Created using a hydrophone to record the sounds of a shrinking summer billabong in Kemendok National Park on Christmas Day 2015. I watched packs of carp sweep through the water, I listened intently on the bank to the sounds of the invisible underwater world of a somewhat neglected ecosystem.
Macroinvertebrates are a whole collection of bizarre and wonderful creatures that spend some or all of their lives in waterways. Some are soft and squishy, some have hard crusts on their bodies, and some carry a ‘home’ wherever they go. They look strange and are fascinatingly alien. They live weird lives in ponds, streams, estuaries and stormwater and irrigation drains.
Many are insects, like beetles, and nymphs that are juvenile flying insects. Some are tiny crabs and prawns. There are also snails, worms and maggots. Fish, frogs and birds depend on these spineless creatures for food and they are an important part of the food chain for aquatic ecosystems.
Ecologists have found that there is a strong relationship between landscape disturbance and changes to the composition of aquatic flora and fauna communities. Some aquatic macroinvertebrates have been shown to be very sensitive to certain types of environmental change. This sensitivity can be helpful to scientists, researchers and landscape managers in identifying which waterbodies are being impacted by land-use practices. Conversely, the same information can be used to identify catchments where land management may not be occurring in a sustainable way.
Freshwater macroinvertebrate sampling can be a very useful tool when performing a bio-assessment of a site. The Community/Land Manager Waterwatch Guide and the accompanying Waterwatch Field Manual were designed as complementary resources for WaterBug Watch groups. Together they provide a complete guide to designing and implementing a community– based monitoring program.