User:Lucia9917/sandbox

"Practicing citations"

Answers for Module 7 activity
1. The image I will be uploading will be my own work, which is the photograph I took by myself. 2. Th file format will appear be described as a inland water image of Snowy Valley in NSW. 3. The license I'm going to use is my own work; "that is no attribution required; any reuse permitted; Creative Commons CC0 Public Dedication 1.0 license." 4. The category of the image will be placed under nature which will be simplified to inland water. The location of the photograph will be based in NSW Snowy Valley. 5. Description of the image: The image is an inland water located in Snowy Valley in NSW, Australia. It is a beautiful water that is used for the Hydro Power that generates water to many parts of NSW.

1000 Word Draft
Lead

The Watervalley Wetland is a conservation area for wildlife in the Southeast of South Australia. The area comprises of the Cortina and Marndina lake, the Mardina marshes, Alexandria and Albert lake and the Coorong (Brake & White 1995). Coorong is a long lagoon of shallow water that is separated from the ocean by relict sand dunes and is oppositely located from the other inland waters which inhabits most of wildlife in the wetland (Brake & White). The wetland is known to be a home for different wildlife of waterbirds which were recognized under the wildlife heritage (RAMSA) and also home to a number of endangered species of waterbirds (Thomas 2020). It is a home to plants such as the Australian historic aquatic plant, Ruppia Tuberosa (Dick, Garcia, Gell, Haynes & Tibby, 2011).

Description

The Watervalley Wetland is an inland body of water located on the coast of Southeast Australia (Janice & Lyn 1995). The wetland is a conserved area which was recognised nationally and internationally for wildlife under the RAMSA convention in 1985 (Thomas 2020). Its recognition as a conservation site has been approved as it has met eight criterions of the total listing (criteria) to be placed under the RAMSA convention (Department for Agriculture, Water and Environment [AE&W], 2020). The watervalley wetland consists of different bodies of water, the Coorong and lower lakes the Alexandria and Albert lake that is located at the south of the Coorong, and on the mouth of the Murray river (AE&W, 2019). These 3 areas which were known under the title “The Wetland of International Importance” (Prowse, 2020) covers an area of about 140, 500 hectares.

The wetland also includes other areas such as the Mardina marshes, Mardina Lake, lake Cortina and Jip Jip which are also of importance to wildlife and taxonomy of waterbirds (Janice & Lyn, 1995). Coorong is the longest body of water, featured as a lagoon that was separated from the ocean by relict sand dunes that covers a distance of greater than 100 km (Brake & White, 1995) and (AW&E, 2019). The Watervalley wetland is now a conserved area for wildlife and some parts of the land and swales has been restored under the RAMSA convention to allow the inflow of water to some of the areas and allowing regrowth of vegetation and bringing back the breeding area for wildlife (Brake & White 1995). The wetland has been touched by human activities during the days of European settlers (Brake & White, 1995). Vegetation has been cleared in vast amount and land was cleared for settlement and grazing of farm animals (Brake & White). Draining schemes were also introduced in which water swales and streams were drained (Brake & White, 1995), and it was known that the current area is only 8% of its original form.

The Watervalley wetland is known for its variation in its water chemistry. The chemistry of wetland region ranges from fresh water to saline water (Brake & White, 1995). The northern region of Coorong has higher saline water and the southern region comprised of mostly freshwater (Thomas 2020). The northern area is located along the estuarine and closer to the ocean, in which changes in tidal waves contributes to its salinity, same for the southern area but the south of Coorong is situated at the mouth of the Murray river so the water is mostly fresh as it is in contact with the river (Thomas 2020). Seasonal climate also influences the chemistry of the water, that is in summer and spring, salinity of water is very low and during autumn and winter salinity increases (Janice & Lyn, 1995). The changes of the scape and topography of the wetland by human activities and the alteration in the water chemistry poses threat to wildlife and vegetation (Brake & White, 1995). Another leading factor include drought which causes change in the level of water that leads to changes in the water chemistry (Allais et al, 2015).

