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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™

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2000

Environmental Sciences

Edith Cowan University

Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Wetland Vegetation Monitoring, 1999/2000 (Salinity Action Plan), R. Gurner, R. Froend, G. Ogden, B. Franke Jan 2000

Wetland Vegetation Monitoring, 1999/2000 (Salinity Action Plan), R. Gurner, R. Froend, G. Ogden, B. Franke

Research outputs pre 2011

This report represents the vegetation component of a project designed to provide on-going monitoring of wetland salinity and biological resources in wetlands of the agricultural zone of south-west Western Australia. Maintenance of wetland biological diversity in the agricultural zone is one of the major objectives of the Salinity Action Plan. Due to their low position in the landscape, wetlands are the habitat most affected by salinisation.

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Managing The Acidity Of Abandoned Water Filled Coal Mining Voids In Collie (Western Australia) Using Organic Matter, Scott A. Thompson Jan 2000

Managing The Acidity Of Abandoned Water Filled Coal Mining Voids In Collie (Western Australia) Using Organic Matter, Scott A. Thompson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The effectiveness of using organic matter additions to increase pH in abandoned water filled coal mining voids in Collie was investigated. Previous studies have demonstrated that passing acidic drainage through organic matter increased the waters pH. Laboratory trials using intact sediment cores (collected from Ewington, Collie, Western Australia) were used to assess the effects of additions of hay, manure and mulched vegetation on pH, nutrients an sulphate levels. In a series of experiments the effect of different quantities of organic material, sulphate reducing bacterial inoculations and alkalinity generation were measured. A subsequent field experiment was conducted to examine the impact …

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The Applicability Of Stable Carbon Isotope Analysis To Measure The Water Use Efficiency Of Melaleuca Preissiana Populations On The Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia, Hayley E. Valentine Jan 2000

The Applicability Of Stable Carbon Isotope Analysis To Measure The Water Use Efficiency Of Melaleuca Preissiana Populations On The Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia, Hayley E. Valentine

Theses : Honours

Stable carbon isotope (δ13C) analysis is a tool used to understand the water use efficiency (WUE) of plants. The advantage of measuring the carbon isotope composition in plant tissue over other measures of WUE (such as the ratio of photosynthesis to transpiration) is that it provides a time-integrated, rather than an instantaneous measure of plant-water relations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the applicability of using δ13C analysis in natural populations of the fringing tree Melaleuca preissiana based on short and long term sampling methods. There were three components to this study; a controlled, …

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The Use Of Stable Isotopic Signatures Of Marine Biota To Map Sewage Effluent Disposed Into The Marine Environment, Adam Gartner Jan 2000

The Use Of Stable Isotopic Signatures Of Marine Biota To Map Sewage Effluent Disposed Into The Marine Environment, Adam Gartner

Theses : Honours

Recent work indicates that nitrogen stable isotopic signatures of aquatic biota can be used to link nutrient inputs in the marine environment to terrestrial sources. While this technique of tracing nutrients has been shown to be effective in environments that are not nutrient limited, it has not been proved that this method is effective in oligotrophic environments. This study examined whether nitrogen stable isotopic signatures of marine biota can be used to trace the distribution of sewage effluent in highly mixed, nitrogen limited waters, by examining the δ15N values of marine biota situated close to and distant from …

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Biofilm Composition And Function In Stormwater Constructed Wetland Systems On The Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia, S. A. Hawkins Jan 2000

Biofilm Composition And Function In Stormwater Constructed Wetland Systems On The Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia, S. A. Hawkins

Theses : Honours

The ability of natural wetlands to act as effective nutrient sinks and to absorb new nutrient loadings is well documented. Constructed wetland systems (CWSs) aimed at optimising these nutrient removal mechanisms have been used for the removal of nutrients and pollutants from a variety of waters and wastewaters over the past thirty years. Over the past decade, the use of CWSs has extended to the removal of nutrients from urban stormwater, as a more ecologically sensible management option to the traditional method of discharging stormwater into natural wetlands. Stormwater CWSs on the Swan Coastal Plain are designed to remove phosphorus. …

