Understanding the water-sediment flux against hydro-ecological surprises in the Murray-Darling Basin
Abstract
Human activities and climate change have substantially altered the regimes of the natural hydrological cycle bringing non-linear shifts in water and sediment fluxes which resulted in the degradation of riverine environments and biodiversity and called as hydro-ecological surprises. This study aims to understand the role of human activities and climate change in water-sediment dynamics and in the Murray-Darling Basin. This study provides a framework which combines the effects of water-sediment dynamics on channel characteristics and nutrients and salinity patterns to inform river operations to minimize the severity of hydro-ecological changes. This framework offers an attempt to select suitable strategies: conservation, adaptation or transformation for management of riverine ecosystems.
Advisory Team
Principal Advisor - Associate Professor Yongping Wei
Associate Advisor - Dr David Pullar