Toolibin Lake is a seasonal

fresh Fresh or FRESH may refer to: People *DJ Fresh (born 1977), UK-based drum and bass artist *DJ Fresh (producer), US-based R&B producer born Marqus Brown Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Fresh'' (1994 film), a crime film * ''Fresh'' (200 ...

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estua ...

perched lake or wooded

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

, in south-western Australia. The lake is contained with a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

and it is located about south-east of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, in the

Shire of Narrogin The Shire of Narrogin is a local government area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, about south-east of the state capital, Perth. The seat of government is in the town of Narrogin. Until 2016, when the two entities merged, the Na ...

, and east of the town of Narrogin, in the Wheatbelt 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 lake is listed by the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

as a threatened

ecological community In ecology, a community is a group or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area at the same time, also known as a biocoenosis, biotic community, biological community, ecological community, ...

under the ''

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

''.

Description

The lake lies in the catchment of the upper

Blackwood River The Blackwood River is a major river and catchment in the South West of Western Australia. Course The river begins at the junction of Arthur River and Balgarup River near Quelarup and travels in a south westerly direction through the tow ...

at an altitude of

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. It is about in area and in diameter, has a maximum depth of , and is one of the last remaining inland freshwater lakes found in south-western Australia. It is one of a chain of wetlands occupying a palaeodrainage valley forming part of the northern Arthur River system. Most of it is covered with a

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

of water tolerant tree species, with a large open area on the eastern side. Many other Wheatbelt wetlands formerly supported a vegetation community and ecosystem similar to that of Toolibin, but clearing for agriculture has resulted in most such sites becoming saline with a concomitant loss of emergent vegetation. Toolibin is the only major lake in the catchment that has not become completely saline. Toolibin Lake lies in a low rainfall area of the Wheatbelt with an average annual rainfall of 400 mm, mainly falling in May–August, with annual evaporation of 1800 mm. It usually only holds water at certain times of year; sometimes drying out completely for several years; sometimes holding water for extended periods.

Ramsar site

Toolibin Lake is recognised as a wetland of international importance under the

Ramsar Convention on Wetlands 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 ...

, under which it was designated Ramsar Site 483 on 7 June 1990. The Ramsar site includes the entire area of the lake with some adjacent land on the northern, western and southern sides of the lake added in 2001 since the original site nomination, ensuring a buffer zone of at least 100 m width around most of the lake.

Flora and fauna

Toolibin is the only remaining example in Southwest Australia of a wetland with extensive living thickets of swamp sheoak and the paperbark ''

Melaleuca strobophylla ''Melaleuca strobophylla'' is a shrub or small tree in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has papery bark, sharply pointed, twisted leaves and rather long spikes of creamy white flowers in summer ...

'' on the lake fringes and bed - one of the main wetland types in the region prior to agricultural development there.

Flooded gum Flooded gum may refer to the following tree species: *''Eucalyptus grandis'', from eastern Australia *''Eucalyptus rudis'', from Western Australia *''Eucalyptus tereticornis ''Eucalyptus tereticornis'', commonly known as forest red gum, blue gum ...

, acorn banksia and

rock sheoak ''Allocasuarina huegeliana'', commonly known as rock sheoak or sighing sheoak, is a tree in the family Casuarinaceae. Endemic to Western Australia, it occurs mostly throughout the Wheatbelt region. It is now especially common on road verges, w ...

woodland occur on the higher ground and deep sands surrounding the lake. The vegetation includes submerged aquatic plants and sedges around the lake. The vegetation community provides habitat, now rare in the central wheatbelt, for woodland birds and other animals. Toolibin and its environs support more breeding

waterbird A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...

species — up to 25, including the rare

freckled duck The freckled duck (''Stictonetta naevosa)'' is a waterfowl species endemic to Australia. The freckled duck has also been referred to as the monkey duck or oatmeal duck. These birds are usually present in mainland Australia, but disperse to coas ...

, cormorants, egrets, night herons and spoonbills — than any other inland wetland in south-western Australia. It also supports a population of the

threatened Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensat ...

red-tailed phascogale The red-tailed phascogale (''Phascogale calura''), also known as the red-tailed wambenger, red-tailed mousesack or kenngoor, is a small carnivorous marsupial found in inland areas of south-western Western Australia, and has been reintroduced in ...

Conservation

The main threats to Toolibin’s ecological community are salinisation and waterlogging due to clearing of the catchment for dry-land agriculture, particularly wool and cereal grain production; eutrophication caused by run-off containing agricultural fertilizers; invasive

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

s changing the structure of the ecosystem and reducing natural vegetation available for food and shelter for animals; and grazing of regenerating seedlings by

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

s, livestock and

rabbits Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit specie ...

. Actions to recover the environmental values of the lake and its catchment include the reduction of recharge – including revegetation and the protection of remnant vegetation; changes in farming methods, such as

contour farming Contour bunding or contour farming or Contour ploughing is the farming practice of plowing and/or planting across a slope following its elevation contour lines. These contour lines create a water break which reduces the formation of rills and g ...

and the use of perennial grasses for grazing; the management of surface water in the catchment to reduce waterlogging of farmland, to decrease the salinity of water entering the lake, and to decrease salt loading of the lake; and groundwater pumping to lower the water table beneath the lake.

References

{{Wetlands Nature reserves in Western Australia Ramsar sites in Australia Swamps of Australia Perched lakes Lakes of the Wheatbelt (Western Australia) Lakes of the South West (Western Australia) DIWA-listed wetlands Avon Wheatbelt