Freshwater and Marine Surveys

Fish Monitoring

Wimmera Fish Monitoring Program- Wimmera CMA

2007, 2010, 2011, 2015

Austral has undertaken a strategic, long-term monitoring program focusing on the native fish of the Wimmera Catchment Management Authority region. Monitoring results have direct input into strategic fish management and conservation in that region.

Victorian Environmental Flows Monitoring Assessment Program- Glenelg Hopkins CMA

2014, 2017, 2018

VEFMAP has been established to assess the response of Victoria’s regulated rivers to environmental flows. This program includes an assessment of the fish community response to flows.

For this project, Austral Research and Consulting used the prescribed VEFMAP method to undertake surveys at 20 sites on the Glenelg River. Survey techniques included electrofishing (boat and bank mounted), fyke netting and bait traps. While undertaking this project we were able to value add to the project and undertake a targeted survey for Pygmy Perch on the floodplain. 

Gunbower Lagoons and Little Murray River fish surveys- North Central CMA

2013

Austral conducted fish surveys of Little Murray and Gunbower Wetlands, targeting catfish, to assist in the determination of future water regimes.

Macroinvertebrate Monitoring

Biosis

2015-2020

Austral have been identifying macroinvertebrates to family level for Biosis for the past three years. Samples have been collected from a range of regions such as the Victorian Alps and outer Sydney suburbs.

Dandenong Ranges Stormwater Research Project Amphipod Survey (Austrogammarus) - Yarra Ranges Shire Council  

2016        

Austral  Research and Consulting together with Eddie Tsyrlin  conducted ecological surveys of waterways within the Dandenong Ranges to determine the presence or absence of the Dandenong Amphipod (Austrogammarus australis) and the Sherbrooke Amphipod (Austrogammarus haasei) at new and previously sampled sites.

Reference river health assessments

2011, 2012, 2014-15

EPA Victoria, on behalf of the DEWLP, monitor the health of waterways across the state using a number of metrics including freshwater macroinvertebrate assemblages. To ensure the integrity of the study, all participants need to be trained, accredited and audited in collection techniques and macroinvertebrate identification.  Austral Research and Consulting conducted four years of monitoring throughout Victoria, passing all audits, demonstrating their competency in macroinvertebrate field and laboratory work.

Water quality

Water quality profiles of estuaries- Parks Victoria

2017-2020   

A number of estuaries have mouths that close to the ocean, allowing fish to breed and the estuary to flood the adjacent wetlands. When this flooding becomes too extreme, plans are made between Parks Victoria and the relevant catchment management authority, with the aid of the Estuary Entrance Support System (EESS), to artificially open the river mouth. One of the inputs to the EESS is a series of water quality profiles along the river to ensure there is adequate oxygen throughout the water column to support aquatic life when the mouth is opened and the top, freshwater layer runs out to the sea.

Groundwater monitoring

 Boggabri- Coal Mine

2018-2019

There is a growing recognition of the importance of subsurface groundwater dependent ecosystems (SGDE) and the increasingly discovered diversity of stygofauna that inhabit them, however much of Australia’s aquifers have yet to be investigated. Activities like coal mining pose a potential risk to SGDE therefore it is important to survey the Boggabri area to gather baseline information on the distribution and diversity of stygofauna present to better understand and manage future risks to SGDE biodiversity and aquifer water quality. 

Statewide Aquifer monitoring

2018-2019

Groundwater is one of the most heavily utilised resources worldwide and in Australia. Most groundwater aquifers are home to a diverse range of organisms called stygofauna, subterranean organisms that typically live in groundwater habitats. Stygofauna are essential for the maintenance of groundwater aquifers but there are extensive knowledge gaps with regard to the distribution, composition and biodiversity value of Australian stygofauna. Austral aims to develop a greater understanding of the number and types of stygofauna present in aquifers in Victoria as a first step to understanding the sustainable use and protection of groundwater ecosystems.