Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 3:45 PM
592

Waterholes of australian dryland rivers: Valuable but vulnerable

Stephen K. Hamilton, Kellogg Biological Station, 3700 East Gull Lake Drive, Hickory Corners, MI 49060, Stuart E. Bunn, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Australia, and Michael M. Douglas, School for Environmental Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia.

Many dryland river systems experience intermittent flows and for much of the time are reduced to fragmented series of river pools that vary considerably in their degree of permanency.  These waterholes are critical refugia for aquatic biodiversity yet are vulnerable to increasing water demands and to flow regime changes linked to climate change.  This talk synthesizes current scientific information on the hydrological and ecological features of waterholes in Australian dryland rivers, and identifies knowledge gaps that must be filled to understand how they would respond to future hydrological changes.  Forthcoming research under the Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge (TRACK) program will generate information that is critical for conservation and management of these important ecosystems across northern Australia.


Web Page: tropical, Australia, conservation

See more of Special Session - Intermittent Rivers: Global Phenomena and Unexplored Riverscapes II
See more of Special Sessions

See more of The Nabs 56th Annual Meeting (25-28 May, 2008)