Resources required for ecological function and maintenance of migratory birds and Black swans on the Vasse Wonnerup estuary. The Ramsar-listed Vasse Wonnerup Estuary has a diverse array of aquatic plant communities, some of which are the primary food source for the the largest regular breeding colony of Black Swan in south-western Australia. Maintaining this plant diversity is integral to the conservation and management of the waterbirds, as well as the ecological health of the lagoons. A number of potential projects, supported by SWCC, State NRM, Dept of Water, DPaW and GeoCatch, will be available that complement a new federally funded research node understanding the ecological function and social values of the wetlands. Mid year start.

Water quality indicators for iconic urban wetlands Chemical analysis of water quality parameters such as nutrients and chlorophyll α requires specialist knowledge and can be prohibitively expensive. This project seeks to define water quality indicators readily utilisable by schools, community or local government, that will enable a rapid assessment of wetland health. These might include: abundance of midge larvae or algae, presence/absence of indicator species (algae, macroinvertebrates or others). The project will be carried out at Lake Richmond and will include trialling the indicators with community groups. Supervisors: Jane Chambers, Catherine Baudains and Belinda Robson

Turtles at Lake Richmond Possible project on the Oblong turtle (Chelodina colliei) at Lake Richmond. Project design still being developed. Supervisors: Jane Chambers, Stephen Beatty, Trish Fleming

“Operation Jailbreak!” This project investigates the difference between fenced and unfenced water features (wetlands, creeks, drains) in the Perth landscape. It compares water quality and ecosystem services they provide, together with people’s perception and values of these features. The project seeks to inform managers with a view to bringing these assets into public greenspace. Supervisors: Jane Chambers and Catherine Baudains

Climate change and anthropogenic impacts on salt marsh communities of the Swan Canning River Following recent international interest in conserving mediterranean salt marshes (California, South Africa, WA), this project uses previous research on the fringing marshes of the Swan Canning River undertaken by Luke Pen for his Honours in 1981 as a baseline. Over 30 years later, this project will use GIS to map the the salt marshes and seek the primary reasons for changes observed. This work will inform management and conservation of these precious areas and inform the international comparative study. Supervisors: Jane Chambers and Margaret Andrews

Management implications of the newly constructed golf course on the ecological condition of lakes on Rottnest Island Nutrient and other input from a newly constructed golf course adjacent to Garden and Hershel Lakes on Rottnest Island has the capacity to degrade their ecological condition. The lakes currently have microbialites and other high conservation value assets. This project, funded by the Rottnest Island Board, will examine baseline data and collect physiochemical and ecological data on the lakes to determine the potential impact of the golf course and recommend management guidelines to minimise that impact.

Street verges as biodiversity habitat and corridors This is part of suite of projects supervised by Michael Hughes, Catherine Baudains and Jane Chambers looking at the social and ecological implications of replanting road verges with native plants. Initially funded by the City of Vincent but potential for a wider scale project.

Are there freshwater refuges in salinized catchments in the WA wheatbelt? This project will be a field survey aimed at determining whether winter rains create short term freshwater refuges for invertebrates and aquatic plants. Potential waterbodies will be located and sampled and plant and animal species identified. Salinity measurements will be made at many locations across the landscape. Mid year start. Fieldwork

Distribution of larval dragonflies on the SCP Recent surveys indicate changes in the distribution of dragonfly breeding sites on the SCP and the potential presence of Pilbara species. Feb or Mid-year start. This project will involve field surveys and also laboratory work hatching dragonfly eggs and growing out larvae to adult stages to confirm some larval identifications. Mid year start, fieldwork, lab experiments

The effect of 2 decades of climatic drying on wetland biodiversity in Perth. In the early 1990s a large project, the 40 wetlands project, described the invertebrate fauna of 40 Perth wetlands. Water regimes in many of these wetlands have changed since then. Crustaceans are quite susceptible to water regime change, so this project will sample crustaceans from a subset of these natural wetlands to determine what water regime change and increased temperatures have done to the distribution of crustacean species. Field project in the Perth region. Mid-year start. Fieldwork

How do sediments in urban wetlands protect plants and animals from climate change? Recent research in Perth wetlands shows that some types of sediment can protect seeds, invertebrate eggs and live invertebrates from prolonged wetland drying. We need to know more about which sediments assist biodiversity, how they do it and how wetlands can be managed to support these processes. Feb start – experiments and fieldwork

Restoration ecology A variety of projects on wetland and stream restoration, assessing the effectiveness of restoration are also possible.