Pressure - Organic Matter

Sources of organic matter:

• Organic matter enters wetlands from diffuse catchment (via over-land surface flow (local watershed), in flood waters (overbank flow) or directly from urban and agricultural land use or point sources
• Internal production of organic matter from plants and phytoplankton occurs within the system
• The clearing of wetland, fringing zone or catchment vegetation, or vegetation loss through poor fire management, can result in increased run-off due to bare ground or decreased organic matter filtering from the incoming waters. Agricultural activities can increase organic matter loads through organic matter run-off (e.g. trash) or livestock faeces
• Dense fauna populations (e.g. bird colonies, feral pigs, intensive animal production) can increase organic matter loads directly to wetlands through faeces
• Numerous other land-use activities, such as feedlots, aquaculture, forestry, residential housing (e.g. lawn clipping), can be sources of organic matter to wetland