Lake Muir Nature Reserve is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

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 ...

. It encompasses

Lake Muir Lake Muir is a freshwater lake, with a larger surrounding wetlands area, that is located in the South West region of Western Australia. The lake lies near Muirs Highway, north of Walpole and southeast of Manjimup. Description The lake has a ...

and several smaller lakes and wetlands. It is an important refuge for water birds, and home to several rare plants and plant communities.

Geography

The reserve is located in the

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

region, in the shires of Manjimup and Cranbook, 55 km south east of Manjimup.Muir Byenup Wetlands
South West NRM Strategy, South West Catchments Council. Accessed 3 May 2022. The lakes and swamps form a partly-interconnected system. They vary in size, with Lake Muir the largest. The lakes and swamps also vary in salinity, from freshwater to saline, and include both seasonal and permanent wetlands on peat and inorganic substrates.

Muirs Highway Muirs Highway is a Western Australian highway linking Manjimup and Mount Barker on the Albany Highway. It is signed as State Route 102 and is long. It provides a shorter distance between Manjimup and Albany. It is a lonely highway surrounde ...

passes through the northern end of the reserve, north of Lake Muir. Lake Muir Observatory is located off the highway at the north end of the lake. It has an observatory and 110-metre boardwalk for viewing the lake along with shelter, picnic tables, and toilets, and is a popular rest stop for travelers.Lake Muir Observatory
Department of Parks and Wildlife, Government of Western Australia. Accessed 4 March 2022. The reserve is bounded on the south by

Lake Muir National Park Lake Muir National Park is a national park in Western Australia, located south east of Perth to the south of Muirs Highway in the Shire of Manjimup. Lake Muir and the Muir-Byenup System, a complex of lakes and wetlands, are located in Lake Mu ...

Flora and fauna

The reserve protects several wetland plant communities which are now rare outside coastal

Southwest Australia 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 Aus ...

. The swamps are mostly dominated by

sedge The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' wit ...

s and shrubs, and the reserve includes the largest natural sedgelands in Western Australia. The swamps are home to three species of nationally vulnerable orchids – Harrington's spider orchid ('' Caladenia harringtoniae''), Christine's spider orchid ('' Caladenia christineae''), and the tall donkey orchid (''

Diuris drummondii ''Diuris drummondii'', commonly known as the tall donkey orchid is a species of orchid which is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is the tallest ''Diuris'' and is distinguished from the similar ''Diuris emarginata'' by its lar ...

''). The open lakes are used for

moulting In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body (often, but not always, an outer ...

by thousands of

Australian shelduck The Australian shelduck (''Tadorna tadornoides''), also known as the chestnut-breasted shelduck or mountain duck, is a shelduck, a group of large goose-like ducks part of the bird family Anatidae. The genus name ''Tadorna'' comes from Celtic root ...

(''Tadorna tadornoides''), and provide a drought refuge for tens of thousands of ducks and other water birds, including

Australian little bittern The black-backed bittern (''Ixobrychus dubius''), also known as the black-backed least bittern or Australian little bittern, is a little-known species of heron in the family Ardeidae found in Australia and vagrant to southern New Guinea. Formerl ...

(''Ixobrychus dubius''),

spotless crake The spotless crake (''Zapornia tabuensis'') is a species of bird in the rail family, Rallidae. It is widely distributed species occurring from the Philippines, New Guinea and Australia, across the southern Pacific Ocean to the Marquesas Islands a ...

(''Zapornia tabuensis''),

black swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon c ...

(''Cygnus atratus''), and

eurasian coot The Eurasian coot (''Fulica atra''), also known as the common coot, or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-bla ...

(''Fulica atra''). The swamps support a significant population of

Australasian bittern The Australasian bittern (''Botaurus poiciloptilus''), also known as the brown bittern or matuku hūrepo, and also nicknamed the "bunyip bird", is a large bird in the heron family Ardeidae. A secretive bird with a distinctive booming call, it is ...

(''Botaurus poiciloptilus''). Vulnerable fauna present in the reserve include

Balston's pygmy perch Balston's pygmy perch (''Nannatherina balstoni''), also known as Balston's perchlet, or king river perchlet, is a species of temperate perch endemic to Southwest Australia, where it occurs in coastal streams, ponds, lakes, and swamps. It prefers ...

(''Nannatherina balstoni''),

Muir's corella Muir's corella (''Cacatua pastinator pastinator'') is a stocky, medium-sized white cockatoo endemic to Western Australia. It was the threatened nominate subspecies of the western corella.Anon. (2007). ''Muir’s Corella''. (Fauna Note No.4). Dep ...

(''Cacatua pastinator pastinator''), forest red-tailed black cockatoo (''Calyptorhynchus banksii''),

chuditch The western quoll (''Dasyurus geoffroii'') is Western Australia's largest endemic mammalian carnivore. One of the many marsupial mammals native to Australia, it is also known as the chuditch. The species is currently classed as near-threatened. ...

(''Dasyurus geoffroii''),

numbat The numbat (''Myrmecobius fasciatus''), also known as the noombat or walpurti, is an insectivorous marsupial. It is diurnal and its diet consists almost exclusively of termites. The species was once widespread across southern Australia, but ...

(''Myrmecobius fasciatus''),

woylie The woylie or brush-tailed bettong (''Bettongia penicillata'') is a small, critically endangered, gerbil-like mammal native to forests and shrubland of Australia. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it moves by hopping and is acti ...

(''Bettongia penicillata''), and

quokka The quokka (''Setonix brachyurus'', ) is a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat. It is the only member of the genus ''Setonix''. Like other marsupials in the macropod family (such as kangaroos and wallabies), the quokka is herbivo ...

(''Setonix brachyurus'').

Conservation

The reserve was designated in 2001. It was designated a wetland of international importance under the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...

in the same year. The Ramsar site covers an area of 10,631 ha.

References

{{reflist

External links

Muir-Byenup System
Ramsar Sites Information Service
Muir Byenup Wetlands
South West Catchments Council Nature reserves in Western Australia Ramsar sites in Australia South West (Western Australia) Jarrah Forest