Showing items 1 - 10 of 10

Your selections:

Aboriginal spatial organization in far northwest Victoria - A reconstruction

- Clark, Ian, Ryan, Edward

  • Authors: Clark, Ian , Ryan, Edward
  • Date: 2008
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: South Australian Geographical Journal Vol. 107, no. (2008), p. 15-48
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: This paper is concerned to re-examine Aboriginal spatial organization in the far northwest region of Victoria from Mildura to the Victorian border with South Australia. RMW Dixon (Working Papers) has noted that there is a multiplicity of names of groups in this region, and their status must be resolved. It does this by examining the primary sources and nineteenth century reconstructions such as Thomas, Goodwin, Smyth, Mathews, and Howitt, and then through a more critical analysis of twentieth century reconstructions such as Tindale. It finds that south of the Murray River and west of Mildura there were two language groups: Keramin (which included Jarijari at Mildura) and Yuyu to their west. Keramin at Mildura claimed country on both sides of the Murray River, however the Yuyu were only on the southern side of the river. The northern side of the Murray River belonged to Marawara, the southernmost dialect of Pakantji. The presence of the Marawara south of the Murray River is considered a post-contact adaptation.

Multiproxy approach to track changes in the ecological condition of wetlands in the Gunbower Forest, a Ramsar site

- Mall, Neeraj, Gell, Peter, Kattel, Giri, Gadd, Patricia, Zawadzki, Atun

  • Authors: Mall, Neeraj , Gell, Peter , Kattel, Giri , Gadd, Patricia , Zawadzki, Atun
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Marine and Freshwater Research Vol. 73, no. 10 (2022), p. 1196-1211
  • Full Text:
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: Gunbower Forest is bordered by the Murray River and Gunbower Creek and hosts several floodplain wetlands listed under the Ramsar Convention. Sediment cores were retrieved from three wetlands to trace changes to their ecological state over time. The basal sediments of the wetlands date back to the beginning of river regulation in the 1930s, suggesting that only after then were they inundated sufficiently often to allow for net sediment accumulation. The diatoms preserved in the lower levels of all cores suggest clear, freshwater conditions prevailed during that period. Increased sediment and nutrient loads are inferred by increased epiphytic forms and nutrient indicators. Over recent decades the wetlands have transitioned to plankton dominance, reflecting greater connectivity to the river and distributary, and a reduced light environment. This pattern resembles to that recorded both upstream and downstream, suggesting a regional-scale change in the wetlands of the southern Murray-Darling Basin. © CSIRO 2022.

Watching the tide roll away-reply to Tibby et al (2020)

- Gell, Peter

  • Authors: Gell, Peter
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article , Review
  • Relation: Pacific Conservation Biology Vol. 26, no. 4 (2020), p. 338-343
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: The published findings on the diatom-inferred condition of a terminal lake in the Murray-Darling Basin were overlooked in favour of a revised unpublished interpretation, without the provision of new evidence or argument, posted on the website of the managing state government. Coauthors of the posted report have responded (Tibby et al. 2020) to the publication (Gell 2020) that outlined the changes made to this interpretation. This reply reaffirms that subtle changes were made to published interpretations and that these were critical in the development of a watering plan for the system. It also illustrates that anecdotal evidence was used selectively but would be a valuable contribution if aligned to known climatic variability. Further, this response corrects the widespread misunderstanding that signatory nations to the Ramsar Convention are obliged to retain listed wetlands in the condition observed at the time of listing. Finally, this response contests the favouring of certain evidence and seeks an approach that reconciles all available evidence, incorporates variability into planning and prepares for future management challenges. © 2020 CSIRO.

Changing fluxes of sediments and salts as recorded in lower River Murray wetlands, Australia

- Gell, Peter, Fluin, Jennie, Tibby, John, Haynes, Deborah, Khanum, Syeda, Walsh, Brendan, Hancock, Gary, Harrison, Jennifer, Zawadzki, Atun, Little, Fiona

