Stories of science from the Australian Rivers Institute
By Deputy Director David Hamilton Read Time: 421 words, 5 minutes. Recent funding from Water Research Australia to support a consortium of researchers to work on the effect that low reservoir levels has on water quality is providing impetus to better understand the effects of climate change of water storages. These storages are vital for [...]
Author's Dr Songyan Yu and Associate Professor Mark Kennard, Read Time: 622 words, about 3 minutes. There is a growing interest globally in the spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of intermittently flowing streams and rivers. Previous studies have predominantly relied on the use of gauged streamflow data to make inferences about the distribution of intermittent streams. [...]
Rivers, lakes, and wetlands support extraordinary diversity. Such bodies of water host more species per square kilometre than forests or oceans. Yet they are losing this biodiversity two to three times faster than forests and oceans. Populations of freshwater animals, including river dolphins, sturgeon, beavers, crocodiles, and giant turtles, have already plummeted by 88%.
By Melanie Roberts and Fernanda Adame Article Read Time: 524 words about 3 minutes. The 2019 Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report from the Australian Government Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority identifies the risk of nutrient runoff from catchments for the reef as Very High, the same rating as the 2014 and 2009 reports. --- This [...]
There is an urgent need to understand what factors contribute to successful breeding and juvenile survival for Australia’s freshwater fishes, especially as many freshwater fish species are affected by events like those that led to the recent fish kills in the Murray-Darling Basin.
By Mark Kennard Read Time: Words 518 about 3 mins Native freshwater fish diversity in the Murray-Darling Basin could be under serious threat from climate change in coming decades. This potential loss of biodiversity could result in a further decline in the health of the Basin. Murray Darling Basin. Photo: iStock Freshwater fishes are highly [...]
By Ryan Burrows Article Read Time: 623 words about 4 minutes. Groundwater upwelling to rivers not only sustains surface flow but also delivers nutrients and creates favourable conditions for algae growth, importantly algae is a critical food source for aquatic animals. The Fitzroy River is located in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia. Geikie [...]
By Tim Jardine NOTE: This is a guest article written by Dr Tim Jardine from the School of Environment and Sustainability and Toxicology Centre at the University of Saskatchewan. So I’ve heard it said. And there’s some truth to it. Unless you’re camped on the top of a mountain peak, you’re going to be downstream of [...]
By Mischa Turschwell Predator-prey interactions between fishes are important ecological processes that help maintain healthy populations and ecosystems. But often we don’t know if predators control prey numbers (top-down control) or if the number of prey available controls predator numbers (bottom-up control). We also don’t know how these interactions might change if environmental conditions like [...]
Author: Dr Vanessa Reis, Wetland ecosystems are important hotspots of biodiversity in the Amazon River Basin, but they're under threat from human activity. These ecosystems rely on the maintenance of the annual river flood pulse that drives inundation across the major wetlands of the Amazon. Infrastructure project proposals such as dams have increased in response to higher [...]
Catchment to Coast 