Whangamarino Wetland | |
---|---|
![]() Whangamarino Wetland looking at vegetation from the Reao Stream | |
![]() | |
Location | Waikato District, New Zealand |
Coordinates | 37°21′35″S175°09′44″E / 37.359788°S 175.162239°E |
Area | 5,923 hectares (14,640 acres) |
Official name | Whangamarino |
Designated | 4 December 1989 |
Reference no. | 443 [1] |
The Whangamarino Wetland in the Waikato District is the second largest wetland complex of the North Island of New Zealand. Encompassing a total area of more than 7200 hectares, the Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai manages 5,923 hectares of peat bog, swamp, mesotrophic lags, open water and river systems listed as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. [2] Fish and Game New Zealand are the second largest landowner, managing 748 hectares of the wetland primarily as gamebird hunting habitat.
The site is also one of three of New Zealand’s foremost wetlands included in the Arawai Kākāriki wetland restoration programme, which aims to “enhance the ecological restoration of three of New Zealand’s foremost wetland/freshwater sites, making use of strong community involvement and promoting research into wetland restoration techniques”. [3]
Whangamarino Wetland consists of a rich and representative variety of wetland ecosystems (peat bog, swamp, mesotrophic lags, open water and river systems); one of the features that lent support to its designation under the Ramsar Convention. [4] 239 species of wetland plants are found in the Whangamarino, 60 percent of which are indigenous. [5] A number of these are uncommon or extremely rare, including the water milfoil Myriophyllum robustum, the clubmoss Lycopodium serpentinum, and the critically endangered swamp helmet orchid Corybas carsei , now found nowhere else in the world. Baumea spp., mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium) and wire rush (Empodisma minus) are the dominant vegetation of the peat bogs, while greater species diversity is found in the mineralised swamp zones, including introduced species such as grey willow (Salix cinerea) and crack willow (Salix × fragilis). Mosses and lichens are also well represented in the wetland. [2]
These diverse ecosystems provide habitat to a wide range of native wetland birds, including the Australasian bittern/matuku (Botaurus poiciloptilus). Approximately 20 percent of New Zealand's breeding bittern population can be found in the Whangamarino. [4] The wetland is also an important site for a number of other rare or threatened wetland birds, including spotless crake/pūweto (Porzana tabuensis plumbea), marsh crake/koitareke (Porzana pusilla), North Island fernbird/mātātā (Bowdleria punctata vealeae), and New Zealand dabchick/weweia (Poliocephalus rufopectus). [2] Occasionally the Whangamarino is visited by other unusual birds such as royal spoonbill/kōtuku-ngutupapa (Platalea regia) and Japanese snipe (Gallinago hardwickii), which helps keeps amateur ornithologists interested in the site. [4]
The wetland provides habitat for a diverse range of native freshwater fish, including a significant population of the threatened black mudfish/waikaka (Neochanna diversus). It is also home to longfin and shortfin eel/tuna and other galaxiid species. [4] Introduced invasive fish species are also present in Whangamarino Wetland; koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) and brown bullhead catfish (Ameiurus nebulosus) are a particular problem as their aggressive feeding behaviour stirs up bottom sediments, affecting bank stabilisation and aquatic plant life. A study of koi carp otoliths undertaken by University of Waikato MSc student Jennifer Blair found that Lake Waikare and the Pungarehu Stream appear to be a source of recruits, with koi carp moving from these areas into the Waikato River and Lake Waahi. [6]
Hydrology is a driving component of wetlands, with many plants and animals uniquely adapted to the seasonal wet/dry cycle. Whangamarino Wetland is fed by a catchment area of approximately 48,900 hectares. [4] During the 1960s the hydrology of the Whangamarino was significantly impacted by the implementation of the Lower Waikato-Waipa Flood Control Scheme managed by Waikato Regional Council, and has also been impacted by the extraction of sand and hydro-power generation on the Waikato River. [2]
The flood control scheme is intended to replicate the natural water storage function of Lake Waikare and Whangamarino Wetland in a highly manipulated and more controlled way. To do this, the direction of the Te Onetea Stream was reversed to transport water from the Waikato River into Lake Waikare during high river flows, while the level of Lake Waikare was lowered by one metre. The lake is kept to a strict fluctuation regime of approximately 0.3 metres and flood gates control the movement of water into the Whangamarino Wetland via the artificial Pungarehu Canal. [7] Water is then stored in the Whangamarino until it is released back into the Waikato River via flood gates on the Whangamarino River. [4]
In 1994 the construction of a rock rubble weir on the Whangamarino River was commissioned by the Department of Conservation and the Auckland/Waikato Fish and Game Council. The weir maintains minimum summer water levels in approximately 1,400 hectares of the mineralised wetland and helps recreate a seasonal hydrological cycle. [2]
