Macrophytes and other water plants in the Murrumbidgee River, ACT: A report to the ACT Government Office of Nature Conservation

Macrophytes (water plants) are important components of freshwater ecosystems yet relatively
little is known about the distribution and abundance of macrophyte species, which limits the
capacity of managers to make informed decisions. This research aimed to build current
knowledge of macrophytes and other water plants in the Murrumbidgee River in the ACT to help
inform future management and policy. The focus was on plant species which require surface water
to be present during at least one life stage.
Records of macrophytes (including all aquatic, amphibious and terrestrial damp plants), were
collated from the Australian Virtual Herbarium (AVH), which includes the records of the Atlas of
Living Australia (ALA) and Canberra NatureMap, and a one-day survey undertaken by the
University of Canberra (UC). To investigate the relationship between species records and local
hydrogeomorphic processes and landforms, species records were mapped along with river
geomorphic characteristics (slope, valley width) which had been extracted from the 1-meter
Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for the ACT.