TY - JOUR
T1 - Balancing biodiversity outcomes and pollution management in urban stormwater treatment wetlands
AU - Hale, Robin
AU - Swearer, Stephen E.
AU - Sievers, Michael
AU - Coleman, Rhys
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by Melbourne Water and the Australian Research Council under project LP140100343 . We thank the following people for attending a workshop to discuss this project, and for providing feedback on an earlier draft of this manuscript: Alison Rickard, David Reginato, Bronwen Hutchison, William Steele, Trish Grant, Birgit Jordan, Rachael Bathgate, Daniella Gerente, Arezou Houshmand, Leon Metzeling, Chris Walsh, Dennis Corbett and Michael Scroggie. Thanks to Rachael Bathgate for organising and coordinating the workshop.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2019/3/1
Y1 - 2019/3/1
N2 - Wetlands are increasingly being constructed to mitigate the effects of urban stormwater, such as altered hydrological regimes and reduced water quality, on downstream aquatic ecosystems. While the primary purpose of these wetlands is to manage stormwater, they also attract animals whose growth, survival and breeding (i.e. ‘fitness’) may be compromised. Such deleterious effects will be exacerbated if animals are caught in ‘ecological traps’, mistakenly preferring wetlands with unsuitable environmental conditions. Alternatively, wetlands that offer suitable habitat conditions for animals could be beneficial, especially in fragmented urban landscapes. Consequently, a thorough understanding of the potential ecological impacts of stormwater treatment wetlands is critical for managing unintended consequences to urban biodiversity. To help facilitate this understanding, we draw upon findings from a four-year research program conducted in the city of Melbourne in south-eastern Australia as a case study. First, we summarise our research demonstrating that some stormwater wetlands can be ecological traps for native frogs and fish in the study region, whilst others likely provide important habitat in areas where few natural waterbodies remain. We use our work to highlight that while stormwater wetlands can be ecological traps, their effects can be properly managed. We propose the need for a better understanding of the ecological consequences of changes to wetland quality and their population-level impacts across the landscape. We hope that this study will generate discussions about how to most effectively manage constructed wetlands in urban landscapes and more research for a better understanding of the issues and opportunities regarding potential ecological traps.
AB - Wetlands are increasingly being constructed to mitigate the effects of urban stormwater, such as altered hydrological regimes and reduced water quality, on downstream aquatic ecosystems. While the primary purpose of these wetlands is to manage stormwater, they also attract animals whose growth, survival and breeding (i.e. ‘fitness’) may be compromised. Such deleterious effects will be exacerbated if animals are caught in ‘ecological traps’, mistakenly preferring wetlands with unsuitable environmental conditions. Alternatively, wetlands that offer suitable habitat conditions for animals could be beneficial, especially in fragmented urban landscapes. Consequently, a thorough understanding of the potential ecological impacts of stormwater treatment wetlands is critical for managing unintended consequences to urban biodiversity. To help facilitate this understanding, we draw upon findings from a four-year research program conducted in the city of Melbourne in south-eastern Australia as a case study. First, we summarise our research demonstrating that some stormwater wetlands can be ecological traps for native frogs and fish in the study region, whilst others likely provide important habitat in areas where few natural waterbodies remain. We use our work to highlight that while stormwater wetlands can be ecological traps, their effects can be properly managed. We propose the need for a better understanding of the ecological consequences of changes to wetland quality and their population-level impacts across the landscape. We hope that this study will generate discussions about how to most effectively manage constructed wetlands in urban landscapes and more research for a better understanding of the issues and opportunities regarding potential ecological traps.
KW - Animal behaviour
KW - Ecological trap
KW - Urban planning
KW - Water sensitive urban design
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85059653603&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.12.064
DO - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.12.064
M3 - Article
C2 - 30583104
AN - SCOPUS:85059653603
SN - 0301-4797
VL - 233
SP - 302
EP - 307
JO - Journal of Environmental Management
JF - Journal of Environmental Management
ER -