Stage 2: Grazing / Landuse in the Macquarie Marshes and Gwydir Wetlands: Final Report to the New South Wales Department of Environment and Climate Change

Abstract

The Gwydir Wetlands and Macquarie Marshes are both examples of variable and dynamic floodplain wetland ecosystems. Both systems have experienced a major alteration to their hydrology as a result of river regulation, and the two regions have a long history of floodplain grazing. As efforts are made to address the hydrological issues in these wetlands, there is also a need to better understand how other disturbances such as grazing may be impacting on the ecological functioning of these ecosystems. This study investigated five areas of wetland condition, namely vegetation composition, soil seed bank, soil chemistry, water quality and aquatic invertebrates, to determine the nature and the magnitude of any impacts that grazing by domestic stock may be having on these two wetland ecosystems.