The single-track North Island Main Trunk railway line crosses the wetland, and it has been proposed that two million tonnes of spoil from the Auckland City Rail Link could be used to double-track the busy section of line which is a bottleneck on the section between Auckland (Papakura) and Hamilton. [8]
Sometimes known as 'nature's benefits’, ecosystem services are the benefits (usually to humans) provided by natural ecosystems. They include provisions such as clean drinking water, supporting processes like the decomposition of wastes, and cultural benefits such as spiritual or recreational opportunities. [9]
Wetlands provide an astonishing array of ecosystem services for the local community. These include mitigating the effects of flood and drought, replenishing groundwater, helping filter sediment and nutrients and purify water, providing reservoirs of biodiversity and wetland resources, providing for cultural values, recreation and tourism, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. [9] The Lower Waikato-Waipa Flood Protection Scheme has been estimated to save the Waikato Region $5.2 million (in 2007 dollars) by limiting damage to surrounding farmland during times of peak flood events. [4]
Farmers are a particular benefactor of wetland ecosystem services. On good quality wetland margins, damp soils and dense pockets of native rushes and sedges are effective in: [10]
Whangamarino is a popular duck hunting location and recreational fishers targeting koi carp, rudd, catfish, goldfish, eel and mullet are regularly seen in the wetland. Bow hunting for koi carp is increasing in popularity, while bird watching and kayaking are also commonly undertaken activities. [2] 748 hectares of the wetland is owned by the Auckland/Waikato Fish and Game Council and thousands of gamebirds frequent the wetland annually, attracting hunters from Auckland and the greater Waikato area. The Fish and Game Council and gamebird hunters are working together with the Department of Conservation to improve wetland habitat and control predators around popular hunting sites. [11]
Whangamarino is located within the rohe (area) of the Waikato-Tainui iwi (tribe) and is considered a taonga (treasure) by local hapū. Early Māori utilised the wetland as a source of eel/tuna and birds for food, and flax/harakeke (Phormium tenax) for traditional cultural purposes. The rivers of the wetland were used for travel and recreation and the peat margins were used to preserve taonga such as waka, tools and weapons. Dense vegetation inhibited further use of the wetland, although it was used as a sanctuary during times of war. [11]
The Waikato War of 1863–1864 saw several major battles take place in the Whangamarino area, including the fierce land battle at Rangiriri. A small remnant of Rangiriri pā remains today; further north visitors can walk up a short track to Te Teoteo's pā and the Whangamarino Redoubt at the confluence of the Whangamarino and Waikato Rivers. Here, visitors can stand at the site where two forty-pound Armstrong guns fired on Māori entrenchments at Meremere pā and also obtain a good scenic view looking south over the northern part of the wetland. [12]
Whangamarino Wetland has been subject to intensive biodiversity management, research, and community awareness campaigns by the Department of Conservation as part of the Arawai Kākāriki wetland restoration programme. [3] Conservation measures taken to maintain or improve biodiversity include controlling weeds, particularly grey willow, aquatic grasses, yellow flag iris, alligator weed and gorse, and mammalian pests, including mustelids, rodents, cats and possum. [2] The Whangamarino weir was repaired in 2010 and is now operating as it should to help maintain minimum summer water levels in the wetland. Fencing to exclude stock from wetland areas and restoration plantings have also taken place. [3] Monitoring of Australasian bittern/matuku and other cryptic wetland birds including spotless crake/pūweto, marsh crake/koitareke, and fernbird/mātātā is regularly carried out, as is monitoring of black mudfish/waikaka and threatened plants such as Anzybas carseii and Lycopodium serpentinum. [2] The Auckland/Waikato Fish and Game Council have also implemented a number of projects to enhance wetland habitat in the Whangamarino for gamebirds. Research carried out to date includes studies on sediment sources and accumulation rates, ecohydrology and peat oscillation, water quality, vegetation monitoring and monitoring of mammalian predators. [3]
Ouse Washes is a linear 2,513.6-hectare (6,211-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest stretching from near St Ives in Cambridgeshire to Downham Market in Norfolk. It is also a Ramsar internationally important wetland site, a Special Protection Area for birds, a Special Area of Conservation and a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. An area of 186 hectares between March and Ely is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire and another area near Chatteris is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust manages another area near Welney.
