Barmah National Park

The Barmah National Park is known as a temperate semi-arid region, with low rainfall and high evaporation. Average temperature maximums for the year are around in January and February, with average minimum temperatures down to in July. Average rainfall for the year is , with the most rain falling in winter with an average monthly rainfall of . == History ==

The Barmah Forest was originally utilised by Indigenous Australians, including the Yorta Yorta and Bangerang people, to find food, shelter and materials. Following the settlement of Europeans into the area, Barmah Forest became an important fishing and logging area, with surrounding land cleared for agriculture and grazing. Rabbits, foxes, sheep, cattle and horses were introduced into the area. Hardwood timber was harvested from the Barmah region from around 1870, Cattle grazing was banned in all river red gum national parks in 2015. The park contains a large population of wild horses, which mainly originate from free roaming horses that either escaped or were purposely released for breeding stock in the mid 1800s. Stock released by a local trotting horse breeder after 1952 bolstered their population after the last great roundup of 1949, when approximately 70 wild horses remained in the Barmah Forest. Barmah State Park was established in 1987, The park is one of four river red gum national parks The forest was renamed as the Murray Valley National Park, making the combined reserves a crossborder national park, managed by both governments and the traditional owners. == Changes to flooding ==

The Barmah Choke and the Narrows, a section of the Murray River where flow is restricted by a geological fault (the Cadell Fault), naturally cause the overflow of water into the Barmah Forest when the river flow is high. Historically, the Barmah National Park and surrounding river red gum forests would flood naturally in winter and spring in most years, and river flows were very low in late-summer and autumn. The construction of dams upstream from the Barmah National Park, from the 1920s onwards, has had a vast impact on the water flowing in the Murray River and instances of flooding, the flow of water is now highly regulated. The increased incidents of smaller summer and autumn floods, which affect low-lying areas of Barmah National Park, are sometimes caused by heavy rains. in the Barmah-Millewa Forest, which has a significant effect on forest and wetland ecology, degrading wetlands by interfering with the natural drying-out phase and by disrupting nutrient cycling processes. The supply of environmental water to Barmah Forest aims to: • Enhance the health of river red gum communities and aquatic vegetation in the wetlands and watercourses and on the floodplain, and promote the growth of floodplain marsh vegetation communities, particularly the extent of Moira grass • Maintain or increase available habitat for frogs and turtles • Provide feeding and nesting habitat for colonial nesting waterbirds • Provide native fish with access to a range of floodplain, riverine and refuge habitats including by delivering variable flows that promote spawning • Enable nutrient cycling (particularly carbon) between the floodplain and river through connectivity Provide early-season flushing of the lower floodplain to cycle nutrients during cooler conditions and reduce the risk of poor water quality events in summer == Ecology ==

The Barmah National Park is a river red gum forest, consisting of an upper storey of red gums, no shrub layer or middle storey, and a ground storey of native grasses, sedges and rushes. Threatened species of flora found in Barmah National Park the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (FFG), or the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EBPC). Many listed plant species do not have Wikipedia pages, more information can be found on the Vicflora database. Fauna Threatened species of native fauna occurring in Barmah National Park the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (FFG), or the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EBPC). == Environmental threats ==

Following European settlement of the area, land was extensively cleared to allow for farming and agriculture. Sheep and cattle grazing was a common sight around the Barmah region from the mid to late 1800s. The periodic burning previously undertaken by Indigenous Australians was also halted. This decrease has been attributed to the changes to the flood regimes occurring in the area. In the Murray-Darling Basin, prior to regulation of the Murray River, extensive Moira grass (Pseudoraphis spinescens) dominated floodplain marshes existed in areas that were typically seasonally flooded for 5–9 months duration in most years, to a minimum water depth of 0.5 m, and completely dry during late summer and autumn. Floodplain areas previously dominated by aquatic species, such as Moira grass, common reed (Phragmites australis), and cumbungi (Typha spp.), are now covered with species adapted to lower levels of flooding, mainly river red gums and giant rush (Juncus ingens). The extent of the Moira grass-dominated plains has declined by 96 per cent over the last 80 years in the Barmah Forest, and they are predicted to be extinct in the Barmah Forest by 2026 without management intervention. Reductions in duration and depth of natural flooding due to regulation of the Murray River, grazing and trampling pressure by introduced animals, particularly by feral horses (and previously cattle), and invasive plant species are the main causes of this decline. == Management ==

The Barmah Forest was declared as a national park by the Victorian Government in 2010 The park is managed as part of a collaboration between Parks Victoria and the traditional owners of the area, including the Yorta Yorta people. Flow regimes are also very important for native fish species populations. Therefore, the alterations to the management of river red gum forests and regulation of water flows within the Murray River will be a very important area of study into the future. Parks Victoria's plan to reverse environmental degradation and definitively improve management of Barmah National Park prioritises timing of seasonal flooding to promote the growth of floodplain vegetation and provides habitat for breeding waterbirds, control of invasive plants, and the eradication of introduced grazing animals including horses, deer, pigs and goats. The aims of management plans are to protect the floodplain marshes, including increasing the extent of Moira grass plains, and to improve the quality of habitat for native flora and fauna in the Barmah National Park. == Brumbies ==

In late 2018 and early 2019, during a nationwide drought, news reports began circulating about starving brumbies across Australia, including in Kosciuszko National Park, Removal of 100–250 feral horses per year from the national park is proposed, with passive trapping and rehoming of some feral horses if homes can be pre-arranged, and the remainder to be shot by contracted professional shooters. and opposed the rehoming or culling of any horses, stating that environmental flooding rather than overpopulation was responsible for the problems with the feral horses in the national park. ==See also==