  • Authors: Gell, Peter , Fluin, Jennie , Tibby, John , Haynes, Deborah , Khanum, Syeda , Walsh, Brendan , Hancock, Gary , Harrison, Jennifer , Zawadzki, Atun , Little, Fiona
  • Date: 2006
  • Type: Conference proceedings
  • Full Text:
  • Description: The River Murray basin, Australia's largest, has been significantly impacted by changed flow regimes and increased fluxes of salts and sediments since settlement in the 1840s. The river's flood plain hosts an array of cut-off meanders, levee lakes and basin depression lakes that archive historical changes. Pre-European sedimentation rates are typically approx. 0.1-1 mm year-1, while those in the period after European arrival are typically 10 to 30 fold greater. This increased sedimentation corresponds to a shift in wetland trophic state from submerged macrophytes in clear waters to phytoplankton-dominated, turbid systems. There is evidence for a decline in sedimentation in some natural wetlands after river regulation from the 1920s, but with the maintenance of the phytoplankton state. Fossil diatom assemblages reveal that, while some wetlands had saline episodes before settlement, others became saline after, and as early as the 1880s. The oxidation of sulphurous salts deposited after regulation has induced hyperacidity in a number of wetlands in recent years. While these wetlands are rightly perceived as being heavily impacted, other, once open water systems, that have infilled and now support rich macrophyte beds, are used as interpretive sites. The rate of filling, however, suggests that the lifespan of these wetlands is short. The rate of wetland loss through such increased infilling is unlikely to be matched by future scouring as regulation has eliminated middle order floods from the lower catchment.

Interaction between a river and its wetland : Evidence from the Murray River for spatial variability in diatom and radioisotope records

- Grundell, Rosie, Gell, Peter, Mills, Keely, Zawadzki, Atun

  • Authors: Grundell, Rosie , Gell, Peter , Mills, Keely , Zawadzki, Atun
  • Date: 2012
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Paleolimnology Vol. 47, no. 2 (2012), p. 205-219
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: Sinclair Flat is small wetland, located within the gorge section of the Murray River floodplain. situated near Blanchetown, South Australia, the wetland is closely linked to the River and, since regulation, has become permanently inundated. High summer evaporation rates deplete the volume of water within the wetland. However, this is compensated by perennial inflow via a permanent inlet from the River. This site provides an opportunity to explore the relative contribution of river and wetland diatom flora to the sediment record, and the fluvial and aerial contribution of radiometric isotopes to the system. The geochronological and biostratigraphic data provide an insight into the history of the water quality of Sinclair Flat. Evidence exists for the River being a source of sediments and isotopes and of diatom species typical of the main river channel. Prior to 1950, Sinclair Flat was an oligotrophic, oligosaline, clear-water wetland. The wetland shifted gradually to an environment that favoured clear-water benthic species, most likely as a consequence of changes following river regulation in the 1920s, although the capacity to date these sediments is limited. During the 1950s, the wetland became plankton dominated. Peaks in epiphytic diatoms during the 1960s suggest increased emergent macrophyte cover. The contemporary condition is of a connected, turbid, eutrophic and mesosaline lagoon. The ecological condition of Sinclair Flat has diverged considerably from its historical range of condition. This record supports evidence from upstream of widespread state switches in the Murray-Darling Basin floodplain wetlands. This record also lends considerable weight to modern studies attesting to the degraded state of the waterways of the Murray-Darling Basin and the impact of river regulation practices on the water quality of these ecosystems. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Assessing change in floodplain wetland condition in the Murray Darling Basin, Australia

- Gell, Peter, Reid, Michael

  • Authors: Gell, Peter , Reid, Michael
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Anthropocene Vol. 8, no. (2014), p. 39-45
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: Lowland Australian rivers and floodplains have been affected by agriculture and flow regulation for more than a century. Our capacity to understand the complex causes of ecosystem change is limited by the lack of historical records of ecosystem condition. Records of change over this critical period are available through analysis of sedimentary records. These provide benchmarks of the range of natural conditions and, by providing a long time series of conditions, trends and trajectories of change. Over recent decades, 51 sediment records from billabongs and lagoons throughout the southern Murray Darling Basin have been subject to palaeoecological analysis. The picture that emerges from this synthesis is that ecosystems have undergone substantial ecological change in response to human activities. Diatom assemblages preserved in wetland sediments attest to salinisation in 34% of sites and increased nutrient concentrations in 48%. More extensive is the impact of increased sediment flux with evidence for increased sedimentation rate, turbidity or macrophyte loss in 80% of sites. Intriguing differences exist in the timing and nature of change experienced by aquatic ecosystems in different parts of the Basin. These patterns of ecosystem response suggest underlying differences in the resilience of these ecosystems to different anthropogenic stressors, which may result from contrasting hydrologic, geomorphologic and climatic contexts. This systematic compilation of the palaeoecological evidence of change in the aquatic ecosystems of the Basin sheds light on what are the principal drivers of change across the region and provides guidance as to how these systems can be best restored. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spurious etymologies : Toponymic books and town name identities on the Murray river

