Modelling wetland habitat availability under long term flow scenarios

Abstract

The ecological viability of mudflat habitats in the Coorong, South Australia, was assessed through modeling spatio-temporal patterns of inundation across three long-term (114 year) flow scenarios. High resolution Digital Elevation Models were used with water level and salinity outputs from a hydrodynamic model of the Coorong to predict temporal frequency of inundation, inundation area through time and under a salinity threshold. Results show greatly reduced habitat availability under a no action scenario and marginally improved availability under the proposed 2800 GL/year scenario, relative to natural pre-European conditions.