Journal article
Dynamics of Murray-Darling floodplain forests under multiple stressors: The past, present, and future of an Australian icon
R Mac Nally, SC Cunningham, PJ Baker, GJ Horner, JR Thomson
Water Resources Research | Published : 2011
DOI: 10.1029/2011WR010383
Abstract
We review the human actions, proximal stressors and ecological responses for floodplain forests Australia's largest river system - the Murray-Darling Basin. A conceptual model for the floodplain forests was built from extensive published information and some unpublished results for the system, which should provide a basis for understanding, studying and managing the ecology of floodplains that face similar environmental stresses. Since European settlement, lowlands areas of the basin have been extensively cleared for agriculture and remnant forests heavily harvested for timber. The most significant human intervention is modification of river flows, and the reduction in frequency, duration an..
View full abstractGrants
Awarded by Australian Research Council
Awarded by Murray-Darling Basin Commission
Awarded by Hermon Slade Foundation
Funding Acknowledgements
This work was supported by a number of grants, including: Australian Research Council (LP0561958, A19927168, and DP0984170), the Murray-Darling Basin Commission (R7007), and the Hermon Slade Foundation (HSF_02_3). We thank Michael Roderick of the Australian National University for extending us an invitation to contribute to this Special Issue. A large number of colleagues assisted many aspects of this work: We are very appreciative of the efforts of Andrea Ballinger, Charlie Coarser, John Elias, Greg Horrocks, Sommer Jenkins, Sam Lake, Hania Lada, and Rachael Nolan. Ian Lunt provided helpful advice, as did a number of reviewers and the associate editor. This is contribution 223 from the Australian Centre for Biodiversity at Monash University.