................................................................. 66 Activity 4 Plant identification cards .................................................................. 68 Activity 5 Birds in paradise .............................................................................. 70 Activity 6 Get to know your catchment ............................................................ 72 4.4 Specific learning activities ..................................................................................... 94 4.4.1 Background ...................................................................................... 94 4.4.2 Year level learning activity booklets .............................................. 113 3 Pimpama River Catchment Study Guide Activity booklet Year 1 and 2: Wildlife protectors! – Catchment conservation ... ............................................................................................ 114 Activity booklet Year 3: Who’s habitat is that? Investigating survival needs 120 Activity booklet Year 4 Activity: The cycle of life – macroinvertebrates ....... 125 Activity booklet Year 5: Riparian rescuers – Healthy catchment vegetation 132 Activity booklet Year 6: Catchments under threat ........................................ 138 Activity booklet Year 7: Specialised adaptations ......................................... 148 Activity booklet Year 8: Physico-chemical testing ........................................ 157 Activity booklet Year 9: Monitoring the Pimpama River Wetlands ............... 165 Activity booklet Year 10: The lay of the land ................................................ 176 Section 5 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 181 Section 6 Appendices ...................................................................................................................... 186 Appendix 1 Screenshot of Wildlife Online webpage ........................................ 187 Appendix 2 Historic land cover within the Pimpama River Catchment ............ 188 Appendix 3 Current land cover within the Pimpama River Catchment ............ 189 Appendix 4 Plant identification card ................................................................. 190 Appendix 5 Birds in paradise field identification data sheet ............................ 191 Appendix 6 “How would you manage our catchment?” activity sheet ............. 192 Appendix 7 Healthy vs unhealthy catchment poster ........................................ 193 Appendix 8 Teachers’ answer sheet for Year 3: Who’s habitat is that? – investigating survival needs .......................................................... 194 Appendix 9 Identification chart for macroinvertebrates ................................... 195 Appendix 10 Teachers’ answer sheet for Year 4: The cycle of life – macroinvertebrates ....................................................................... 196 Appendix 11 Pimpama River and other Gold Coast catchments ...................... 198 Appendix 12 Current remnant vegetation within the Pimpama River Catchment ...................................................................................................... 199 Appendix 13 Dichotomous key for macroinvertebrates ..................................... 200 List of figures Figure 1 Location and extent of the Pimpama River catchment ........................................................ 11 Figure 2 Upper freshwater reaches of the Pimpama River Catchment: a) relatively undisturbed; and b) cleared for agricultural land and rural-residential land use. ............................................ 13 Figure 3 Lower freshwater reaches of the Pimpama River Catchment – cleared for sugar cane farms and grazing. ..............................................................................................................