The Green Army team has been studying saltmarsh monitoring methods and had a chance to put their knowledge to the test at the Bremner Road Saltmarsh Reserve. The site has been monitored by REF Inc and WetlandCare Australia since 2012. The main focus has been to study any differences between the saltmarsh vegetation in a previously disturbed and damaged site and a more pristine site located on the other side of the drain.
Under the guidance of Cheryl Bolzenius from WetlandCare Australia and Chris Joyce and Bob Crudgington from REF the team collected photographic data from 14 transects and 96 plots as well as conducted an invertebrate survey. The site hasn’t been monitored since mid-2015 due to final construction of the Moreton Bay Rail Link. The data will continue to be used in a long term study of saltmarsh regeneration.
The skills gained by the Green Army team will be put to use in the Silcock Street site where there are significant areas of valuable saltmarsh requiring monitoring and a level of rehabilitation.
Sub-tropical and temperate saltmarsh has been listed as a vulnerable by the Federal Government through the EPBC Act in 2013. The saltmarsh areas in Hays Inlet are important agents of water quality, carbon storage, fisheries production and biodiversity. They also form habitat and roosting sites for wading birds including vulnerable and endangered species such as the Eastern Curlew and other other international waders.
Protecting these precious areas from disturbance (motor bikes and recreational vehicles), development, weeds, excessive nutrients and changes in hydrology are some of the key challenges REF Inc and its partners face in rehabilitating maintaining this valuable community resource.
To learn more about saltmarsh ecology and monitoring go to http://saltmarsh.enviroed.com.au/
Under the guidance of Cheryl Bolzenius from WetlandCare Australia and Chris Joyce and Bob Crudgington from REF the team collected photographic data from 14 transects and 96 plots as well as conducted an invertebrate survey. The site hasn’t been monitored since mid-2015 due to final construction of the Moreton Bay Rail Link. The data will continue to be used in a long term study of saltmarsh regeneration.
The skills gained by the Green Army team will be put to use in the Silcock Street site where there are significant areas of valuable saltmarsh requiring monitoring and a level of rehabilitation.
Sub-tropical and temperate saltmarsh has been listed as a vulnerable by the Federal Government through the EPBC Act in 2013. The saltmarsh areas in Hays Inlet are important agents of water quality, carbon storage, fisheries production and biodiversity. They also form habitat and roosting sites for wading birds including vulnerable and endangered species such as the Eastern Curlew and other other international waders.
Protecting these precious areas from disturbance (motor bikes and recreational vehicles), development, weeds, excessive nutrients and changes in hydrology are some of the key challenges REF Inc and its partners face in rehabilitating maintaining this valuable community resource.
To learn more about saltmarsh ecology and monitoring go to http://saltmarsh.enviroed.com.au/