Non-indigenous weedsNon-indigenous weeds

Non-indigenous weeds

Changes to water regimes, water depth and surrounding land management has led to changes in terrestrial and aquatic plant species and structure associated with wetlands. These changes may advantage native and non-native plant species that are invasive and consequently negatively affect the habitat for the Australian Painted Snipe. For example, in the Murray–Darling Basin the introduced mat-forming plant Lippia (or Fog-fruit, Phyla canescens) has infected large areas. This plant out-competes native grasses (which are preferred livestock fodder) in areas subject to infrequent inundation and thus is favoured by the current regime of reduced frequency and duration of floodplain inundation. In response, landholders have opted to convert natural wetlands to cropland, thus ultimately removing habitat of the Australian Painted Snipe and other waterbirds.