Dr Paul Frazier and Dr Mark Southwell met up with Bourke’s Western Herald Newspaper and Rod Corfe from Radio 2WEB to discuss the recent Culture to Science day at Toorale, a part of the Warrego-Darling Flow-MER project.
On June 17 the Kurnu-Baakandji People, 2rog Consulting, University of New England, DPI Fisheries and members from the Toorale Joint Management Committee and National Parks and Wildlife Services gathered on Toorale National Park to share cultural and science knowledge. Thank you to everyone who joined us for the day.
The composition of inland floodplain vegetation communities, such as those on the Western Floodplain of the Warrego River, fluctuates as the floodplain alternates between wet and dry periods. Water loving species dominate wet periods, but as the floodplain dries these species die off, creating space for terrestrial species to move in.
Whilst common to northern and central Australia, in the Murray-Darling Basin Hyrtl’s tandan is only present in the Warrego, Paroo (PaaRu) and Condamine Rivers. The preservation of Hyrtl’s tandan in the Warrego River is aided greatly by the contribution of Commonwealth water for the environment.
Did you know that there are over 300 species of dragonfly in Australia? These species are divided into eight families, two of which (Hemicorduliidae and Aeshnidae) occur within the Gwydir Wetlands State Conservation Area. We study these as part of our Food webs indicator because they can tell us a lot about the health of our waterways. In Issue 34 we explain the importance of invertebrates and the dragonflies lifecycle.
Deb Bower has been out on Toorale’s Western Floodplain checking out the Murray River turtle’s interaction with the floodplain, and she shared her findings in an interview with Bourke’s Outback Radio 2Web and an article in Bourke’s Western Herald Newspaper.
The rainbow bee-eater (Merops ornatus) is classified as a significant migratory land bird species in the Flow-MER program. It is one of the bird species that is recorded at Toorale National Park and the Warrego Western Floodplain.
The Flow-MER program monitors the water, plants and animals of the Warrego-Darling/Baaka Selected Area to understand the influence of water for the environment. This issue explores what we study for each of the indicators and what some of our main findings were in the 2021-22 water year.
University of New England masters student Razzaq Sarker’s scientific paper on the effect of inundation on frog behaviour and chorusing has been published and is now available to be viewed. Razzaq studied the patterns between inundation and frog breeding of species within the Gwydir State Conservation Area (SCA) and surrounding wetlands.
Kevin, our Warrego-Baaka (Darling) Cultural Advisor, shared with us this song by Leroy Johnson. It delivers a powerful message from Leroy about the Baaka – the lifeblood of the Baakandji people. No Baaka, no Baakandji. Take a listen here