Fauna

The Watervalley is known for its importance on the waterbird abundance and has been known as a disturbed area which has caused a  great reduction in the number of the birds’ species (Brake & White, 1995). The number of birds’ species in the Coorong has declined over the past years in between 1985, and from 2000 to 2007 a period where a study was carried out on waterbirds, the result shows that 27 species of birds were identified and out of the 27, 23 species shows a reduction in its population (Bailey, Hill, Paton, Rodgers & Ziembicki, 2009). Biome of bird population identified in the wetland ecosystem are “Shorebirds, Piscivorous waterbirds, Large wading waterbirds and the Herbivorous Waterfowl” (Prowse, 2020). Some of the endangered species that were currently in the area as the area has now been under protection are: “the orange-bellied parrot, Mounty lofty ranges- south emu wren, Murray hardy head, hooded plover, Freckled duck, Southern pygmy perch, Murray cod and Southern bell frog”(E&W, 2020). The area is also a home and breeding site for a number or birds who came to breed and find food during summer (The Australian pelican, crested tern, fairy tern and the rufous night heron” (E&W, 2020).

Flora

The wetland is known for its habitual providence for aquatic plants (Dick et al, 2011). A historic plant known as the Ruppia tuberosa is a well-known aquatic plant in the wetlands of Australia that provides food source for different bird species that breed in the Coorong (Dick et al, 2011). Over the past years, the number of Rubbia tuberosa shows a steady decrease in its population (Dick et al, 2011). The decrease of Rubbia tuberosa also poses a reduction in the number of bird species that breeds on the site especially on the Coorong. (Dick et al, 2011). Reduction on the number of Rubbia tuberosa is heavily influenced by activities imposed by human during the early settling of Europeans in the 1860s (Brake & White, 1995) and draining schemes and projects that were done to the wetland and also the increase salinisation of water that alters the environmental condition for growth of Rubbia tuberosa (Dick et al, 2011).

Addition of 1000 words
Lead The Watervalley Wetland is a conservation area for wildlife in the Southeast of South Australia. The area comprises of the Cortina and Marndina lake, the Mardina marshes, Alexandria and Albert lake and the Coorong (Brake & White 1995). The Watervalley Wetland is listed on the Wildlife heritage list under the RAMSA convention (Prowse, 2020). It is famous for its environmental significance to native flora and fauna in the Southern coast of Australia’s Wetland complex (Dick, Garcia, Gell, Haynes & Tibby, 2011); (Prowse, 2020). Waterbirds and historical aquatic plants such as the Ruppia tuberosa are two of important biomes that has a great importance of interconnection that avails their existence in the wetland system (Dick et al, 2009); (Prowse, 2020). The Wetland system also provides tourism for international and interstate tourists or visitors and provide places for research and educational purposes (Evan, 2020)

Description

The Watervalley Wetland is an inland body of water located on the coast of Southeast Australia. The Watervalley Wetland is recognised nationally and internationally for its environmental importance to wildlife and endangered species under the RAMSA convention in 1985 (Prowse, 2020). The uphold recognition of the Wetland was approved as it has met the eight criterions to be listed under the World heritage for wildlife conservation (Department for Agriculture, Water and Environment, 2020). The description of Watervalley Wetland is subdivided into 4 bodies of water namely, “swamps, lakes, rivers, and spring” (Finlayson & Valk, 1995). Main bodies of water include the Coorong, a long shallow lagoon separated from the ocean by relict sand dunes, the Albert and Alexandria Lake which are located South of the Coorong lagoon and on the mouth of the Murray River (Department for Agriculture, Water and Environment, 2020); (Brake & White, 1995). These three water complexes covers an area that is exact to 140,500 hectares (Department for Environment and Water, 2020) and are known as “The Wetland of International Importance” (Prowse, 2020). Included are also areas such as the Mardina marshes, Mardina Lake, and Cortina (Brake & White, 1995). Inside the Watervalley Wetland, Coorong is one of the most eminent and large district in the Wetland that provides a home for a wide range of wildlife, and it covers a distance of more than 100 km (Brake & White, 1995) ; (Department for Water and Environment, 2019). The other Wetland complexes, the Mardina Lake, the Mardina marshes and Cortina lake are also of importance and their ecological system is also significance to the wildlife and serve as  a breeding place for different individuals of plants and animals (Brake & White, 1995).

