Lake Bryde-East Lake Bryde is a DIWA-listed freshwater

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

system located in the Great Southern region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The system consists of two lakes: Lake Bryde, with an area of ; and East Lake Bryde, with an area of about . They are located at the head of a chain of lakes that extend to

Lake Magenta Lake Magenta is an ephemeral salt lake in the Wheatbelt (Western Australia), Wheatbelt area of Western Australia. The lake is located north-east of Jerramungup, Western Australia, Jerramungup and east of Pingrup, Western Australia, Pingrup. ...

, and ultimately form part of the

Swan Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...

- Avon drainage system.

Description

The system is situated in the

Shire of Kent The Shire of Kent is a local government area in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, about southeast of Perth, the state capital. The Shire covers an area of and its seat of government is the town of Nyabing. The area produces gr ...

, south-west of Newdegate. It in part of the Western Mallee

biogeographic Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

subregion of the Mallee region of the

South West Botanic Province Southwest Australia is a biogeographic region in Western Australia. It includes the Mediterranean-climate area of southwestern Australia, which is home to a diverse and distinctive flora and fauna. The region is also known as the Southwest Au ...

. The Lake Bryde-East Lake Bryde system contains the only

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

-dominated lake bed vegetation community in the province. This community, which consists mainly of the critically endangered ''Muehlenbeckia horrida'' subsp. ''abdita'' (Remote Thorny Lignum) and ''

Tecticornia verrucosa ''Tecticornia verrrucosa'' is a species of plant that is succulent and halophyte (salt tolerant). This plant was a member of the Chenopodiaceae, which are now included in family Amaranthaceae. ''T. verrucosa'' was first described in 1972 by ...

'', has been declared a critically endangered

threatened ecological community Threatened ecological community is a term used in Australia for ecosystems that are in danger of being lost due to some threatening process. Federally, threatened ecological communities are identified and protected under the ''Environment Protectio ...

under the name "Bryde". The lakes experience a regular cycle of freshwater flooding followed by gradual drying, and their vegetation depends upon that cycle for its survival. Since the 1980s, rises in the

water table The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated. T ...

caused by extensive land clearing for agriculture has resulted in greatly increased

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...

of the area, increasing the lakes' salt load from 160 tons to around 1200 tons. Furthermore, changes to the area's

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...

have greatly increased the frequency of flooding. These factors have caused a severe decline in the extent and condition of the shrub beds. Because of the threat to ''M. h.'' subsp. ''abdita'' and the ecological community as a whole, the lakes are protected by the Lake Bryde Nature Reserve. The lake system has been identified as important to bird life, with sixteen bird species recorded there. It has also been found to support a substantially greater diversity of aquatic invertebrates than surrounding lake systems.

References

{{reflist DIWA-listed wetlands Nature reserves in Western Australia Bryde, Lake

Description

See also

References