2018
Understanding ecosystem response to water management in the Murray-Darling Basin
While knowledge of water availability is key to managing Murray-Darling Basin water resources, a commensurate understanding of ecosystem ecological response to flow regulation is also required to aid environmental management.
It’s funny to name species after celebrities, but there’s a serious side too
Scientists have been naming species after well-known people since the 18th century, often in a bid for publicity. But the issue deserves attention - some 400,000 Australian species are yet to be described.
The upside of blackwater river flows
There’s an upside to the carbon-rich, black water that sometimes flows off the floodplains and into the rivers of the Murray–Darling Basin.
The story of Australian waterbirds – the length and breadth of the Murray-Darling Basin
Elvis, Eric, Gracy - these ibis and spoonbill are telling their own journeying stories thanks to satellite tracking. Along with scientists on the ground monitoring populations and their movements, research will help drive effective environmental water management decisions.
Delivering flows to help native fish thrive again
Computer models will inform the delivery of Murray-Darling environmental waters to restore the flows that support thriving native fish populations.
Managing our water-spoiling pests
CSIRO scientists have developed new tools to help control two feral pests wrecking havoc above and below the waters of the Murray-Darling Basin: the willow tree and the carp.
Novel use of satellite data helping to keep tabs on our water
Understanding human impact on the water cycle is a tricky business - one clue is to be found in evapotranspiration. Novel use of satellite data is helping us measure something we can't see.
Digitising our biological collections
Three quarters of the species that live in Australia don’t exist anywhere else in the world. We're digitisation our collections to make the data easily available to have bigger impacts in areas like conservation, biosecurity and climate change.
The water needs of floodplain trees – the inside view
For the first time, scientists have quantified how much water trees on the Murray-Darling floodplain need, and when they need it. The results show that we cannot tell the health of a tree just by looking at its canopy—we need to look inside the tree.