Field trip to the Oxbow
We are always trying to expand our knowledge and understanding of Bulimba Creek and cooperating with universities is one way we do this.
Last year we ran a field day at the Oxbow with University of Queensland.
The project was run with Professor Cathrine Lovelock from UQ’s School of Biological Sciences and her final year students, evaluating our saltmarsh and mangrove restoration sites at the Oxbow.
The students looked at the health and diversity of the two areas and the reports indicated that our restoration had been very successful.
Summary from two of the student reports on the field day:
The restoration of vegetation structure and soil organic Carbon in a previously degraded saltmarsh.
“This study investigated the success of a 13 year-old restoration in the Bulimba Creek catchment. By comparing vegetation diversity and cover as well as soil organic Carbon between restored and reference saltmarsh sites, we were able to gain an indication of success of the applied techniques. Soil Carbon was successfully restored to reference levels, while plant species diversity and cover respectively matched and exceeded the reference condition. This indicated that important ecological processes were restored within the ecosystem and the restoration methods were a success…
… While studies of similarly restored saltmarshes have shown that SOC can take over 28 years to recover to reference levels (Craft et al., 2003), it appears the Bulimba Creek site was able to recover fairly rapidly, within a 13 year period.”
Restoration of coastal wetlands – a study in Bulimba Creek Oxbow, Brisbane
“Revegetation efforts at Bulimba Oxbow have been progressively applied since 2000 following extensive agricultural use and degradation. This study aimed to determine restoration success via a comparison between a native control site with a restored site along Bulimba Creek. Tree biomass, crab burrow density and leaf litter density were utilized as ecological indicators and measurement parameters for the assessment of each site’s status. No statistically significant difference was found between the means of all measurement parameters, indicating successful mangrove recovery…
….Furthermore, the establishment of appropriate hydrologic regime, planting at appropriate tidal elevations and protection from high wave energy by A. marina pneumatophores may have further contributed to this recovery (Huisman et al. 2009; Osland et al. 2012). Overall, this success was achieved via the supportive alliance between business, government and community.”
Field trip to the Oxbow