The Macquarie Marshes Nature Reserve is a protected natural wetland reserve that is located within the Macquarie Marshes, in the region along the lower Macquarie River in northwestern New South Wales, Australia. The 19,824-hectare (48,990-acre) reserve is situated approximately 600 kilometres (370 mi) northwest of Sydney and 100 kilometres (62 mi) north of Warren.
Lake Alexandrina is a coastal freshwater lake located between the Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island and Murray and Mallee regions of South Australia, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) south-east of Adelaide. The lake adjoins the smaller Lake Albert and a coastal lagoon called The Coorong to its southeast, before draining into the Great Australian Bight via a short, narrow opening known as Murray Mouth.
Ōkārito Lagoon is a coastal lagoon on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is located 130 kilometres (81 mi) south of Hokitika, and covers an area of about 3,240 hectares (12.5 sq mi), making it the largest unmodified coastal wetland in New Zealand. It preserves a sequence of vegetation types from mature rimu forest through mānuka scrub to brackish water that has been lost in much of the rest of the West Coast. The settlement of Ōkārito is at the southern end of the lagoon.
The Hauraki Plains are a geographical area located in the northern North Island of New Zealand, at the lower (northern) end of the Thames Valley. They are located 75 kilometres south-east of Auckland, at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula and occupy the southern portion of a rift valley bounded on the north-west by the Hunua Ranges, to the east by the Coromandel and Kaimai ranges and to the west by a series of undulating hills which separate the plains from the much larger plains of the Waikato River.
An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem found in and around a body of water, in contrast to land-based terrestrial ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems contain communities of organisms—aquatic life—that are dependent on each other and on their environment. The two main types of aquatic ecosystems are marine ecosystems and freshwater ecosystems. Freshwater ecosystems may be lentic ; lotic ; and wetlands.
Cootes Paradise is a property with many boundaries, but is primarily a property of the Royal Botanical Gardens at the western end of Lake Ontario, but is also remnant of the larger 3700 acre Dundas Marsh Crown Game Preserve established by the province of Ontario in 1927., dominated by a 4.5 km long rivermouth wetland, representing the lake's western terminus. It is found on the west side of Hamilton Harbour and is located in the municipality of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Cootes Paradise Environmentally Sensitive Area is larger "core area" within the City of Hamilton's Natural Heritage System and has a very similar boundary to the original Dundas Crown Game Preserve.
The Australasian bittern, or Matuku-hūrepo in Māori, is a stocky, sizeable and elusive heron-like bird native to the wetlands of Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia. It belongs to the bittern subfamily of the heron family Ardeidae. The Australasian bittern is best known for its cryptic plumage and behaviours, which allows it to blend into the rushes and reeds of its wetland habitats, making it particularly difficult to spot. Despite being rarely seen, Australasian bittern males have a distinct "booming" call that can carry long distances.