- Kostanski, Laura

  • Authors: Kostanski, Laura
  • Date: 2005
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Victorian Historical Journal Vol. 76, no. 2 (2005), p. 211-224
  • Full Text:
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: This paper identifies the historical-cultural processes represented by the published etymologies of the town names of the Murray River. In particular, it will focus on Victorian and Australian toponymic reference books, and the effects they have had on the representations of local Murray River town histories. There will also be some discussion on how, instead of being limited to mere reference material for tourists, toponymic books have been used by local historians as sources for determining the history of their place names. Moreover, consideration will be given to specific cases where spurious etymologies published in toponymic books in the early part of the twentieth century, have been republished in later toponymic reference books, and eventually adopted as part of local town histories. This process will be discussed in line with Geoffrey Blainey’s critique of ‘scissors and paste in local history’.
  • Description: C1
  • Description: 2003001176

Assessing change in floodplain wetland condition in the Murray Darling Basin

- Gell, Peter, Reid, Michael

  • Authors: Gell, Peter , Reid, Michael
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: Symposium on Australia-China Wetland Network Research Partnership; Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGLAS) Nanjing, China; 23rd-28th December 2014 p. 27-35
  • Full Text:
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: Lowland Australian rivers and their floodplains have been affected by the progressive introduction of agriculture, flow regulation and invasive exotic species for more than a century. In the context of this complex suite of stressors, our capacity to understand and mitigate the causes of ecosystem change is limited by the lack of historical records of the condition of ecosystems over the past 200 to 300 years. However, records of change over this critical time period can be established through analysis of sedimentary records. Such records can be used to provide benchmarks of the range of natural conditions prior to European settlement and, by providing a long time series of conditions, enhanced capacity to detect trends and trajectories of change. Over the past two decades, more than 50 sediment records from billabongs, lagoons and waterholes throughout the Murray-Darling Basin have been subject to palaeoecological analysis. The picture that emerges from these studies is of ecosystems that have undergone substantial ecological change in response to human activities; however, there are also intriguing differences in the timing and nature of change experienced by aquatic ecosystems in different parts of the Murray-Darling Basin. These patterns of ecosystem response appear to reflect underlying differences in the resilience of these ecosystems in relation to different anthropogenic stressors, which, in turn, may result in contrasting hydrologic, geomorphologic and climatic contexts. This paper presents an attempt to systematically compile and summarise the palaeoecological evidence of change in the aquatic ecosystems of the Murray-Darling Basin and, in so doing, shed light on what the principal drivers of change are in floodplain wetlands across the basin, and hence provide guidance as to how these systems can be best preserved and restored.

Influence of River Murray water on River Torrens' water quality

- Tibby, John, Cox, Asta, Gell, Peter

  • Authors: Tibby, John , Cox, Asta , Gell, Peter
  • Date: 2010
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Adelaide: Water of a city p.
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: "Transfers of River Murray water to the River Torrens commenced in 1955. This box focuses on the water quality impacts of this transfer on River Torrens storages."

The palaeolimnological record from lake Cullulleraine, lower Murray River (south-east Australia) : Implications for understanding riverine histories

- Fluin, Jenny, Tibby, John, Gell, Peter

  • Authors: Fluin, Jenny , Tibby, John , Gell, Peter
  • Date: 2009
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Paleolimnology Vol. , no. (2009), p. 1-14
  • Full Text:
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: Australia's largest river system, the Murray-Darling Basin, is the focus of scientific and political attention, due mainly to the competing issues of economic productivity versus environmental flows. Central to this dialogue is the need to know about the Basin's natural condition and the degree to which the system has deviated from this pre-disturbance, baseline status. This study examines the patterns of ecological change in Lake Cullulleraine, a permanently connected artificial wetland adjacent to Lock Nine on the Murray River, south-east Australia. A 43-cm sediment core was collected in January 1998 and diatoms were analysed at 1-cm intervals for use as aquatic ecological indicators. The sediment core was dated using 210Pb. Changes in the diatom community have occurred since the time of lake formation in 1926, particularly shifts between Aulacoseira subborealis, Staurosira construens var. venter, Aulacoseira granulata, Staurosirella pinnata and Pseudostaurosira brevistriata. An electrical conductivity (EC) transfer function was applied to the fossil diatom assemblages and inferred EC values were compared to long-term, historical EC data from the River. Despite the presence of good analogues between fossil and modern diatom assemblages, inferred EC did not reflect measured EC accurately. In recent decades, patterns in the two data sets were reversed. Despite clear changes in the fossil record, quantitative palaeo-environmental interpretation was limited because the dominant taxa occupy broad ecological niches. Despite these limitations, changes in the Lake Cullulleraine record, particularly in the planktonic taxa, can be interpreted in terms of landscape change. Furthermore, because of the good chronology from the site, the record may be useful for dating changes observed in sites with poor chronological control. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
  • 1