Exploitation by Common Carp (Cyprinus Carpio) of A Floodplain Wetland of The Lower River Murray Under Drought and Flooding Conditions

AbstractCommon carp Cyprinus carpio are a declared pest fish throughout the Murray-Darling Basin. Successful management of this highly-invasive species aimed at mitigating its detrimental effects on aquatic ecosystems is therefore a priority issue for wetland restoration and rehabilitation programmes for the benefit of native fish communities. as part of a large-scale, field-based experiment on carp impacts, a population of carp was extensively sampled from 2009 to 2011 at Brenda Park wetland (lower River Murray, South Australia) under both drought and flooding conditions. a consistent young-of-year (YoY) cohort was present in the 2009–10 breeding season, indicating successful spawning within the wetland. However, the same cohort appeared not to leave the wetland later in the season, possibly as a result of drought-induced low-flow conditions. Conversely, there was no evidence for within-wetland spawning in 2010–11 and 2011–12. Following a major flood event in Summer/autumn 2011, a consistent stock-size (...