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menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-6297"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/weir-walls-and-fishways/">Weirs & fishways</a></li> <li id="menu-item-6296" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-6296"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/walking-tracks-viewing-platforms-bridges-and-street-lighting/">Paths & lights</a></li> <li id="menu-item-6293" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-6293"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/use-of-heavy-machinery-in-and-near-waterways/">Use of heavy equipment</a></li> <li id="menu-item-6298" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-6298"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/pumps-and-small-scale-hydropower-generators/">Pumps & generators</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="menu-item-11698" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-has-children menu-item-11698"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-biology/">Platypus 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href="https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-body-temperature/">Body temperature</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11656" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11656"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-venom-and-spurs/">Venom and spurs</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11657" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11657"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-genetics-and-dispersal/">Genetics and dispersal</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11658" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11658"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-sleep-and-dreaming/">Sleep and dreaming</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="menu-item-1999" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-has-children menu-item-1999"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/ecology-behaviour/">Platypus Ecology & Behaviour</a> <ul class="sub-menu"> <li id="menu-item-11666" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11666"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-foraging-behaviour/">Foraging behaviour</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11667" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11667"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-diet-and-food-consumption/">Diet and food consumption</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11668" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11668"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-home-range-movements-and-dispersal/">Home range and movements</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11669" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11669"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-burrows/">Burrows</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11670" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11670"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-reproduction/">Reproduction</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11671" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11671"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-courtship-mating-and-nest-building/">Courtship, mating and nest-building</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11672" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11672"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-communication/">Communication</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11673" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11673"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-mortality-factors/">Mortality factors</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="menu-item-2003" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-has-children menu-item-2003"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/evolution-names/">Names & Evolution</a> <ul class="sub-menu"> <li id="menu-item-11638" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11638"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-names-including-whats-the-plural-of-platypus/">Names (including “What’s the plural of platypus?”)</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11640" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11640"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/the-platypuss-fossil-history/">Fossil history</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11641" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11641"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/echidnas-the-other-modern-monotremes/">Echidnas – the other modern monotremes</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="menu-item-2001" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-has-children menu-item-2001"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/distribution-numbers/">Platypus Status</a> <ul class="sub-menu"> <li id="menu-item-12577" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-12577"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/conservation-status/">Platypus conservation status</a></li> <li id="menu-item-12578" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-12578"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/distribution/">Platypus distribution</a></li> <li id="menu-item-12576" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-12576"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/population-size-and-density/">Platypus abundance</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="menu-item-1998" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-has-children menu-item-1998"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/faqs/">FAQs & Myths</a> <ul class="sub-menu"> <li id="menu-item-12574" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-12574"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/some-platypus-faqs/">Some platypus FAQs</a></li> <li id="menu-item-12575" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-12575"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-myths/">Some platypus myths</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="menu-item-11819" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-has-children menu-item-11819"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/rakali-master/">Rakali</a> <ul class="sub-menu"> <li id="menu-item-11774" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11774"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/rakali-size-and-general-features/">Size and general features</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11793" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11793"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/rakali-distribution-and-habitats/">Distribution