Displaying items by tag: Eutrophication

Abstract: Aprille Gillon.

Wetlands are highly productive ecosystems that support abundant native fauna and flora and provide many essential functions and services, for example, water purification, erosion stabilisation, floodwater storage, groundwater recharge, peat accumulation and biogeochemical cycling. 

 

Despite the vast benefits wetlands provide worldwide loss and degradation still continues, mainly due to agriculture, urban development, population growth and exploitation. 

Wetland disturbance can cause altered hydrological regimes, invasive species introduction, soil and water eutrophication, habitat fragmentation  and reductions in native fauna and  flora leading to an overall reduced functionality. 

 

Ecological restoration is an active practice commonly undertaken in degraded wetlands to re-establish ecosystem functioning, and most commonly includes revegetation, reconstruction of hydrology, weed control, pest management, and native species reintroductions. 

Wairio Wetland on the eastern shores of Lake Wairarapa forms a part of Wairarapa-Moana, the largest wetland complex in the lower North Island. Historically Wairio was an abundant kahikatea swamp forest, with a diverse range of waterfowl, waders and freshwater fish. However, the wetland was adversely affected by a draining scheme during the 1960s and 1970s, the construction of Parera Road, and the invasion of willow trees planted for erosion control. 

Draining of the wetland, division from nearby lagoons and ponds, nitrogen and phosphorus build-up in waterways and exotic weed invasion all contributed to the poor state of the wetland. In 2005, Ducks Unlimited (DU) in conjunction with the Department of Conservation (DOC) and members of the local community formed the Wairio Wetland
Restoration Committee to manage and restore the wetland to its presettlement state.

 

Restoration undertaken at the site have included native tree planting, earthworks, weed control, pest management and fencing sections of the site to exclude cattle, have met with mixed success. 

This thesis reports on two studies undertaken at Wairio Wetland with aims to inform future restoration efforts. 

 

There had been a proposal to divert nutrient rich water from Matthews lagoon into Wairio Wetland to increase filtration and improve 

the water quality of Lake Wairarapa. The outcomes of the effects of nutrient loading on established plant communities remain unknown. Therefore, the first study conducted between December 2012 and May 2013 in  Stage 2 of the wetland, examined the effects of fertiliser addition on biomass, structure and diversity of a wetland plant community. 

 

Different levels of phosphate and nitrate fertiliser were applied to 50 plots (4m2) of vegetation at the site with percent cover and the average height of respective species recorded every four to five weeks. Results showed the addition of phosphorous and/or nitrogen had neither a positive nor negative effect on the plant community at Wairio with no significant changes in the 15 species recorded at the site. These results contrast other studies that have reported increases in biomass, reductions in biodiversity and common/introduced species out competing rare/native species. 

The short duration of the experiment and summer drought conditions may have obscured the above-ground visual responses of the plant community to nutrient addition: therefore, further continuation of this experiment is advised. Variable survival rates of previous plantings, and uncertainty about the most cost-effective practice under current site conditions, provided the impetus for this study.

Therefore the second study, conducted between July 2011 and January 2014 in Stage 3 of the wetland, further investigates the effects of various management treatments on establishment of native woody vegetation.

Note: Both the experiments described in the above thesis are on-going. Stephen Hartley who is Deputy Director for the Victoria University Centre for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology and is a Senior Lecturer in Conservation and Ecology, will continue to monitor the growth of trees in Stage 3, and a Belgian intern student will re-survey the nutrient enrichment plots in Stage 2.

To view Aprille Gillon’s full thesis go to:-
http://researcharchive.vuw.ac

handle/10063/3648

Results showed that interspecific competition and hydrology appeared to be the main processes influencing the establishment of native plantings at Wairio Wetland, with plant mortality greatest in the first year after planting. Water logging, in particular, was detrimental to establishment of all species at the site except D. dacridioides. Topsoil excavation and the planting of nurse trees at 1.5m spacing was the most effective management treatment combination promoting survival of plantings at Wairio. 

However, the success of management treatments varied greatly between species at the site and had different impacts on plant growth. Topsoil excavation was beneficial to survival of D. dacridioides and C. robusta but detrimental to growth of C. australis, O. virgata, C. propinqua, Ptenuifolium and L. scoparium. 

The concurrent planting of nurse trees with focal trees was beneficial to the survival of D. dacridioides, growth of P. totara, and survival and growth of C. australis. The planting of nurse trees further apart at 1.5m compared to 0.75m had a positive effect on the survival of C. propinqua and P. tenuifolium, and survival and growth of L. scoparium. Weed mats were beneficial to survival of O. virgata and growth of L. scoparium but detrimental to growth of D. dacridioides. These management treatments can be used in future revegetation efforts at Wairio Wetland and potentially in other wetland restoration projects throughout New Zealand.