
%0 Journal Article
%A Crome, FHJ 
%T To Drain or Not to Drain? &#8211;Intermittent Swamp Drainage and Waterbird Breeding
%J Emu
%D 1988/12/01
%V 88
%N 4
%P 243-248
%K 
%R https://doi.org/10.1071/MU9880243
%U https://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/MU9880243 
%X The breeding activity of waterbirds - ducks, cormorants, ibises, herons and grebes - are examined in relation to water level fluctuations at Booligal, N.S.W. In the swamp complex studied, most species bred best after a flood on a previously dried out basin. A rise in water level in an already wet basin had no effect. However, the specialist fishers - Darters, Little Black Cormorants and Intermediate Egrets - bred best when the swamps had been filled for some time and a climax of Ribbonweed and tish had developed. The importance of a previous drying phase to waterbird breeding rather than a flood is stressed and the usefulness of drying swamps intermittently in waterbird management considered. 