and habitats</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11770" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11770"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/rakali-names-and-origin/">Names and origin</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11785" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11785"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/rakali-spatial-use-and-shelter-sites/">Spatial use and shelter sites</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11779" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11779"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/rakali-diet-and-foraging-behaviour/">Diet and foraging behaviour</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11782" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11782"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/rakali-reproduction/">Reproduction</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11789" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11789"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/rakali-conservation-status-and-concerns/">Rakali conservation status</a></li> <li id="menu-item-11791" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-11791"><a href="https://platypus.asn.au/coexistence-of-rakali-and-platypus/">Coexistence of rakali and platypus</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="menu-item-19" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-privacy-policy menu-item-19"><a rel="privacy-policy" href="https://platypus.asn.au/about/">About the Conservancy</a></li> <li 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</div> </header> <div id="content" class="site-content"> <div id="primary" class="content-area"> <main id="main" class="site-main" role="main"> <article id="post-11961" class="post-11961 page type-page status-publish hentry"> <header class="entry-header"> <h2 class="entry-title">Dams, weirs and the platypus</h2> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <div class="featured-image"> </div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img data-recalc-dims="1" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="663" height="490" data-attachment-id="2049" data-permalink="https://platypus.asn.au/spring-ck-strathbogie/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/spring-ck-strathbogie.jpg?fit=663%2C490&ssl=1" data-orig-size="663,490" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.8","credit":"","camera":"Canon PowerShot S45","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1083333545","copyright":"","focal_length":"7.09375","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0.01","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Spring Ck Strathbogie" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/spring-ck-strathbogie.jpg?fit=300%2C222&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/spring-ck-strathbogie.jpg?fit=663%2C490&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/spring-ck-strathbogie.jpg?resize=663%2C490&ssl=1" alt="The pool habitat created by this small weir is likely to be a good place for a platypus to feed. " class="wp-image-2049" style="width:378px;height:auto"/></figure></div> <p class="has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-c5ce349ce8fc2aa3e8f4280a37f12414">The pools found behind small dams and weirs (as shown above) often provide excellent platypus feeding habitat, contribute to regular successful breeding and serve as important drought refuges. Research has also shown that relatively low weir walls (potentially up to as much as 10 metres high depending on their design) may also be quite easy for a platypus to navigate or bypass (Serena et al. 2023; Musser et al. 2024).</p> <p class="has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-568c7a5f6e57abbdd393b4d55a139232">In contrast, because a platypus prefers to feed in relatively shallow water (ideally 1-3 metres deep), much of the impounded pool area behind a major dam wall may not be suitable for platypus foraging purposes. Nonetheless, platypus have reportedly been seen since 2000 on 60% of the major (ANCOLD-listed) Victorian weir pools in which a platypus population is known or highly likely to occur upstream (Serena et al. 2023).  This presumably reflects the fact that suitable foraging habitat is present in shallow backwaters or inlets around the weir pool perimeter or at the upper end of the weir pool where it grades into an incoming creek or river.</p> <p class="has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-ca39cbc7d2f7547b191d779234f368e3">Large dams and weirs may also be problematic to platypus populations in other ways.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="748" height="499" data-attachment-id="11965" data-permalink="https://platypus.asn.au/dams-weirs-and-the-platypus/col2-019-u-col-res-walls/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Col2-019-U-Col-res-walls.jpg?fit=4608%2C3072&ssl=1" data-orig-size="4608,3072" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"8","credit":"","camera":"NIKON D3100","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1540720954","copyright":"","focal_length":"50","iso":"100","shutter_speed":"0.004","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Col2-019-U-Col-res-walls" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Col2-019-U-Col-res-walls.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Col2-019-U-Col-res-walls.jpg?fit=748%2C499&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Col2-019-U-Col-res-walls.jpg?resize=748%2C499&ssl=1" alt="A platypus would be unable to climb these vertical steps located below a weir." class="wp-image-11965" style="width:504px;height:auto" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Col2-019-U-Col-res-walls.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Col2-019-U-Col-res-walls.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Col2-019-U-Col-res-walls.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Col2-019-U-Col-res-walls.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Col2-019-U-Col-res-walls.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Col2-019-U-Col-res-walls.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Col2-019-U-Col-res-walls.jpg?w=2244&ssl=1 2244w" sizes="(max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px" /></figure></div> <p class="has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-ca11120930882f0e4687a489374fd7ca">First, though the platypus is surprisingly good at scrambling up banks, these animals are generally unable to climb vertically stepped concrete surfaces that are more than about 15 centimetres high (Musser et al. 2024). Many dams and weirs are therefore expected to act as barriers to platypus movement, particularly if a platypus is unable to reach the bank to walk around a stepped surface because the channel is contained within vertically engineered walls (as shown above). This is supported by studies that have found that members of a platypus population located upstream of a substantial weir wall may differ genetically from animals located downstream of the structure, implying that the wall is impeding migration and genetic exchange (Furlan et al. 2013; Mijangos et al. 2022).