5.3: River-floodplain food web subsidies

Stuart Bunn — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 01:51:06 +0000

Project Number:

5.03

Proj Number:

503

Leader:

Prof Stuart Bunn

Abstract

As the wet season flows overtop river banks, fish and other animals make the most of expanded feeding grounds, moving out onto the floodplains. As the floodwaters recede, these animals take the nutrients and energy obtained from the floodplain, back to the river channel. This project will describe floodplain food webs, quantify the contribution of subsidies to, and from the floodplain, and determine how some current land management practices are affecting the floodplain food webs of northern rivers.

Outcomes

This research will provide a framework for explaining and predicting why river and floodplain ecosystems may change in response to pressures such as future development or global climate change.

Floodplain foodwebs

TRaCK Project 503 Updates

5.3: River-floodplain food web subsidies

Outcomes