The natural scape of the Watervalley Wetland changes during the colonial occupancy (Brake & White, 1995). During that time a massive clearance has been done to the vegetation and clearing land for farming and settlement (Brake & White, 1995). These activities led to, sedimentation, introduction and shifting of plants and animals, pollution from recreational activities, burning of vegetation and introducing draining and irrigation schemes that alters the inflow and outflow of the water systems into the Wetland (Evans, 2000). According to studies and researches these activities have proven to alter and reduce the abundance and diversity of natural and native species of waterbirds, fishes and aquatic historical plants of the Wetland system (Prowse, 2020); (Dick et al, 2011) and (Smith, Vilizzi & Conallin, 2009). Nevertheless, the Wetland is now being a conserved area and the main goal is to protect endangered wildlife under the RAMSA convention protection scheme for regrowth of vegetation and bringing back the breeding site and grounds for wildlife such as the waterbirds (Prowse, 2020); (Brake & White, 1995). The Watervalley Wetland has different levels of water chemistry.

The chemistry of the Watervalley Wetland ranges from fresh water to saline water (Brake & White, 1995). The Northern region of Coorong has higher saline water and the southern region comprised of mostly freshwater (Prowse, 2020). The reason for the differing chemistry is due to the fact that the Northern Coorong is located along the estuarine and closer to the ocean, and it associates with the salt water in the changes of tidal waves (Prowse, 2020). The Southern region of Coorong is situated at the mouth of the Murray river so outflow water from the Murray river contributes to its freshness (Prowse, 2020). The differing chemistry of the Wetland changes with climatic seasons (Brake & White 1995). In summer and spring, salinity of water is low and during winter and autumn pH of saline increases (Brake & White, 1995). Lower lakes are also more Saline, with contributing factors of evaporation, as a result of long-term absence of inflow water into the lower lakes and also backflow of water from the ocean into barrages (Smith et al, 2009). Drought experienced over the years leads to reduction of water levels and in reverse marine water backflows into the estuarine and coast ( Allais et al, 2015). Water engineering, building of dams along with irrigation reduces the flow of water in and out of the Wetlands, and also alters the level of chemistry in the system, in terms of its acidity and altering normal pH of water (Kingsford et al, 2011).

Fauna

The Coorong, Alexandria Lake and Albert Lake holds and supports a wide range and diverse species of Waterbirds in the Watervalley Wetland system (O’Connor, 2015) and accounts for a total of 307 types of bird species (Prowse, 2020). In the count of the species identified, 119 of the individual species relies on wetland for their survival and breeding purposes (Prowse, 2020). The number of Waterbirds has been decreased over the past years due to recent changes of the ecological complex by human activities (Brake & White, 1995); (O’Connor, 2015). The recent changes led to the reduction of food and plants available for waterbirds as well as disrupting their breeding grounds (Bailey, Hill, Paton, Rodgers & Ziembicki, 2009). Another contributing factor included that shows a reduction in Waterbird species is that different groups of different birds feeding on the same type of particular plant or food known as “ foraging guilds” which leads to not enough food available for them with respect to the changing environment (Biley et al, 2009).

From 2002 to 2007, 27 species of waterbirds have been identified during a study in the Coorong wetland, and 23 species of the birds identified shows a steady decline in their population (Bailey et al, 2009). Identified were “ Australian pelican, Black-faced cormorant, Little black cormorant, Great crested grebe, Hoary-headed grebe, Black Swan Cygnus, Australian shelduck Tadorna, Grey teal Anas, Chestnut teal Anas, Pink-eared duck, White-faced heron, Straw-necked ibis, Common greenshank, Sharp-tailed sandpiper, Pied oystercatcher, Masked lapwing, Red-capped plover, Black-winged stilt, Banded stilt, Red-necked avocet, Silver gull and Whiskered tern” (Bailey et al, 2009). During summer, a number of Waterbirds such as the “Australian pelican, crested tern, fairy tern and the rufous night heron” usually come around to the Wetland looking for food breeding and looking for food (Department for Environment & Water, 2020). Other waterbirds that also breed in the Wetland are “Shorebirds, Piscivorous waterbirds, Large wading waterbirds and the Herbivorous Waterfowl” (Prowse, 2020). The “Orange-bellied parrot, Mounty lofty ranges- south emu wren, Murray hardy head, hooded plover, Freckled duck, Southern pygmy perch, Murray cod and Southern bell frog” are some of those birds that are listed as endangered species (Department for Water & Environment, 2020).

