Wetlands Australia 32: Assessing wetland conservation values using the Aquatic Biodiversity Assessment and Mapping Methodology (AquaBAMM)
Author: Mark Kelton, Biodiversity Assessments Queensland Department of Environment and Science
Wetlands are essential components of our environment, economy and livelihoods. Tools for collecting wetland information, conducting assessments and gathering monitoring results are vital to manage and protect wetland ecosystems. For the past thirteen years, the Queensland Government has used the Aquatic Biodiversity Assessment and Mapping Methodology (AquaBAMM) to assess the conservation values of wetlands.
Aquatic Conservation Assessments based on the AquaBAMM, have now been completed statewide, providing valuable information to support policy development and management decisions affecting aquatic ecosystems.
The AquaBAMM identifies relative wetland conservation values within a specified area—usually a catchment—using criteria, indicators and measures based on national and international literature. Inputs include readily available data which is reviewed and supplemented through expert panel workshops.
The AquaBAMM criteria, each of which have a variable number of indicators and measures, include:
- Naturalness Aquatic
- Naturalness Catchment
- Diversity and Richness
- Threatened Species and Ecosystems
- Priority Species and Ecosystems
- Special Features
- Connectivity
- Representativeness.
AquaBAMM measures (e.g. number of dams/weirs in a catchment) provide the basic metric of assessment. Measure scores are standardised and combined into indicator scores (e.g. catchment disturbance). Indicator scores are combined to produce criterion ratings (e.g. Naturalness Catchment). A decision table then combines criterion ratings to produce an overall aquatic conservation score (AquaScore).
The result of applying the AquaBAMM is an Aquatic Conservation Assessment. Assessment results include datasets which can viewed in digital mapping systems (e.g. Google Earth) to support activities such as identifying aquatic assets, determining priorities for the protection, regulation or rehabilitation of aquatic ecosystems and informing development assessments processes and environmental impact assessment.
The AquaBAMM was initially developed to assess the conservation values of riverine wetlands within the Burnett River catchment. The method was extended to non-riverine freshwater systems (i.e. palustrine and lacustrine) in 2008.
In 2018, a subset of the AquaBAMM criteria was used to assess the conservation values of nearshore benthic habitats between Baffle Creek and the Fitzroy River. The project used habitat mapping based on the Queensland Intertidal and Subtidal Classification Scheme recently developed under the Queensland Wetland Program.
The AquaBAMM criteria are also consistent with nationally agreed guidelines for identifying high ecological value aquatic ecosystems (HEVAE) (i.e. Aquatic Ecosystems Toolkit Method 3). As such, Aquatic Conservation Assessment results can be used for jurisdictional reporting and for planning and monitoring in an adaptive management context.
Aquatic Conservation Assessments have now been completed for all of Queensland. Future work will focus on updating older freshwater assessments and the assessment of intertidal and subtidal conservation values for other parts of the state.