Importance of riparian vegetation to terrestrial avifauna along the Murray River, south-eastern Australia

Bird life occurring along the Murray River was distinctly different from surrounding much drier vegetation. It was found that the presence of the Murray River, with it's associated moist Red Gum forests, provide a corridor whereby birds typically of cool climates can expand their range and occur in an arid landscape.

Chronic ulcerative dermatopathy syndrome in Murray cod

Chronic ulcerative dermatopathy is a disease affecting Murray cod in aquaculture facilities that utilise groundwater. This study investigated the effects of this condition on key physiological processes and developed a cost-effective method of pre-treating the groundwater source that prevents the condition arising in Murray cod.

Flooding requirements for biodiversity values along the Victorian floodplain of the Murray Valley

Overbank flooding of rivers is a key process in the maintenance of vegetation types and the species that rely on the floodplain forests and woodlands of northern Victoria. Yet the flooding requirements of species and vegetation types are poorly known. Here we present initial estimates of the water requirements for flood dependent Ecological Vegetation Classes (EVCs) and rare and threatened flora and fauna species associated with the floodplain of the Murray River and its tributaries. Some 110 EVCs were found to be at least partly flood-dependent on the Murray River floodplains. The total current extent of these EVCs in the study area is 224 247 ha, of which 162 266 ha are on public land. One hundred and twenty-four rare or threatened plant taxa and 62 threatened vertebrate fauna taxa (excluding fish) were classified as at least partly flood-dependent. These initial estimates provide important information for land and water managers and researchers alike.

Understanding the sources of uncertainty to reduce the risks of undesirable outcomes in large-scale freshwater ecosystem restoration projects: an example from the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

There are a growing number of large-scale freshwater ecological restoration projects worldwide. Assessments of the benefits and costs of restoration often exclude an analysis of uncertainty in the modelled outcomes. To address this shortcoming we explicitly model the uncertainties associated with measures of ecosystem health in the estuary of the Murray– Darling Basin, Australia and how those measures may change with the implementation of a Basin-wide Plan to recover water to improve ecosystem health. Specifically, we compare two metrics – one simple and one more complex – to manage end-of-system flow requirements for one ecosystem asset in the Basin, the internationally important Coorong saline wetlands. Our risk assessment confirms that the ecological conditions in the Coorong are likely to improve with implementation of the Basin Plan; however, there are risks of a Type III error (where the correct answer is found for the wrong question) associated with using the simple metric for adaptive management.