Oral Presentation Australian Freshwater Sciences Society Conference 2022

Do constructed wetlands provide suitable resources for the platypus? (#40)

Adele Romagnano 1 , Catherine Leigh 1
  1. RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is a native Australian monotreme that inhabits freshwater ecosystems across eastern Australia. Listed as vulnerable in Victoria, the platypus is under threat from urbanisation, habitat fragmentation and climate change. In urban environments, platypus habitat is often found downstream of constructed wetlands, which serve to improve stormwater quality via natural processes before delivery to streams. However, research on how constructed wetlands affect the availability and quality of resources (food and water) for platypus is extremely limited. In this study, macroinvertebrate communities and water quality of a constructed wetland that outlets into a known platypus habitat, the Plenty River in urban Victoria, were examined to determine the site’s suitability as a potential source of dietary inputs for the platypus, based on understanding of their dietary preferences from the literature. Data was collected from three sites spanning inlet to outlet of the wetland. Water quality and macroinvertebrate communities showed similarity among sites and findings supported those of the only other known study to investigate constructed wetlands as potential platypus habitat, which showed that SIGNAL scores and macroinvertebrate diversity were low. However, given platypus are known to ingest and rely on a wide variety of invertebrate prey, the constructed wetland would need to act as one of multiple sources of invertebrates within a regional species pool. This suggests that considering platypus resources and habitat from a metacommunity and landscape ecology perspective is important and may provide understanding to guide improved management outcomes for this vulnerable species.