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Wetland Classification

Bohle - DERMGeneral Wetland Classification Systems

Many wetland classification systems and typologies have been developed over the past few decades, signifying both the difficulty in creating a definitive system and the potential for different frameworks to be necessary for different purposes and scales. Reasons for the identification of wetland types can vary, from representativeness or uniqueness assessments within an area, to the identification of different monitoring needs, and for a range of other management purposes. Regardless of their specific purpose, most wetland characterisations are based on describing attributes that can be measured and which, when combined, help to define the nature of a specific wetland and distinguish it from others.

The following table provides links to the main wetland classification systems in use within Australia and New Zealand.

Table 1: Wetland classification systems.

Classification

Details

Ramsar

42 sub-types identified under three major headings: marine and coastal zone wetlands, inland wetlands, and human-made wetlands.

Directory of Important Wetlands

42 sub-types identified under three major headings: marine and coastal zone wetlands, inland wetlands, and human-made wetlands.

Cowardin et al. (1979) (North America)

5 wetland types: marine, estuarine, riverine, lacustrine and palustrine.

56 wetland classes.
Modifiers: water regime, substrate, vegetation.

Hydrogeomorphic (HGM (Brinson 1993)) (North America)

1 wetland type: palustrine.
Modifiers: geomorphic setting, water source and transport, hydrodynamics.

New Zealand Framework (Johnson and Gerbeaux 2004)

9 wetland types: marine, estuarine, riverine, lacustrine, palustrine, inland salt, plutonic (i.e. karst), geothermal and nival (i.e. alpine).
Modifiers: water regime, vegetation structure, vegetation, substrate.

Blackman (1992) (Queensland)
(based on Cowardin)

5 wetland types: marine, estuarine, riverine, lacustrine and palustrine.
Modifiers: water regime, substrate, vegetation.

Wetland International – Oceania (Queensland’s south-western wetlands) (Jaensch 1999)

3 wetland types: riverine, lacustrine, palustrine.
20 sub-types.
Modifiers: salinity (fresh and saline), dominant vegetation.

Kingsford and Porter 1999 (Paroo River, Qld)

7 wetland categories.
Modifiers: vegetation, geomorphology, salinity, hydrology.

Timms 1999 (Currawinya, Qld)

5 wetland categories.
Modifiers: geomorphology, hydrology, water quality, water plants, invertebrates, birds.

Casanova 1999 (Paroo Rivers, Qld)

6 wetland categories.
Modifiers: water regime, vegetation.

Timms and Boulton 2001 (Paroo River, Qld)

5 wetland types: marine, estuarine, riverine, lacustrine and palustrine.
Modifiers: based on aquatic fauna (driving variables: salinity, turbidity, water regime).

Northern Territory
(Duguid 2002)

71 wetland categories under the headings: basins (17 types), flats (4 types), channels (21 types), springs (18 types), subterranean (1 type) and artificial (10 types).

NSW (Green 1997)

14 wetland categories under the headings: coastal, tableland, inland.
Modifiers: hydrology, vegetation.

WA (Hill et al. 1996)

13 wetland categories.
Modifiers: salinity, vegetation.

Victorian Index of Wetland Condition (uses Corrick and Norman 1980)

2 wetland types: palustrine, lacustrine.
39 sub-categories.
Modifiers: vegetation, hydrology, salinity.

 

 

Last updated: 2 October 2009