Australia restored Murray River with timber; Murray cod abundance tripled

Restoring woody habitat in a degraded section of Australia's Murray River has led to a major increase in the populations of two native fish species. In the research carried out over seven years, the number of Murray cod in the restored reach increased threefold, while the population of golden perch increased twofold. The aim of the study was to examine whether adding large pieces of coarse woody habitat could increase fish populations. The study was published in Ecological Applications in 2019.During the study, researchers put 4,450 pieces of coarse woody habitat back into about 110 km of the Murray River in south-eastern Australia. The timber was placed between 2007 and 2010 in four priority zones. Most of the pieces weighed more than one tonne and came from natural trees recovered from a large road project.