ORCID Profile
0000-0002-0380-4982
Current Organisation
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
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Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2014
DOI: 10.1071/WR13224
Abstract: Context Frog species are now targets for delivery of high-value managed environmental flows on floodplains. Information on the drivers of frog presence and abundance is required to support adaptive management, including analysis of the roles of flood frequency, flood timing and habitat type. Aims This paper describes frog species richness and abundance responses to flooding and habitat type in the Barmah Forest, part of the largest river red gum forest in the world. Methods Surveys were conducted at 22 sites over 6 years, to determine species presence, relative abundance, and evidence of breeding. Data were then used to examine temporal patterns within and between wet and dry years and spatial relationships with site geomorphology, vegetation form and wetting frequency. Key results Six species were common and widespread, and three were rare. The seasonal timing of peak numbers of calling males differed among species. The seasonal pattern of calling for each species did not differ between wet and dry years however, significantly lower numbers of frogs were recorded calling in dry years. The number of frogs calling was significantly higher in well vegetated grassy wetlands. Evidence of a positive relationship between wetting frequency and numbers of calling males was found for Limnodynastes fletcheri, Crinia signifera and Limnodynastes dumerilii. The abundance of tadpoles was significantly higher in wet years. Conclusions The seasonal timing of flooding in Barmah Forest will influence the breeding success of in idual species with different preferences. Flooding from September to December is required to cover most preferred breeding seasons, but longer durations may be required to maximise recruitment. This, together with regular flooding of well vegetated grassy wetland habitat, will increase the likelihood of species persistence and maximise ersity. Insufficient flooding frequency will result in reduced frog species richness and abundance. Implications Managed flooding is important for frog abundance and species richness. This study emphasises the value of key habitats such as well vegetated grassy wetlands and reinforces the need to make their preservation a priority for management. It has identified knowledge gaps to drive future data collection for improved modelling, including a need for further research on flow-regime change and frog communities.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2005
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-03-2019
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-2002
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2013
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2014
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-05-2017
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-02-2012
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 25-05-2011
DOI: 10.1017/S0376892911000130
Abstract: Worldwide, irrigation development has affected pre-existing natural habitats and created novel aquatic habitats, and future changes in management will continue to influence flood-dependent vegetation and fauna. Irrigated agriculture has had a profound influence on native bio ersity in the Riverina region of temperate Australia. Current irrigation practices provide large amounts of water to the landscape in the form of constructed wetland habitats: irrigation channels, impoundments and flooded crop-growing areas. Flooded rice bays support many species of native wetland plants, and 12 of the 14 species of frog recorded in the region. All constructed habitats provide a food resource for waterbirds, but not breeding habitat. While a species of tortoise benefits from the provision of constructed habitats, terrestrial reptiles and mammals are most abundant in remaining native vegetation. The climate is predicted to become increasingly hot and dry, with a reduced and more variable supply of irrigation water, thus placing increasing stress on farming and on natural ecosystems. The predicted reduction of constructed aquatic habitats may affect the native species using them, but may not have a major adverse impact on bio ersity regionally because the species recorded in constructed habitats tend be abundant and widespread, and such species also occur in natural wetland habitats. Sensitive species that depend on native vegetation persisting in reasonable amounts and in good condition are at greater risk. In the Riverina, the remaining native vegetation should be managed to protect and improve its condition, including appropriate managed inundation events for flood-dependent communities. The landscape should be managed to provide the best context for the function and health of existing vegetation including moderating the effects of soil disturbance, fertilizers and herbicides. The impacts of changed irrigation practices should be mitigated through managed flooding of remnant vegetation. In countries with more evolved, traditional rice-growing systems than the Riverina, there will be greater emphasis on bio ersity coexistence with cultivation. Nonetheless, in all settings there is value in jointly considering the role of both natural and constructed habitats in bio ersity research and conservation.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2020
DOI: 10.1071/MF19035
Abstract: Although the effects of mass fish mortality (MFM) events on fish populations and water quality are frequently reported, the effects on consumers of fish and other water-dependent fauna are relatively poorly understood. Managing the effects of MFM events on other fauna is important when they occur in ecologically or culturally sensitive locations, or involve protected or significant species or ecosystems. Better understanding of the effects of such events on fish consumers and other water-dependent fauna would aid proactive management of predictable events, such as pest-fish biocontrol releases. We conducted a global literature review to synthesise the effects of unexpected MFM events on fish consumers and other water-dependent fauna in freshwater, estuarine and marine ecosystems. We then constructed two conceptual models distinguishing between the short-term (hours to weeks) and long-term (months to years) effects of such events, highlighting the importance of key factors in determining the magnitude of the response. Last, we used these models and relevant literature to explore the potential implications of the proposed release of cyprinid herpes virus 3 as a biological control agent for the invasive common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in Australia and develop recommendations to minimise adverse effects of carp mass mortality on food webs.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-01-2009
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-09-2015
DOI: 10.1002/ECO.1548
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-03-2018
DOI: 10.1002/ECO.1954
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-03-2011
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-03-2013
DOI: 10.1002/ECO.1259
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2008
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-01-2018
DOI: 10.1111/FWB.13060
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2010
DOI: 10.1071/RJ10016
Abstract: Woodland bird population declines in Australia have been attributed to various factors including habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation. However, the influence of altered water availability in the landscape upon woodland bird populations has not been examined, particularly in terms of changes in flood regimes and subsequent loss of floodplain productivity. In this review, we examine the importance to woodland birds of floodplains, floods, and associated vegetation communities, highlighting potential links between declining water availability, habitat degradation, and bird populations. Floodplain woodlands and forests may be important refuges for woodland bird populations because (1) floodplain woodlands and forests comprise some of the largest and most continuous vegetation remnants in south-east Australia and (2) floods intermittently supply water, sediment and nutrients that drive greater primary and secondary productivity than found in woodlands not subject to flooding. However, floodplains in south-east Australia have been subject to substantial flow regime change, driven predominantly by dams and irrigation water use. Consequently, habitat quality for woodland birds has been degraded, potentially exacerbating population declines. We suggest that despite such change, floodplain communities and their requisite floods remain of great importance for the persistence, productivity and ersity of woodland birds in Australian drylands. We hypothesise that (1) the influence of flooding upon primary and secondary productivity in floodplain and riparian zones is a key driver of resident bird populations, and a key determinant of nomadic/migratory bird use of a site (2) alterations in flooding and consequent changes in productivity and condition of floodplain vegetation have contributed to observed declines in resident woodland birds in Australian drylands and (3) the influence of flooding upon productivity extends beyond local populations of floodplain residents to non-floodplain populations via dispersal, and that floodplain woodlands often act as a source population for surrounding non-floodplain woodlands. We make several testable predictions regarding these hypotheses.
Location: Australia
No related grants have been discovered for Heather McGinness.