Abstract
The macroinvertebrate community of wetlands on the floodplains of the Gellibrand River Vic and estuary were sampled to provide a baseline for the future management of the wetlands, and to contribute to the general understanding of estuary-floodplain wetlands. Six samples were collected from each of four locations within the wetlands. The fauna were predominantly characteristic of freshwater wetlands, which was unexpected because of the brackish saline nature of the wetlands. This may be related to patterns of stratification in the estuary. There were also seasonal variations in the macroinvertebrate communities which appeared to be related to hydrological variations. The overall results suggest that hydrological regimes need to be taken into account in any efforts to restore or rehabilitate coastal river or estuary floodplain wetlands. Such wetlands appear to have more characteristics of freshwater wetlands than of saltmarshes, depending on wetland morphology and the extent of river and tidal flows (A).