Over The Horizon

Pukeko and Alligators -- Wetlands Collaboration

A researcher of New Zealand wetlands will be working closely with colleagues more versed in Florida's snake infested swamps than New Zealand wetlands following a visit to the US.

Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research microbial ecologist Louis Schipper has just returned from the annual conference of the Soil Science Society of America in Seattle, where his contact with other scientists will ensure continuing collaboration on research into the increasingly important preservation and restoration of wetlands. Schipper plans to tap into his colleague's extensive skills and experience with the very different wetlands of Florida's Everglades.

While New Zealand's wetlands, which are undergoing examination and some restoration, don't have the alligators, snakes or insects prevalent in Florida, Schipper will align his research projects to make use of findings which may provide solutions to problems in very different ecosystems.

"People are more and more recognising the importance of these areas and in the States there is a move to reflooding wetlands which have been drained to restore a natural ecosystem," Schipper says.

"They are magical places where wildlife is returning and they are full of animals, such as alligators, snakes and birds. We also have to accept that they are not the same as they were before, that change has occurred and there is a different environment now with different plants and animals."

Schipper's area of expertise is riparian wetlands (those near rivers or lakes), a growing area of interest and importance in Europe and the US. With more emphasis on preserving and enhancing wetland areas, more research is now being done into how wetlands work and what type of human activity should be permitted in those areas.

Schipper has been working on the usefulness of riparian zones for protecting surface water quality, methane oxidation on wetlands (a process which may limit global warming), and land treatment of wastes.

"Innovative work is being done in New Zealand in this field. With the land application of waste water becoming more common here than in other countries more research is being carried out and we are well up with the play. If it is done properly it is a good way to treat waste and use it as a resource rather than dispose of it.

"Waste waters often have a high nutrient content which can be added to the soil and also Maori spiritual values can be met by returning waste to the soil for a cleaning process. Our research is focused on maximising renovation by the soil at not too high a cost and finding sustainable land treatment options that will protect the environment 10, 15 or more years down the track."