__NOTOC__ Pike River Conservation Park 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 ...

located in the Australian state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

in the locality of Mundic Creek about north-east of the state capital of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and about south of the town of Paringa. The conservation park consists of crown land in section 66 the cadastral unit of the

Hundred of Paringa 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

. It came into existence on 1 February 1979 by proclamation under the ''

National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 Protected areas of South Australia consists of protected areas located within South Australia and its immediate onshore waters and which are managed by South Australian Government agencies. As of March 2018, South Australia contains 359 sepa ...

''. It is named after Pike River, a stream which flows through its eastern end. On 10 December 2009, crown land in section 84 of the Hundred of Paringa which was formerly the ''Mundic Forest Reserve'' was added to its extent. It is located at the northern end of the locality of Mundic Creek with a boundary adjoining the

Sturt Highway Sturt Highway is an Australian national highway in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is an important road link for the transport of passengers and freight between Sydney and Adelaide and the regions situated adjacent to the r ...

in east. As of 2016, it covered an area of . In 1980, it was described as follows:

Pike River Conservation Park protects part of a permanent wetland area and adjacent land on the River Murray flood plain. This area is a valuable feeding and breeding habitat for water birds. Dominant vegetation is open woodland of ''
Eucalyptus camaldulensis ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as the river red gum, is a tree that is endemic to Australia. It has smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers an ...
'' and '' E. largiflorens'' over an understorey of scattered '' Muehlenbeckia cunninghamii''. Areas of ''
Atriplex vesicaria ''Atriplex vesicaria'', commonly known as bladder saltbush, is a species of flowering plant of the family ''Amaranthaceae'' and is endemic to arid and semi-arid inland regions of Australia. It is an upright or sprawling shrub with scaly leaves a ...
'', ''
Bassia ''Bassia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species.Tecticornia ''Tecticornia'' is a genus of succulent, salt tolerant plants largely endemic to Australia. Taxa in the genus are commonly referred to as samphires. In 2007, the genus ''Halosarcia'', along with three other Australian genera (''Pachycornia'', ...
'' spp. Low shrublands are also found while reedbeds of ''
Typha ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in A ...
'' sp. and ''
Phragmites australis ''Phragmites australis'', known as the common reed, is a species of plant. It is a broadly distributed wetland grass that can grow up to tall. Description ''Phragmites australis'' commonly forms extensive stands (known as reed beds), which may ...
'' occupy lagoon shores. A small area above the flood plain is occupied by an open woodland of '' E oleosa'' and ''
Myoporum platycarpum ''Myoporum platycarpum'', known by several common names including sugarwood, false sandalwood and ngural is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is rounded with bright green foliage as a young shrub and roughly fissured, dark gr ...
''. The park only occupies a small portion of a large backwater system. Many of the large ''E. camaldulensis'' are dead and the understorey in some areas is dominated by introduced weed species.

The conservation park is classified as an

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

Category III protected area. In 1980, it was listed on the now-defunct

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...

References

External links

Pike River Conservation Park webpage on the Protected Planet website
{{Protected areas of South Australia, state=collapsed Conservation parks of South Australia Protected areas established in 1979 1979 establishments in Australia Riverland South Australian places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate

See also

References

External links