The influence of urbanisation on macroinvertebrate biodiversity in constructed stormwater wetlands

Mackintosh, Teresa J.; Davis, Jennifer; Thompson, Ross

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.066

Cited by 52 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…These results demonstrate one of the potential mechanisms behind the correlation between fringing vegetation and aquatic macroinvertebrates reported in wetlands surveys (e.g. Mackintosh et al 2015). Replanting native species of fringing trees is often a part of restoration of freshwater ecosystems because they provide a range of ecosystem servies (Bernhardt and Palmer 2007;Boulton et al 2014); but these trees may serve an additional function by providing a temperature refuge for aquatic invertebrates during dry periods.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…Davis and Froend 1999;Mackintosh et al 2015), and may thus have lost a temperature refuge for invertebrates that rely on remaining in the sediment when wetlands are dry. These results demonstrate one of the potential mechanisms behind the correlation between fringing vegetation and aquatic macroinvertebrates reported in wetlands surveys (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fringing trees may provide a refuge from prolonged drying for urban wetland invertebrates

2016

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Climate change is causing prolonged drying in many seasonal wetlands, including urban wetlands, potentially affecting aquatic invertebrates that take refuge in wetland sediment during dry periods and thereby threatening wetland biodiversity. We collected sediment from two habitats: open water (OW) and fringing trees (FT), in eight urban wetlands after seasonal inundation had ended. Both habitats are inundated during winter-spring and dry in summer-autumn. Each sediment sample was divided into subsamples. One set of subsamples were inundated in the laboratory to test the hypothesis that emerging invertebrate assemblages would differ between OW and FT sediments. Another set of subsamples was dried, stored for a year, and inundated to test the hypothesis that prolonged drying would reduce the abundance and taxa richness of emerging invertebrates. The composition of emerging invertebrate assemblages differed between habitats, with more amphibious species found in FT sediment. Invertebrate responses to prolonged drying and storage varied among species: for some, effects depended on habitat type, while others delayed emergence or showed no response. Microcrustacean abundance was unaffected by drying, suggesting that their productivity during refilling may resist drier water regimes. Surface temperatures of dry sediment are cooler beneath FT, and this sediment has higher organic matter, holds more water and is less dense than OW sediment; and FT sediment remained cooler than OW sediment in the laboratory, despite the absence of shading. Fringing trees may therefore provide a refuge for some freshwater invertebrates relying on dormant stages in the sediment to survive drying in urban wetlands.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fringing trees may provide a refuge from prolonged drying for urban wetland invertebrates

2016

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“…Urban wetlands are challenging aquatic environments for taxa to persist in. Although urbanization can decrease water quality and macroinvertebrate richness and abundance (Mackintosh, Davis, & Thompson, ), our undrained wetlands supported communities of macroinvertebrates that included 20 sensitive and rare taxa, despite having high abundances of G. holbrooki , suggesting that macroinvertebrates can persist in the face of such invasive species. Management actions to control invasive species must therefore be carefully considered, given the possibility that actions may be more disruptive than the invasive species themselves (Bergstrom et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Management of urban wetlands for conservation can reduce aquatic biodiversity and increase mosquito risk

Hanford

Webb

Hochuli

2020

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Global wetland loss means constructed urban wetlands are an increasingly valuable resource for conservation. However, priorities for managing urban wetlands for conservation are often seen to conflict with management to reduce potential mosquito risks, such as nuisance biting and pathogen transmission. Understanding the ecological consequences of wetland management practices is vital to maximize the conservation value of urban wetlands without negatively impacting public health; however, management practices are often untested. We conducted a landscape‐scale experiment to test the ecological impacts of an existing urban wetland management regime, in which a group of urban wetlands are drained annually to reduce the abundance of an invasive fish, the plague minnow Gambusia holbrooki, and then refilled to provide breeding habitat for a threatened frog, the green and golden bell frog Litoria aurea. We collected and compared aquatic macroinvertebrates and mosquito larvae from these refilled wetlands, and adjacent undrained wetlands, as well as sampling adult mosquito populations on four occasions across summer and autumn. Wetland draining had a significant effect on aquatic macroinvertebrates and larval mosquitoes. Twice as many macroinvertebrates were collected from drained wetlands compared to undrained wetlands, and almost all mosquito larvae were collected from drained wetlands. Differences in macroinvertebrate assemblages and larval mosquitoes at drained and undrained wetlands decreased over time, but total macroinvertebrate abundance and taxa richness did not. Synthesis and applications. While conserving threatened habitats and species is vitally important, our results highlight how wetland management practices can unintentionally impact non‐target species, and potentially public health. As constructed urban wetlands become more common, so too does the need for routine maintenance and management of threatened and invasive species. It is essential that future design and management of urban wetlands considers the impact mosquitoes might have on humans. Pre‐emptive action to control geographically relevant vectors of mosquito‐borne pathogens and nuisance biting species would reduce human exposure to mosquitoes and associated negative impacts, and increase positive conservation outcomes associated with urban wetlands.

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“…The distance from inlet to outlet ranged from 91 m to 1388 m. There was considerable variation in conductivity (range: 162-2,957 S/cm) and the systems were generally turbid (range: 12.37-284.33 NTU) (see Mackintosh et al, 2015). The ANZECC (2000) threshold guideline for contaminants in freshwater was exceeded for Cd and Zn at all the sites (Table 1).…”

Section: Physico-chemical Condition Of Water and Sedimentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Metal concentrations which are over the Australian and New Zealand water and sediment quality guidelines (ANZECC, 2000) are highlighted in bold. For site abbreviations see Mackintosh et al (2015). Below limit of detection (ND).…”

Section: Water and Sedimentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracing metals through urban wetland food webs

Mackintosh

Davis

2016

Ecological Engineering

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The influence of urbanisation on macroinvertebrate biodiversity in constructed stormwater wetlands

Cited by 52 publications

References 45 publications

Fringing trees may provide a refuge from prolonged drying for urban wetland invertebrates

Fringing trees may provide a refuge from prolonged drying for urban wetland invertebrates

Management of urban wetlands for conservation can reduce aquatic biodiversity and increase mosquito risk

Tracing metals through urban wetland food webs

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