The New South Wales Central Murray Forests lie on the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

of the Murray River in the

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

region of south-central

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. On 20 May 2003 the forests were recognised as a wetland site of international importance (RS1291) by designation 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 ...

Description

The 840 km² site comprises three geographically separate, though interrelated, areas: the Murray Valley National and Regional Parks, the Werai Forests, and the Koondrook–Perricoota Forests. They contain a wide variety of wetlands including rivers, lakes, drainage channels,

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

es and swamps. The site has a long history of water regulation for agriculture, as well as

pastoralism Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as " livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The a ...

and timber harvesting.

Flora and fauna

320 native plant species have been recorded in the New South Wales Murray Forests. The site is dominated by

river red gum ''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 ...

forest, with box woodland and

sandhill A sandhill is a type of ecological community or xeric wildfire-maintained ecosystem. It is not the same as a sand dune. It features very short fire return intervals, one to five years. Without fire, sandhills undergo ecological succession and bec ...

communities, and is subject to regular

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

ing. Importantly, there are trees of over 200 years of age present. Moira grass plains dominated by moira grass ('' Pseudoraphis spinescens'') are found on rises and river banks. Threatened species include the fish Murray cod,

trout cod The trout cod (''Maccullochella macquariensis'') or bluenose cod, is a large predatory freshwater fish of the genus ''Maccullochella'' and the family Percichthyidae, closely related to the Murray cod. It was originally widespread in the south ...

and Murray hardyhead, the birds Australian painted snipe,

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 ...

and superb parrot, as well as swamp wallaby grass. The forests provide shaded water as shelter and are important spawning grounds for native fish species. Native fish such as the golden perch (''

Macquaria ambigua ''Macquaria'' is a genus of medium-sized, predatory temperate perches endemic to Australia. They are found in rivers and estuaries of the eastern part of the continent. Species The currently recognized species in this genus are: * '' Macquaria ...

''), Murray cod and silver perch (''

Bidyanus bidyanus The silver perch (''Bidyanus bidyanus'') is a medium-sized freshwater fish of the family Terapontidae endemic to the Murray-Darling river system in south-eastern Australia. Taxonomy The silver perch's scientific name comes from an aboriginal ...

'') migrate as far as 300 km upstream and 900 km downstream.

References

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