Oral Presentation Australian Society for Limnology Conference 2017

Infrastructure modifies movement patterns of seeds drifting in lowland rivers (#30)

Daryl Nielsen 1 , Rebecca Durant 2
  1. Land & Water, CSIRO, WODONGA, VIC, Australia
  2. The Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre, Wodonga, Victoria, Australia

The unimpeded movement of seeds and other propagules within riverine networks is believed ot be important in maintaining regional diversity. Changes in flow regimes, or hydrological connectivity, are therefore likely to significantly impact the distribution of aquatic and riparian plants. Changed connectivity may occur through the disconnection of components of the landscape caused by changes in flow regime, construction of barriers that physically impede dispersal, and the physical removal of riparian plants. In this study we investigate the influence that the use of infrastructure (pumps/levees) have on the movement of seeds from the Murray River into adjoining wetlands. Results demonstrate that pumping of water into wetlands appears to have filtering effect with less seeds entering the wetland compared to what is present in the main river channel