The Lower Lakes, South Australia.

CLLAMMecology: towards a system understanding of the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth

Cluster overview

• Improving water benefits
• Final report
• Projects 
• Collaboration funding 
• Partners in world-class research

Improving water benefits

The Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth (CLLAMM) region of the River Murray is an environmental asset of international significance which has been threatened by low flows, rising salinity and other issues of environmental degradation.

To inform management initiatives to halt and reverse the degradation of the estuary, the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship established the CLLAMMecology Research Cluster in late 2006.

Completed in June 2009, the cluster was the first comprehensive ecological research program in the Coorong region, and the largest Australian research project looking at the response of estuarine waterbirds and fish to environmental flows.

The cluster brought together scientists from a diverse range of disciplines including hydrodynamics, spatial analysis and bird and fish ecology.

Supported by the National Research Flagship Collaboration Fund, CLLAMMecology developed ecological knowledge and modelling tools to help inform government policy and support management.

Final report

The final report is now available:

Brookes JD, Lamontagne S, Aldridge KT, Benger S, Bissett A, Bucater L, Cheshire AC, Cook PLM, Deegan BM, Dittmann S, Fairweather PG, Fernandes MB, Ford PW, Geddes MC, Gillanders BM, Grigg NJ, Haese RR, Krull E, Langley RA, Lester RE, Loo M, Munro AR, Noell CJ, Nayar S, Paton DC, Revill AT, Rogers DJ, Rolston A, Sharma SK, Short DA, Tanner JE, Webster IT, Wellman NR, Ye Q. 2009. Ecosystem Assessment Framework to Guide Management of the Coorong. Final Report of the CLLAMMecology Research Cluster. CSIRO: Water for a Healthy Country National Research Flagship, Canberra. [external link, PDF 6.3 MB]

Projects

The decision-support management framework developed by the Cluster has been delivered through four linked research themes:

Key species responses to water management This project involved mapping the responses of key species to changes in aquatic environments and water management regimes in the Coorong region of South Australia.

Sustaining food webs within the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth region This project delivered information and models that can be used to investigate the effects of river flows on the production and use of organic matter at the ecosystem level in the Coorong and Murray Mouth region.

Dynamic habitat of the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth (CLLAMM) This project delivered dynamic habitat maps and models that can be used to investigate the effects of river flows on key plant and animal species in the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth (CLLAMM) region of South Australia.

The future of the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth (CLLAMM) This CLLAMMecology Cluster project provided a window on alternate futures of the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth (CLLAMM) region, with models informed by research into key species, food webs and habitat.

Collaboration funding

The partnership received A$2.2 million from the CSIRO Collaboration Fund with partner contributions taking the total investment to A$5.3 million over three years.

Partners in world-class research

Our research partners include:

• The University of Adelaide, South Australia
• Flinders University of South Australia
• South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) - Aquatic Sciences, Adelaide.

Management agencies supporting the program include the:

• Department of Environment & Heritage (SA)
• Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation (SA)
• Murray-Darling Basin Commission
• South Australian Lower Murray Coordinating Committee.

Geoscience Australia, Land and Water Australia and the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation have also provided funding and research collaboration, including the following work:

Nutrient sources and sinks in the Coorong Geoscience Australia and the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth Ecology Research Cluster (CLLAMMecology) have established a partnership to investigate nutrient sources and sinks in the Coorong in South Australia.

Research into the Lower Lakes as a food source for the Coorong and Murray Mouth Land and Water Australia and the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth Ecology Research Cluster (CLLAMMEcology) have established a partnership to investigate the role of the Lower Lakes as a food source for the Coorong and Murray Mouth in South Australia.

To read the final fact sheet summarising the work, go to CLLAMMecology Research Cluster Brochure July 2009.