Coorong habitat shrinking: scientists

Environment

Scientists studying one of Australia's most significant water systems - the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth - have discovered that many of the animals previously widely distributed across the region are now restricted to a small area around the Murray Mouth.

Researchers, currently assessing the future of the estuary based on different scenarios of water availability and climate change, have recorded the changes following elevated salinities and reduced water levels in the Coorong.

The researchers - in the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth (CLLAMMecology) Research Cluster - recently gave a science briefing at Goolwa on the long-term future of the water system.

The CLLAMMecology Research Cluster, supported through CSIRO's Water for a Healthy Country National Research Flagship involves a partnership between CSIRO, the University of Adelaide, Flinders University, and SARDI Aquatic Sciences. Geoscience Australia, Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, and Land & Water Australia are additional research and funding partners.

In the first comprehensive research program for this estuary, the $5.3 million project aims to improve the ecological health of the region and protect threatened birds and fish.

Cluster Leader Associate Professor Justin Brookes from the University of Adelaide's School of Earth & Environmental Sciences said the research was examining the relationship between river flows, salinity, and the ecology of a range of aquatic organisms, including key fish and bird species.

"No single part of the system can be restored without a whole of system approach to water savings and a commitment to an environmental water allocation," Associate Professor Justin Brookes said.

"The work we are doing will help with allocating limited water resources so they have the required environmental benefits."