The Wetland system is also of importance to the fish ecosystem as it provides a manifold habitat to different species of marine habitants for nursery, feeding and breeding (Hossain, Aktar & Qin, 2016). The small-mouthed hardyhead and Tamar goby are assemblages of fish along the coast of the Wetland (Hossain et al, 2016). The presence of these two fish assemblages along the estuarine is heavily impacted by levels of salinity (Hossain, 2016). Tamar goby does not tolerate much high saline water and the small-mouthed hardyhead is not really impacted by the level of salinity (Hossain et al, 2016). The variation of adaptation of the small-mouthed hardyehead and Tamar goby is heavily impacted by changes in the estuarine ecosystem, which is related to drought, change in the climatic seasons and low levels of fresh water flowing into the Lakes of Albert and Alexandria and the Coorong (Hossain et al, 2016). Along with small-mouthed hardyhead and Tamar river goby, sandy sprat is also identified as their counterparts which serves as prey for secondary consumers such as water birds, larger fish assemblages and other larger animals in the Coorong coastal environment (Hossain et al, 2016) and (Hossain, Hemraj, Ye, Leterme, 2017). The small-bodied fish are also used to for recreational fishing activities along with other commercial activities (Hossain et al, 2017). The Holocene of changing environment of the wetland, especially the Coorong in relation to the increased level of salinity affects the adaptation of fish and affects the food chain, disrupting movement of energy in the ecosystem (Hossain et al, 2017).

Flora

The Wetland is known for its habitual providence for aquatic plants (Dick et al, 2011). A historic plant known as the Ruppia tuberosa is a well-known aquatic plant in the wetlands of Australia that provides food source for different bird species that breed in the Coorong (Dick et al, 2011). It is significance for its ability to tolerate salt in the submergent coastline along the South Lagoon of Coorong (Frahn, Nicol & Strawbridge, 2012). It submerges to a high level along the South Coorong during winter and spring, and usually dries out in summer and autumn (Frahn et al, 2012). The ability of growth for Ruppia tuberosa persists to grow in lower level of water less than 30 cm and growth is halt at 90 cm depth (Paton, McKillop & Bailey, 2011). Intolerance level of water higher than 30 cm is due to not enough energy from the sunlight reaching the Rubbia tuberosa (Paton et al, 2011). Ruppia tuberosa is also a main food source for the “chironomatid-hardyhead fish ecosystem”. It serves as a primary food source for the hardyhead fish which is important in the ecological food chain system and in return provide food source for waterbirds such as the piscivorous and the Fairy Tern (Paton et al, 2011).

Over the past years, the number of Rubbia tuberosa shows a steady decrease in its population (Dick et al, 2011). The decrease of Rubbia tuberosa also poses a reduction in the number of bird species that breeds on the site especially on the Coorong, in the northern region as it exposes to a high level of saline activity (Dick et al, 2011). Reduction on the number of Rubbia tuberosa is heavily influenced by activities imposed by human during the early colonial settling in the 1860s (Brake & White, 1995) and draining schemes and projects that were done to the wetland and increasing salinisation of water that alters the environmental condition for growth of Rubbia tuberosa (Dick et al, 2011). Existence of algae in the Wetlands also contributes to a decrease in Ruppia Tuberosa (Paton, Paton & Bailey, 2018). In inhabiting the same area, growth of algae enhances tangling on the growth of the Rubbia tuberosa which winds down and stop its growth (Paton et al, 2018). Another impact of algae on the Ruppia tuberosa is that they compete for nutrients in the same environment, scattering of algae over the water stops the sunlight from entering the water and thus leading to Ruppia not getting enough energy for its own formation and growth. (Paton et al,, 2018). Also, the growth of algae, prevents the flow of water entering to the Rubbia tuberosa stems and flowers preventing growth and enhances the death of the Ruppia plants (Paton et al, 2018). The existence of Rubbia tuberosa plays an important role in the coastal estuarine region of the Coorong, not only as a primary producer in the food chain, but also an important historical aquatic plant which is significant to the Wetlands in Australia, mostly in the Southeast of Southern Australia wetland complex (Dick et al, 2011).