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The importance of fl oodplain wetlands to Murray-Darling fi sh: What’s there? What do we know? What do we need to know?
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Closs, Gerard P. Balcombe, Stephen Richard Driver, Patrick McNeil, Dale G. Shirley, Michael J. |
| Copyright Year | 2006 |
| Abstract | Despite the iconic status of fl oodplain wetlands and billabongs across the Murray-Darling Basin river system, remarkably little is known of their fi sh communities. No records exist of community composition prior to European colonisation. Limited palaeo-limnological studies suggest conditions in fl oodplain wetlands changed signifi cantly in the 1880’s or thereabouts, however the fi rst direct records of fi sh communities date from as late as the 1940–50s. Knowledge of current communities is geographically fragmented with accessible records being largely restricted to the upper and lower Murray wetlands. Most of the existing information is in the form of unpublished reports and theses. Whilst these records suggest that fi sh communities within wetlands are greatly altered from their natural state, with widespread dominance of exotic fi sh species, wetlands of the Murray-Darling system continue to support a variety of native fi sh species. The presence of several species of high conservation signifi cance, sometimes in high numbers, highlights the importance of these systems for conserving native fi sh biodiversity. Understanding of the ecological processes driving fi sh community structure is limited, and is largely based on a number of relatively recent studies conducted in wetlands along the upper Murray and tributaries. The general absence of species that are wholly restricted to offchannel wetland systems suggests wetland and riverine fi sh communities are continuous across the fl oodplain. Studies of larval fi sh feeding, habitat use and dispersal indicate low velocity habitats along river channels may be crucial for the recruitment of a number of fi sh species, suggesting recruitment of native fi sh may be generally improved where river-fl oodplain linkages are maintained. Studies in the upper Murray region indicate that fi sh communities are structured by a variety of factors including wetland bathymetry, physical and chemical conditions (particularly temperature, oxygen and salinity), microhabitat and food availability, and the presence of exotic fi sh species. Whilst these variables are likely to be important for the structuring of wetland fi sh communities across the Murray-Darling Basin, the relative importance of each may vary greatly between and within regions. The limited research to date indicates that management strategies targeting: (i) maintenance of fl oodplain wetland habitat diversity; (ii) river and fl oodplain water regimes and linkage; (iii) riparian and littoral management; and (iv) introduced species are critical for achieving effective management of wetland fi sh communities. Expanding our knowledge base of ecological processes beyond the upper Murray region is also crucial for whole-basin management. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.mdba.gov.au/sites/default/files/archived/native-fish/The-Importance-of-floodplain-wetlands.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
