2007 Wetland Inventory for the Eyre Peninsula

5.0 WETLAND RISK ASSESSMENTThe wetland risk assessment is a conceptual framework to assist in predicting and assessing change in theecological character of wetlands. The framework has been adopted by Ramsar (resolution V11.10) and isnow promoted as an integral component of the management planning processes for wetlands. Therelevance of undertaking wetland inventories becomes apparent within this framework. A wetland inventoryultimately collects information for the wetland assessment framework. This information is also critical inorder to develop monitoring programs.5.1 Ecological CharacterA central component of the wetland risk assessment is the ability to record the ecological character of awetland. The first process comprises of the collection of information, the wetland inventory.Ecological character is the sum of the biological, physical, and chemical components of the wetlandecosystem and their interactions that maintain the wetland and its products, functions, and attributes.Change in ecological character is the impairment or imbalance in any biological, physical, or chemicalcomponents of the wetland ecosystem, or in their interactions.Van Dam et al (1999) outline five main causes of adverse change, namely:1. changes to the water regime2. water pollution3. physical modification4. exploitation of biological products5. introduction of exotic species.6.0 WETLAND INVENTORY METHODOLOGYThis section describes the approach and information collected for the wetland inventory. A wetlandinventory can be defined as the collection of core information for wetland management, including theprovision of an information base for specific assessment and monitoring activities (Finlayson and Eliot,2001). Costa et al (1996) also suggests that inventories have the attributes of set objectives over a giventime-period with the aim of publishing and disseminating the information and making it available within adatabase.6.1 Study area boundariesThe project boundary is defined by the Natural Heritage Trust administration boundaries for Eyre Peninsula.Refer to Map 1.6.2 Site selectionThe aim of the wetland selection process is to sample a broad range of wetlands within each region andwhere access was relatively simple. Factors such as time constraints and project budget was also a limitingfactor in the number of wetlands selected.Wetland sites identified by previous studies (eg Lloyd and Balla, 1986) and sites located in state and localgovernment reserves were given priority for selection. These sites usually have information regarding thewetland and the surrounding natural resources.10