Lake Rotoroa or Hamilton Lake is a lake in Hamilton, Waikato, North Island, New Zealand. It has a surface area of about 54 hectares and an average depth of 2.4 metres . It is the home of the Hamilton Yacht Club, which holds regular sailing in the summer.
New Zealand has several notable wetlands but 90% of wetland areas have been lost following European settlement.
Kanjli Wetland is a man-made Wetland that subsumes the Kanjli Lake, and is located in the Kapurthala district of Punjab state in India. It was created in 1870 by constructing the headworks across the perennial Bien River, a tributary of the Beas River to provide irrigation facilities to the hinterland. The rich biodiversity of the wetland comprising aquatic, mesophytic and terrestrial flora and fauna including some important species of plants and animals was recognized internationally by the Ramsar Convention in 2002 by designating the Kanjli Lake in the List of Wetlands of International Importance. In this context, it is reported that the Punjab State which has 14 wetlands covering an area of 225.76 km2 has the unique position of three of its wetlands viz., the Kanjli Wetland covering an area of 490 ha of which the Kanjli Lake water spread is 184 ha), the Harike Wetland and the Ropar Wetland chosen by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoE&F), Government of India for their conservation and management are now also included in the Ramsar list covering a total area of 5650 ha; Kanjli is upstream of Harike wetland located in the Beas river basin while the Ropar wetland is in the Roopnagar district.
The Kopuatai Peat Dome is a large peatland complex on the Hauraki Plains in the North Island of New Zealand. It consists of two raised domes, one in the north and the other in the south, that are up to three metres higher at the center than at the edge. The 10,201 hectares wetland contains the largest intact raised bog in New Zealand and was listed under the Ramsar Convention in 1989 as a Wetland of International Importance. Most of the wetland is ombrotrophic, meaning it receives water and nutrient inputs solely from rain and is hydrologically isolated from the surrounding canals and rivers. Locally, a popular misconception persists that water flows from the nearby Piako River into the bog and that the wetland acts as a significant store for floodwater.
The Whangamarino River is a lowland river of the Waikato Region of New Zealand's North Island, draining the Whangamarino Wetland and associated farmland catchment. The river converges with the Waikato River just north of Meremere. The main tributary is the Maramarua River, which starts in the Hunua Ranges and forms the northern catchment of the Whangamarino River.
Reedy Lake, historically also known as Lake Reedy, is a shallow 5.5-square-kilometre (2.1 sq mi) intermittent freshwater lake or swamp on the lower reaches of the Barwon River, on the Bellarine Peninsula southeast of Geelong in the Australian state of Victoria.
The Edithvale–Seaford Wetlands is a collection of principally freshwater swamps and marshlands totalling 261 hectares in southeastern Melbourne, Australia, about 30 km (19 mi) southeast of Melbourne CBD. It is the largest natural wetland of its type in the Port Phillip and Western Port basins, and is all that remains of the historic Carrum Carrum Swamp, which once covered more than 4,000 hectares from present-day Mordialloc in the north to Frankston in the south.
Mediterranean Wetlands comprise the wetlands of the Mediterranean region.
Lake Whangape is shallow, supertrophic, lateral and the second largest lake in the lower Waikato River basin in New Zealand. One source said the name translated to 'a large sheet of water', another that it was a chief's name.
The Mangatangi River, or Mangatangi Stream, originates on the eastern slopes of the Hunua Ranges in New Zealand and flows roughly southwards until it is joined by the Ruaotehuia Stream just north of State Highway 2 between Mangatāwhiri and Maramarua, where it becomes the Maramarua River. Mangatangi can be translated as manga tangi to stream of weeping, or as rippling stream, or babbling brook.
Lake Hakanoa is located within the eastern side of the Huntly township, in the Waikato Region of New Zealand. Lake Hakanoa is a riverine lake with links to the Waikato River, which lies 300 m (330 yd) to the west. A smaller lake lies within wetland near the southeastern edge of Hakanoa.
The Wairarapa Moana Wetlands are a major wetland, located in the South Wairarapa District in the Wellington Region at the southern end of New Zealand's North Island.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)