Wetland Restoration News
Wetlands Overview from the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife
Source: Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife
http://www.fnpw.org.au/ForSupporters/PAWS/enews073/PAWS_Spring_2007.PDF
Subscribe to PAWS e-newsletter at www.fnpw.org.au
Like giant sponges, freshwater wetlands soak up water and nutrients, releasing them gradually and regulating their flow across the land surface. The abundance of both these resources makes wetlands important refuges for plants and animals in the harsh Australian environment. Plants that grow in wetlands have various features such as specialised leaves, stems and roots.
Forested wetlands grow along rivers and streams and on lake shores. Ever-changing water levels are the key to their unique ecology.
Saline wetlands are those that grow in salty soils, including saltmarshes, mangroves, seagrass meadows and inland salt pans. With its unique challenges to plants and animals, saltwater wetlands are home to a unique range of species specialised on salty habitats.
Freshwater wetlands are treeless types of vegetation that are flooded with fresh water either permanently or temporarily. Freshwater wetland plants include a range of shrubs, sedges, grasses and herbs of which some are specialised submerged, floating and emergent forms.
In 2007 the Foundation has focused much of its efforts on Australia’s wetlands. With your donations we have purchased land for Yarrahapinni Wetlands (below). Much of this significant wetland had been drained in the past to allow for agriculture. Soon the old floodgates will be opened and the land will be returned to its natural aquatic state.
Yarrahapinni Wetlands. Photo courtesy of FNPW.
At Meroo Lake on the NSW South Coast, Gary Daly, a Foundation funded scientist, is monitoring the endangered Green and Golden Bell Frog (above). He believes that a natural fungicide in the semi-saline lake is protecting the frogs against the deadly chytrid fungus.
Meroo Lake. Photo courtesy of Shoalhaven Council
The lake is occasionally open to the sea, providing ideal conditions for bacteria to grow in the bed of the lake. These bacteria release sulphur, which kills fungus. Another natural fungicide, copper, is found at other sites where the frog survives, such as Port Kembla near Wollongong.
The chytrid fungus, however, is not the only threat to our native frogs, and natural fungicides are only one drawcard of our aquatic habitats to protect them.
As the nights get warmer, Cane Toads are becoming more active. Male toads call from spring to autumn and breeding increases after rain. A female will lay up to 35,000 eggs twice a year.
The small, black tadpoles move together in huge numbers, forming schools like a black carpet in the water. Tadpoles eat other tadpoles dead or alive. As adults they will eat a wide range of insects and frogs, rats and anything small enough to eat.
The Cane Toad is highly adaptable and occurs in many habitats from forests, woodlands, grasslands and beach dunes to suburban gardens from the Northern Territory throughout Queensland and northern NSW. They can survive the loss of half their body water and temperatures ranging from as low as 5 to as high as 40ºC. Little wonder that the population is increasing steadily, with scientists estimating the total Cane Toad population of Australia up at the 200 million mark.
While scientists are searching for long-term solutions to the problem, the toads continue to kill native wildlife and volunteer ‘toad busters’ across three states and territories hit back.
The Foundation has funded a “Trap that Toad” school kit that arms Australia’s youngsters with the knowledge and tools to join in the fight – tips on how to trap them, pictures and sounds and even a stuffed toad to identify the offenders and advice on how to dispose of them. The kits have been sent to primary schools in northern NSW and are already helping fight back the toads frontline.
Help for the Green and Golden Bell Frog came also from the students participating in the 2007 Dymocks Golden Paw Award. Every entry we received in our threatened species Drawing competition has raised $1, a total of $7,500 to keep the frogs croaking.
Littoria aurea, the Green and Golden Bell Frog. Photo courtesy of FNPW
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