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A functioning and resilient food web is critical to the ecological character of the Coorong, and is fundamental in the production and supply of energy to key biota, including waterbirds and fish. Freshwater inflows from the River Murray are considered highly beneficial to the food web structure of the Coorong, including providing a diversity of habitats (e.g. salinity gradient along the length of the Coorong); however, the ecological importance of the South-East flow is currently not known. Under suitable salinity, water level and nutrient conditions in the Coorong, the trophic productivity supports a diversity of biota across multiple trophic levels (Brookes et al. 2009, Deegan et al. 2010). Historically, the South Lagoon supported a diversity of waterbirds.
Recent conditions in the Coorong, including changes in the water level, salinity regime and potentially nutrient dynamics have altered the community composition of key food resources in the Coorong, including macroinvertebrates and aquatic plants, which are important ecological components and potential food sources for fish and waterbirds. There is limited understanding of the pathways by which nutrients pass from primary producers to waterbirds (Brookes et al. 2018), which limits our ability to predict the food web dynamics and ecological responses of some key biota, including fish and waterbirds, to changing conditions and management actions (e.g. including flow from the South-East and River Murray).
This Component is addressing two key questions:
To answer these, the following research questions are being addressed:
Investigations are being conducted to:
This project has four key Activities to achieve these objectives:
