Not only do they support a vast variety of plant and animal life, they’re also essential for human life as we know it – from helping mitigate climate change to protecting humans from storm damage and floodwaters.
We can conduct wetland, streams and springs surveys for your project, taking the guesswork out and giving you peace of mind that you are operating with the least possible impact.
Surveys of aquatic ecosystems – including wetlands, streams and springs – may form part of broadscale ecological surveys or specialised assessments of wetland stream and/or spring features.
At Boobook Ecological Consulting, we start with an in-depth desktop assessment to determine the aquatic features already mapped within the prescribed project area.
We then apply current best practice survey techniques, tailored to suit the objectives of the survey and the features being targeted, to identify and ground-truth the extent of wetlands, watercourses, drainage features and springs. To do this, we use the official definitions developed by State agencies.
Some of our recent experience in surveying wetlands, streams and springs includes:
This project documented the fauna of recently emerging springs and determined the success of management strategies such as fencing, Rubber Vine control and provision of alternative stock watering points.
This project showed that the proposed crossing would occur in an area of high terrestrial and aquatic habitat value. We identified the waterhole at the proposed crossing likely supported fauna such as the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) and the critically endangered Southern snapping turtle (Elseya albagula) which our ecologists have previously observed upstream and downstream of the assessment location. Alternative crossing locations and designs were recommended to the client as least impact options.
This project documented the fauna of recently emerging springs and determined the success of management strategies such as fencing, Rubber Vine control and provision of alternative stock watering points.
This project showed that the proposed crossing would occur in an area of high terrestrial and aquatic habitat value. We identified the waterhole at the proposed crossing likely supported fauna such as the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) and the critically endangered Southern snapping turtle (Elseya albagula) which our ecologists have previously observed upstream and downstream of the assessment location. Alternative crossing locations and designs were recommended to the client as least impact options.
As these projects show, identifying aquatic features can be integral to reporting upon the broadscale ecological assets of and risks to a project area.
Boobook Ecological Consulting has built its success on decades I first-hand knowledge of the natural ecosystems of the southern Queensland drylands combined with practical understanding of the complex pressures that impinge on Australia’s fragile environment.
