Study investigates how river species cope with climate change

The impact of climate change on the quality of water and the ecosystems that depend on it is the focus of a collaborative research project led by the University of Canberra.

Dr Fiona Dyer, a freshwater scientist from the university’s Institute for Applied Ecology, is leading the project, which will test how rivers and the plant and animal species that inhabit them respond to changes in climate.

“We are looking for changes in climate that push species beyond where they can cope,” Dr Dyer said. “We are trying to find the thresholds that will result in us losing lots of species or causing serious stress to our ecosystems.”

Dr Dyer said they will start their research by “using historical data to find relationships between climate, land use and management practices and water quality”.

She explained that they will then use these relationships to predict the implications of different climate scenarios for changes in water quality both in groundwater - which is the water found in cracks and spaces in underground soil, sand and rock - and at surface level.

This information, she said, will assist planning and management agencies make informed decisions regarding the quantity and quality of water for supply and discharge to meet sustainable needs.

Dr Dyer and her colleagues from the University of Canberra, the Australian National University and Charles Sturt University will also look at understanding the complex relationship between community values, climate-driven responses of the creatures living in the rivers and water management.

This research is part of Murray-Darling Basin Futures (MDBfutures^CRN), a comprehensive cross-disciplinary collaboration network between four Australian universities and key government partners that will bring together extensive expertise to generate relevant research towards building resilience in the Murray-Darling Basin.

Led by the University of Canberra, MDBfutures^CRN commenced in 2011 and will receive $6.3 million in funding from the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIISRTE) over three years. An additional $6.1 million in cash and contributions from partners will be injected into the project.