Ecosystem Response Modelling in the Murray-Darling Basin
Edited by: Neil Saintilan, Ian Overton
Brings together the leading ecologists working in the rivers and wetlands of the Murray-Darling Basin.
Ecosystem Response Modelling in the Murray-Darling Basin provides an overview of the status of science in support of water management in Australia’s largest and most economically important river catchment, and brings together the leading ecologists working in the rivers and wetlands of the Basin. It introduces the issues in ecosystem response modelling and how this area of science can support environmental watering decisions. + Full description
The declining ecological condition of the internationally significant wetlands of the Murray-Darling Basin has been a prominent issue in Australia for many years. Several high profile government programs have sought to restore the flow conditions required to sustain healthy wetlands, and this book documents the scientific effort that is underpinning this task.
In the Southern Murray-Darling Basin, the River Murray, the Murrumbidgee River and their associated wetlands and floodplains have been the focus of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s ‘The Living Murray’ program, and the NSW Rivers Environmental Restoration Program. The book documents research aimed at informing environmental water use in a number of iconic wetlands including those along the Murray – the Barmah-Millewa Forest; the Chowilla Floodplain and Lindsay-Wallpolla Islands; the Coorong and Murray mouth; and the Murrumbidgee – the Lowbidgee Floodplain.
Within the Northern Murray-Darling Basin, research conducted in support of the Wetland Recovery Plan and the NSW Rivers Environmental Restoration Program has improved our knowledge of the Gwydir Wetlands and the Macquarie Marshes, and the water regimes required to sustain their ecology.
- Short descriptionNews
No longer available in a print edition.
Details
ePDF | April 2010ISBN: 9780643100213
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Available from eRetailers
ePUB | April 2010
ISBN: 9780643101920
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Available from eRetailers
Features
- Leading scientists provide an overview of the ecology and management issues for prominent sites within the Murray-Darling Basin, including six of Australia’s Ramsar sites
- Documents an emerging field of science: flow-response modelling and decision support for environmental water management
- Addresses fundamental concepts of ecosystem response modelling and provides guidance in this field of science
Contents
Part I Issues in ecosystem response modellingPart II Ecosystem response modelling in the northern basin
Part III Ecosystem response modelling in the southern basin
Conclusions: lessons from ecosystem response modelling and future directions for the Murray-Darling Basin
View the full table of contents (PDF).
Authors
Neil Saintilan is head of the Rivers and Wetlands Unit in the NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water, where he has responsibility for the science underpinning the management of significant wetlands and the monitoring of river and wetland condition. For several years, the work of the Rivers and Wetlands Unit has focussed on the declining condition of wetlands in the northern Murray Darling Basin.Ian Overton is the Leader of the Environmental Water Stream within the CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country National Research Flagship. He is a Senior Research Scientist working on spatial ecohydrology. He has had 15 years’ experience in ecology, hydrology and spatial information science with particular expertise in spatial modelling of environmental systems and the Murray-Darling Basin.