South East Queensland Health-e-Waterways

EcoH plots

Spring 2008	Autumn 2009

Previous Year
Spring 2007	Autumn 2008

Change over time

Legend
		Fish indicator
		Physical/Chemical indicator
		Nutrient Cycling indicator
		Ecosystem Processes indicator
		Invertebrates indicator

A description of the indicators and methods used can be downloaded as a PDF file.

Indices

Legend

The charts show the distribution of the site scores for the catchment in a box and whisker plot. The image to the right shows the meaning of the different elements in the chart.

The number behind the charts is the number of sites with valid data. It can be less than the total number of sites in the catchment if some data could not be collected.

A description of the indicators and methods used can be downloaded as a PDF file.

Summary

Seven sites were assessed in the Oxley reporting area, which was awarded a 2009 Report Card grade of ‘F’, the same as its 2008 grade of ‘F’. Streams generally failed to meet Ecosystem Health Guidelines, and yielded lower scores than last year for four of the five ecological indicators.

The three highest scoring indices for the Oxley reporting area during 2008‑09 were GPP (Annual Reporting Area Index Score = 1.00), R₂₄ (0.97) and pH (0.96). The three lowest scoring indices for the area were Proportion Alien (0.31), PET (0.34) and O/E₅₀ (0.45).

The assessment site yielding the highest annual score (indicating the best ecological condition) during 2008‑09 was one on Blunder Creek (site OXL‑0003) with a good score of 0.77. The assessment site yielding the lowest annual score (indicating the worst ecological condition) during 2008‑09 was one on Rocky Waterholes Creek (site OXL‑0001) with a poor score of 0.53. This site is bordered on one side by an industrial estate and on the other by urban development.

Abbreviations glossary

Site scores

Site Code	Physical and Chemical	Nutrient Cycling	Ecosystem Processes	Aquatic Macroinvertebrates	Fish
Spring Site Indicator Scores
OXL-0001	0.79	0.00	0.96	0.41	0.36
OXL-0002	0.57	0.66	0.95	0.35	0.59
OXL-0003	1.00	-	1.00	0.63	0.59
OXL-0004	0.99	0.00	0.54	0.46	0.79
OXL-0005	0.81	-	-	0.45	0.39
Autumn Site Indicator Scores
Site Code	Physical and Chemical	Nutrient Cycling	Ecosystem Processes	Aquatic Macroinvertebrates	Fish
OXL-0001	0.89	0.34	0.85	0.19	0.49
OXL-0002	0.87	0.03	1.00	0.43	0.59
OXL-0003	0.92	-	1.00	0.81	0.17
OXL-0004	0.95	0.93	1.00	0.67	0.71
OXL-0005	0.95	1.00	0.83	0.73	0.62
Annual Site Indicator Scores
Site Code	Physical and Chemical	Nutrient Cycling	Ecosystem Processes	Aquatic Macroinvertebrates	Fish
OXL-0001	0.84	0.17	0.91	0.30	0.42
OXL-0002	0.72	0.35	0.97	0.39	0.59
OXL-0003	0.96	-	1.00	0.72	0.38
OXL-0004	0.97	0.47	0.77	0.56	0.75
OXL-0005	0.88	1.00	0.83	0.59	0.51

The scores range from 0.0 (worst) to 1.0 (best). A dash ('-') indicates that sufficient data was not available.

Flowchart for calculation of summary statistics based on site scores

Map

Click to open PDF version of the map.

Site Code	Waterway
	Site Name
143-0059	Oxley Creek
	Brookbent Road, Pallara
143-0062	Blunder Creek
	Carolina Parade, Forest Lake
OXL-0001	Rocky Waterholes Creek
	John Bright Street, Moorooka
OXL-0002	Stable Swamp Creek
	Bale Street, Rocklea
OXL-0003	Blunder Creek
	King Avenue, Acacia Ridge
OXL-0004	Oxley Creek
	Beatty Road, Acacia Ridge
OXL-0005	Oxley Creek
	Johnson Road, Forestdale

Facts

Total area: 258km²
Stream network length: 522km
Local Councils: Brisbane City Council, Logan City Council, Scenic Rim Council
Dominant land uses: urban, native bush, grazing, rural residential
Highly modified, urbanised catchment
Some grazing lands and natural bush/forested areas remain in the upper parts of the catchment
Riparian vegetation has been cleared from most waterways
Large volume of stormwater runoff into the waterways during/after storm events
Population growth is a major pressure on the catchment

Fish

Fish species identified in Oxley streams

Species	Common name
Ambassis agassizii	Olive perchlet
Anguilla australis	Short-finned eel
Anguilla reinhardtii	Long-finned eel
Carassius auratus	Goldfish [A]
Craterocephalus stercusmuscarum	Fly-specked hardyhead
Cyprinus carpio	Common carp [A]
Gambusia holbrooki	Gambusia [A]
Hypseleotris compressa	Empire gudgeon
Hypseleotris galii	Fire-tail gudgeon
Hypseleotris klunzingeri	Western carp gudgeon
Leiopotherapon unicolor	Spangled perch
Melanotaenia duboulayi	Duboulay's rainbowfish
Mogurnda adspersa	Southern purple-spotted gudgeon
Mugil cephalus	Sea mullet
Nematalosa erebi	Bony bream
Notesthes robusta	Bullrout
Oreochromis mossambicus	Mozambique mouthbrooder [A]
Philypnodon grandiceps	Flathead gudgeon
Tandanus tandanus	Eel-tailed catfish
Xiphophorus helleri	Swordtail [A]
Xiphophorus maculatus	Platy [A]

[A]	Alien species
[T]	Translocated species
[EM]	Estuarine-Marine species

Macroinvertebrates

Aquatic macroinvertebrate taxa identified in Oxley freshwater streams

Class	Order	Taxa
Arachnida	s.o. Acariformes	Acarina
	Araneae	Araneae
Bivalvia	s.c. Paleoheterodonta	Hyriidae
	Veneroida	Sphaeriidae
Branchiopoda	Cladocera	Cladocera
Copepoda	–	Copepoda
Gastropoda	Basommatophora	Ancylidae
		Lymnaeidae
		Physidae
		Planorbidae
	Mesogastropoda	Hydrobiidae
Insecta	s.o. Anisoptera	Gomphidae
		Hemicorduliidae
		Libellulidae
	Coleoptera	Dytiscidae
		Hydraenidae
		Hydrophilidae
	Collembola	Collembola
	Diptera	Ceratopogonidae
		Culicidae
		s.f. Chironominae
		s.f. Orthocladiinae
		s.f. Tanypodinae
		Tipulidae
	Ephemeroptera	Caenidae
		Leptophlebiidae
	Hemiptera	Belostomatidae
		Corixidae
		Hydrometridae
		Mesoveliidae
		Naucoridae
		Notonectidae
		Veliidae
	Trichoptera	Calamoceratidae
		Ecnomidae
		Hydroptilidae
		Leptoceridae
	s.o. Zygoptera	Coenagrionidae
		Isostictidae
		Megapodagrionidae
		Protoneuridae
Malacostraca	Decapoda	Atyidae
		Palaemonidae
		Parastacidae
phy. Platyhelminthes	cl. Temnocephalidea	Temnocephalidea
s.c. Oligochaeta	–	Oligochaeta
Ostracoda	–	Ostracoda