Macquarie Lake

What is an Ephemeral Wetland?

An ephemeral wetland is an area that is depressed into the ground and traps rainwater.
Ephemeral wetlands usually only temporarily trap rainwater and don’t have an inlet or outlet.
One example of an ephemeral wetland is the lake near Macquarie.

What organisms live in ephemeral wetlands?

There are many animals and plants that live in ephemeral wetlands, animals include Purple
Swamphen, Royal spoonbills, many species of frogs, Dragonflys and giant water bugs. Plants
include lignum, river red gum, black box and coolabah. These plants are dominant because
they are dry plants (plants that thrive in dry areas) and they can survive long periods of
drought such as when it doesn’t flood for an extended period of time.

Relationships in Wetlands:

A great example of a relationship in wetlands is Between the Black Box tree and Royal
Spoonbill. The Royal Spoonbill makes its nest on trees. The type of relationship when a
Royal Spoonbill creates its nest on a Black Box tree is called commensalism.

Another example is between the Royal Spoonbill and the Giant Water Bug. The Royal
Spoonbill eats Giant Water Bugs, this type of relationship is called a predatory relationship.

What is an abiotic factor?

An abiotic factor is a factor that influences the environment but is non-living. This can be
atmosphere, wind, light or temperature. Abiotic factors in ephemeral wetlands are:
- Sunlight
- Soil composition
- Water salinity
- Temperature
- Wind
- Chemicals
These factors overall give a positive benefit to the environment by creating a habitable
environment for the organisms.

Food chain in ephemeral wetlands:

As you can see the Royal Spoonbill is at the top of this food chain. The Mushrooms
decompose the dead Royal Spoonbills and the nutrients go into the ground/water, which the
tadpoles consume.

Royal Spoonbill (Consumer, Carnivore)

Giant Water Bug (Consumer, Carnivore) Mushrooms (Consumer, Decomposer)

Tadpoles (Consumer, Omnivore)

Plants (Producer)

Food-web:

Royal Spoonbill (Consumer, Carnivore)

Giant Water Bug (Consumer, Carnivore) Mushrooms (Consumer, Decomposer)

Frogs (Consumer, Carnivore) Tadpoles (Consumer, Omnivore)

Plants (Producer)

Invasive species:

Invasive species are a major threat because if they go into a new ecosystem and start eating a
species from the new ecosystem, the ecosystem will be changed and won’t be in balance
anymore. For example, let's say that the population of Royal Spoonbills decreased, this would
mean that there will be too many Giant Water Bugs which will mean the population of Frogs
and Tadpoles will decrease and then the Giant Water Bug population will decrease because
there is more competition between the Giant Water Bugs.

Positive strategies to prevent invasive species from spreading into new ecosystems are to
clean your clothes and shoes whenever going into the ecosystem and to not release any
aquarium fish or other plants into the water.

Bibliography:

- https://www.ari.vic.gov.au/research/pests-weeds-and-overabundant-species/managing-
invasive-species-in-wetlands (Invasive species)
- https://www.lfwseq.org.au/ephemeral-wetlands-just-add-water/#:~:text=These%20are
%20wetlands%20that%20have,during%20heavy%20periods%20of%20rain.
(Ephemeral wetlands and picture)
- https://parcplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/parcmwbrochure.pdf (Ephemeral
wetlands)
- https://conservationcorridor.org/digests/2020/06/ephemeral-wetlands/ (Ephemeral
wetlands and organisms that live in them)