</p> <p class="has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-c1fa84f99e6aa42abe17ee02a7787806">Furthermore, leaving the water to bypass a barrier will inevitably create a risk that a platypus is killed by a predator or otherwise gets in trouble. The amount of risk will depend on how far it has to travel across land, how much protective cover exists along the way, and whether a road must be crossed to reach water again (Serena et al. 2023).</p> <p class="has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-26f46d6b7d8c9e17ad87621e1cb05426">Second, regulating river flow downstream of a weir wall fundamentally changes the river’s ecology. For example, water is typically retained in reservoirs during winter and spring in southeastern Australia (when rainfall is usually high) and then released downstream in summer (when irrigation of crops and pastures occurs). The seasonal pattern of high and low flow downstream of a dam is therefore often reshaped to be the reverse of the natural pattern.</p> <p class="has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-2498dc5cf8401d6550bfb0d9471bd9ce">Depending on irrigation demand, the amount of outflow from a weir can also fluctuate much more dramatically and erratically than would have been the case historically – or be held unnaturally constant for extended periods of time. Water released from the bottom of a deep reservoir will also be colder than would have been true before the dam was built. In practice, though substantial platypus populations can demonstrably persist downstream of some large dams (Gust and Handasyde 1995; Hawke et al. 2019), altered patterns of river flow and cold-water pollution caused by dam operation may contribute to reduced platypus abundance (Hawke et al. 2019).</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="alignleft size-full is-resized"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="748" height="561" data-attachment-id="6174" data-permalink="https://platypus.asn.au/weir-walls-and-fishways/fish-ladder-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fish-ladder.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1024,768" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.8","credit":"","camera":"Canon PowerShot S45","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1088770129","copyright":"","focal_length":"7.09375","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0.00125","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Fish-ladder" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fish-ladder.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fish-ladder.jpg?fit=748%2C561&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fish-ladder.jpg?resize=748%2C561&ssl=1" alt="An example of a fish ladder that likely can also be used by a platypus." class="wp-image-6174" style="width:325px;height:auto" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fish-ladder.jpg?w=1024&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fish-ladder.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fish-ladder.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fish-ladder.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fish-ladder.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/platypus.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fish-ladder.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w" sizes="(max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px" /></figure></div> <p class="has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-88810eaa0dc2818d1563a9883f747a61">Most fish ladders (as shown at left) that are designed to help medium-to-large fish travel around a dam wall are also likely to be used by a platypus. River management is also becoming increasingly sophisticated as more becomes known about the seasonal flow requirements of platypus and other aquatic species. The biggest challenge is to ensure that sympathetic and effective management of shared water resources occurs even when surface water is in short supply during droughts.</p> <p class="has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-9b7678c9088b6829ae73d8caf9e39456"><em>Photos: APC</em></p> <p class="has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-ac31a16643d5af3fba3e084561deb493"><strong>LITERATURE CITED</strong></p> <p class="has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-ffb0e6f7cf2bf243200ef0d85bddf7d9"><em>Furlan EM, Griffiths J, Gust N, Handasyde KA, Grant TR, Gruber B and Weeks AR (2013) Dispersal patterns and population structuring among platypuses, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, throughout south-eastern Australia. Conservation Genetics 14, 837-853.</em></p> <p class="has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-0a694d23c7466ab3a115390a82800133"><em>Gust N and Handasyde K (1995) Seasonal variation in the ranging behaviour of the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) on the Goulburn River, Victoria. Australian Journal of Zoology 43, 193-208.  </em></p> <p class="has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-da3de7b048b2dba2ca3bd89a45794449"><em>Hawke T, Bino G and Kingsford RT (2020) Damming insights: variable impacts and implications of river regulation on platypus populations. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 31, 504-519.</em></p> <p class="has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-6e075171c7538016c0ceebb68d5c976c"><em>Mijangos JL, Bino G, Hawke T, Kolomyjec SH, Kingsford RT, Sidhu H, Grant T et al. (2022) Fragmentation by major dams and implications for the future viability of platypus populations. Communications Biology 5, 1127.</em></p> <p class="has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-9c23fd1ab9e76317681e21fc0a8b39ac"><em>Musser A, Grant T and Turak E (2024) Movement of platypuses around and through instream structures and natural barriers in the Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve, New South Wales. Australian Mammalogy in press, doi: 10.1071/AM23031.</em></p> <p class="has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-b9ba1bd03e8698a0a4077ea0435511c7"><em>Serena M, Crowther D and Kitchingman AM (2023) Managing the impact of large weirs as barriers to platypus dispersal: current knowledge and recommended actions. Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research Technical Report 361. 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