Research
The Parramatta River Catchment Group wishes to build relationships with research institutions and continue collating baseline information about best practice. The PRCG has been investigating ideas for research opportunities that are key to the management of natural resources in the catchment. Below is a list of research opportunites (where there are gaps in information) and potential projects.
Please contact the prcgcoordinator if you have an interest in these areas of expertise or would like to know more.
Opportunities for research projects:
Native seedbank assessment
- Centralising information about seed collectors, nursery production and available sources
- Use of local provenance and assessment of future needs for public and private landholders
Saltmarsh communities
- Modelling to predict losses/ movement due to anthropogenic climate change
- Determine where saltmarsh can move upslope and therefore the priority sites for rehabilitation efforts
Migratory wader birds
- Population dynamics in catchment area, use of habitat
Aquatic habitat and estuary
- The relationship between the distribution of native instream vegetation and likely impacts (eg. exotic aquatic vegetation, stormwater outlets, loss of riparian vegetation and erosion)
- Methods to enhance aquatic habitats in the Parramatta River
- Effectiveness of the fishladder at Charles St Wharf: the freshwater / saltwater interface of the Parramatta River
- Increasing the ecological value of existing sea walls in the Parramatta River
Stormwater
- Effect of stormwater discharges on local biological communities
- Impacts of stormwater on seagrasses. Changes in checmical substrate of seagrasses
- Evaluation of maintenance and evaluation of costings: Stormwater management and Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) techniques
- Evaluation of techniques to minimise the effects of wash from motorised maritime traffic
Contamination
- Natural remediation rates for contaminated sediments along the Parramatta River estuary (i.e. how long does it take for contaminated sediments to naturally remediate)
Recreation
- Conceptions of public space/usage of public space: health/ recreational studies.
Planning
- Prioritisation techniques for natural areas (wetlands, riparian, terrestrial).