Brainwood Meredith, Burgin Shelley
Centre for Integrated Catchment Management, University of Western Sydney Hawkesbury Campus, Locked Bag 1797, South Penrith Distribution Centre, 1797, Sydney, Australia.
Environ Monit Assess. 2006 Aug;119(1-3):459-80. doi: 10.1007/s10661-005-9037-0. Epub 2006 Jun 2.
Recently, Australian interest in farm dams has focused on rates of harvest of surface waters (runoff), and the impact this has on nearby natural systems. Little research has been directed towards the role of these artificial water bodies in sustaining biological reserves within the wider ecosystem. Macroinvertebrate communities in three farm dams in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales were surveyed, and water quality variables were correlated with species richness and abundance. Community responses to habitat factors including sediment depth, stock use, vegetation and debris were also examined. Communities were described at several taxonomic levels in addition to allocation to trophic groups and primary functional feeding groups. Species richness and abundance of communities were found to vary between dams and between habitat types within dams. The extent of these differences was decreased when communities were described by either trophic status or functional feeding mechanisms. Habitats were influenced by water quality and by physical features of the habitat, with the two factors interacting to define equilibrium conditions. Localised conditions resulted in different macroinvertebrate communities. Physicochemical parameters that correlated most closely with communities included light penetration, chlorophyll-a and conductivity. Habitat factors that were most frequently linked with communities were sediment depth and canopy cover, with localised disturbances related to stock use affecting feeding groups rather than specific taxa. One of the major problems associated with increasing modification of landscapes by agriculture or urbanisation is the fragmentation of undisturbed habitats. Creation of joint aquatic and woodland habitats enhances biodiversity corridors. The recognition of the potential for farm dams as reservoirs of biodiversity and development of management practices that optimise this neglected biodiversity reserve may have much wider benefits biologically, aesthetically and productively.
最近，澳大利亚对农场水坝的关注集中在地表水（径流）的收获率及其对附近自然系统的影响上。很少有研究关注这些人工水体在维持更广泛生态系统内生物保护区方面的作用。对新南威尔士州中部高原三个农场水坝中的大型无脊椎动物群落进行了调查，并将水质变量与物种丰富度和丰度进行了关联。还研究了群落对包括沉积物深度、牲畜使用情况、植被和残骸在内的栖息地因素的反应。除了划分营养组和主要功能摄食组外，还在几个分类水平上对群落进行了描述。发现群落的物种丰富度和丰度在不同水坝之间以及水坝内不同栖息地类型之间存在差异。当根据营养状况或功能摄食机制来描述群落时，这些差异的程度会减小。栖息地受到水质和栖息地物理特征的影响，这两个因素相互作用以确定平衡条件。局部条件导致了不同的大型无脊椎动物群落。与群落最密切相关的理化参数包括光穿透率、叶绿素a和电导率。与群落最常相关的栖息地因素是沉积物深度和树冠覆盖，与牲畜使用相关的局部干扰影响摄食组而非特定分类群。与农业或城市化对景观的不断改造相关的一个主要问题是未受干扰栖息地的破碎化。创建联合水生和林地栖息地可增强生物多样性走廊。认识到农场水坝作为生物多样性蓄水池的潜力，并制定优化这一被忽视的生物多样性保护区的管理措施，可能在生物、美学和生产方面带来更广泛的益处。
