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Monitoring for a specific management objective: protection of shorebird foraging habitat adjacent to a waste water treatment plant

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Abstract

Intertidal invertebrates are often used in environmental monitoring programs as they are good indicators of water quality and an important food source for many species of fish and birds. We present data from a monitoring program where the primary aim is to report on the condition of the potential invertebrate prey abundance, biomass and diversity for migrating shorebirds on mudflats adjacent to a waste water treatment plant in a Ramsar listed wetland in Victoria, Australia. A key threat to the foraging habitat at this site has been assessed as a reduction in potential prey items as a result of the changes to the waste water treatment processes. We use control charts, which summarise data from intertidal mudflats across the whole shoreline of the adjacent waste water treatment plant, to elicit a management response when trigger levels are reached. We then examine data from replicate discharge and control sites to determine the most appropriate management response. The monitoring program sits within an adaptive management framework where management decisions are reviewed and the data is examined at different scales to evaluate and modify our models of the likely outcomes of management actions. This study provides a demonstration of the process undertaken in a year when trigger levels were reached and a management decision was required. This highlights the importance of monitoring data from a range of scales in reducing uncertainty and improving decision making in complex systems.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by Melbourne Water. We would like to acknowledge Josephine Woods and Allyson O’Brien for help with field work and Rachael Bathgate, Allyson O’Brien and Dave Sharley as well as an anonymous reviewer for reading and commenting on earlier drafts of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Aquatic Pollution Identification and Management, School of Biosciences Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Liz Morris

  2. GHD Pty Ltd, 43-45 Brougham Street, Geelong, VIC, 3220, Australia

    David Petch & David May

  3. Melbourne Water, P.O. Box 4342, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia

    William K. Steele

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  1. Liz Morris
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  2. David Petch
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Correspondence to Liz Morris.

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Morris, L., Petch, D., May, D. et al. Monitoring for a specific management objective: protection of shorebird foraging habitat adjacent to a waste water treatment plant. Environ Monit Assess 189, 208 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-5924-4

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