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Identification Of Wetland Plant Hydrotypes On The Swan Coastal Plain Western Australia, Robyn Loomes Jan 2000

Identification Of Wetland Plant Hydrotypes On The Swan Coastal Plain Western Australia, Robyn Loomes

Theses : Honours

The hydrology of 19 Swan Coastal Plain wetlands was described in relation to its influence on the composition and stn1cturc of wetland vegetation. Sixty species were identified as ‘wetland’ plants. The water depth ranges, or hydrological envelopes, of these species were determined and species grouped together based on the water regimes they experienced. Descriptions of wetland hydrology suggested that the surface and groundwater levels of the majority of study wetlands had declined in both the short (3-5 years) and long-term (20-50 years). Wetlands belonging to the Bibra Suite did not follow this trend as surface water levels either increased or …

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The Effect Of Leaf Movement On Algal Epiphytes In Seagrass Meadows, T. R. Reid Jan 2000

The Effect Of Leaf Movement On Algal Epiphytes In Seagrass Meadows, T. R. Reid

Theses : Honours

Artificial seagrass units were used to determine whether seagrass leaf movement influences the biomass, species richness and composition of epiphytic macroalgae on the leaves of seagrasses, and whether the influence of leaf movement is altered by the degree of exposure to water movement and to depth. The influence of leaf movement on epiphytic biomass is important from an environmental management perspective, as there is the potential for epiphytic productivity to be underestimated if leaf movement is reducing the standing crop of epiphytes on seagrass leaves. Two forms of artificial seagrass units were used in three experiments to achieve these objectives; …

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Detecting The Cause Of Acidification At A Seasonal Wetland On The Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia, Through Laboratory And Field Mesocosm Experiments, Kelli O'Neill Jan 2000

Detecting The Cause Of Acidification At A Seasonal Wetland On The Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia, Through Laboratory And Field Mesocosm Experiments, Kelli O'Neill

Theses : Honours

Acidification (pH< 4.5) was detected at Lake Jandabup, a shallow, seasonal wetland on the Swan Coastal Plain. Western Australia. Concern has been raised because populations of invertebrate species have declined or disappeared since acidification, potentially compromising the status of the lake as a nature reserve. The Jake bed is underlain with pyrite (feS2), which oxidises when dry producing sulfates, hydrogen ions and ferrous iron. Being seasonal, Lake Jandabup would be expected to be naturally acidic, but the more recent trend has been a prolonged (> 1 year) and extreme acidification (pH < 4.0). This study endeavoured to explain why the Jake may have undergone an acidic change, why it may have recovered and whether it will happen again. It was hypothesised that the acidification may have been caused by prolonged drying of the lake causing excessive oxidation of pyrite which produced more acid than the wetland could neutralise through buffering. The hypothesis was tested through laboratory and field experiments. The laboratory experiment involved taking intact sediment cores from around the lake, drying them for various lengths of time, and measuring pH, sulfate, total iron, total alkalinity and total aridity upon rehydration. Dried sediment from diatomaceous earth under Fe(OH)3 precipitate gave the lowest pH of less than 4.0. High sulfates, low alkalinity and low pH were interrelated. While drying in its own right produced low pH, generally there was no significant difference between drying times for release of selected variables. The field experiment involved the establishment of small in situ mesocosms to test for the effects …

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Biogeography Of A Changing Landscape: Pipidinny Swamp, Yanchep National Park Western Australia, Bradley W. Boucher Jan 2000

Biogeography Of A Changing Landscape: Pipidinny Swamp, Yanchep National Park Western Australia, Bradley W. Boucher

Theses : Honours

The resources of Pipidinny Swamp were utilised by the Nyoongar Aboriginal people for possibly 40,000 years. Since the late 1800s, the resources of Pipidinny Swamp were used by non-Indigenous settlers. More recently, the wetland was incorporated in the Yanchep National Park in 1991.This study sought to reconstruct the changes to the natural and cultural environments within the wetland to provide background knowledge for the management board of the Park. Field investigations abo demonstrated the dynamic state of the wetland over a six-month period between low water (Feb-Apr) and high water (Aug-Oct) by monitoring the groundwater system, the vegetation system, and …

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