The ecohydrology and restoration of an enclosed estuarine wetland

Abstract

Many coastal floodplain wetlands on the eastern Australian coast have undergone anthropogenic changes to achieve flood mitigation and agricultural land reclamation benefits. Most of these wetlands have suffered degradation of their environments and biota populations, altered hydrological conditions and formation of acid sulfate soils because of these changes. This has resulted in the growth of restoration programs using tidal re-inundation to rejuvenate the wetland without causing salinity intrusion onto surrounding agricultural land. The Yarrahapinni Wetland, on the New South Wales north coast, has undergone a program of incremental openings to the controlling floodgate system, and the changes to the hydrology and ecology have been monitored. By adopting an ecohydrological approach, this study used an understanding of the hydrological processes within the changing wetland to develop a scientific understanding of the behavioural patterns of the fish and crustacean populations of the system.