scholarly journals Assessment of water quality from the Normanby River catchment to coastal flood plumes on the northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 859 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Howley ◽  
M. Devlin ◽  
M. Burford
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Suspended Sediments ◽  
River System ◽  
Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Coastal Ecosystems ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Tropical River ◽  
Seagrass Meadows ◽  
Suspended Sediment Concentrations

Understanding the flux and fate of nutrients and sediments from rivers is of global importance because of the effects of these materials on coastal ecosystems. The present study followed three flood events from upper tributaries of the Normanby River to Princess Charlotte Bay in the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR) lagoon, Australia. During each event, nutrients and suspended sediment concentrations were measured along a freshwater to marine transect. The upper catchment provided the majority of suspended sediments and nutrients supplied to the river system, although concentrations of most materials decreased by 52–85% between the upper catchment and estuary. As an exception, ammonium concentrations doubled within the estuary, indicating that undisturbed coastal ecosystems can provide a significant source of dissolved inorganic nitrogen to tropical river flood plumes. The dissolved nutrients in floodwaters stimulated phytoplankton blooms that inundated seagrass meadows and coral reefs. Northern GBR marine ecosystems are increasingly threatened by climate change and catchment development. The results of this study show that increased anthropogenic loads of nutrients and sediments from the upper Normanby catchment have the potential to affect the condition of marine ecosystems at Princess Charlotte Bay.

scholarly journals Reef exposure to river-borne contaminants: a spatial model

2009 ◽  
Vol 60 (11) ◽  
pp. 1132 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Maughan ◽  
J. Brodie
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Suspended Sediments ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Water Quality Improvement ◽  
Management Board ◽  
Contaminant Load

Rivers flowing into the Great Barrier Reef carry contaminants such as suspended sediments, dissolved inorganic nitrogen, total phosphorus and pesticides. To measure the extent and direction of the contaminants after they enter the Great Barrier Reef lagoon, a model was created using river volume, flooding variability, contaminant load, distance and direction as inputs. A GIS was used to calculate and visualise the exposure of the contaminants to the reefs for the current day, as well as modelling scenarios for pre-European arrival loads, and land management using realistic targets set by a regional Natural Resource Management board for water quality improvement planning purposes. The results show that a reduction in the dissolved inorganic nitrogen load exiting the Tully and Murray Rivers reduces the exposure of reefs close to the basin, but that reefs further east of the basin are significantly influenced by other rivers, highlighting that management for water quality improvement in neighbouring basins is also required.

Modelled estimates of dissolved inorganic nitrogen exported to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon

2021 ◽  
Vol 171 ◽  
pp. 112655
Author(s):  
G.L. McCloskey ◽  
R. Baheerathan ◽  
C. Dougall ◽  
R. Ellis ◽  
F.R. Bennett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Reef Lagoon

Marine Protected Areas

Overfishing ◽  
2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray Hilborn ◽  
Ulrike Hilborn
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Northeast Coast

What are marine protected areas? One of the crown jewels of marine ecosystems is the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) off the northeast coast of Australia. The reef stretches along 2,600 km of the Queensland coast and consists of 900 islands and 2,900 reefs. It...

Community and connectivity: summary of a community based monitoring program set up to assess the movement of nutrients and sediments into the Great Barrier Reef during high flow events

2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (9) ◽  
pp. 121-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Devlin ◽  
J. Waterhouse ◽  
J. Brodie
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Suspended Sediments ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
First Flush ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Flood Events ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Extreme Flow

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) system encompasses the largest system of corals and related life forms anywhere in the world. The health of this extensive system, particularly the inshore area, is dependent on the relationship between the GBR and adjacent coastal catchments. The major impact of agricultural practices on the GBR is the degradation of water quality in receiving (rivers) waters, caused by increased inputs of nutrients, suspended sediments and other pollutants. For the past three years, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) has been involved with the co-ordination of a river-monitoring program, specifically targeting the sampling of rivers during flood events. Representative sites were set up along two North Queensland rivers, the Russell-Mulgrave and Barron Rivers. This monitoring program is run in conjunction with the Queensland Department of Natural Resources' Waterwatch program. The program involves intensive sampling of first flush, extreme flow and post flood conditions over the two rivers. Extreme flow conditions are sampled over a limited time span (48 hours) with trained volunteers at 4-hour intervals. Concentrations measured in the flood events are dependent on landuse characteristic, and extent of flow. Concentrations of dissolved and particulate nutrients are higher if the extreme flow event is part of the first flush cycle. Concentrations of DIN and DIP measured before, during and after a major flood event suggest that there is a large storage of inorganic material within the Barron and Russell-Mulgrave agricultural subcatchments that move over a period of days, and perhaps weeks. This program created a forum in which GBRMPA liased with the Barron and Russell-Mulgrave community about the connectivity existing between the river and the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.

The last marine wilderness: spearfishing for trophy fishes in the Coral Sea

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
MATTHEW A. L. YOUNG ◽  
SIMON FOALE ◽  
DAVID R. BELLWOOD
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Marine Reserve ◽  
Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Pelagic Species ◽  
Coral Sea ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Time

SUMMARYIsolation can provide marine ecosystems with a refuge from human impacts. However, information on the biodiversity, ecology and fisheries of remote regions is often sparse. The proposed Coral Sea Marine Reserve could create one of the world's largest and most remote marine parks, yet little information is available to inform discussions. Fish captures from the Coral Sea and adjacent Great Barrier Reef (GBR) were assessed from reports contained in a chronology of spearfishing publications from 1953 to 2009, and reveal for the first time the history of recreational spearfishing in the Coral Sea. Although the area is perceived as relatively untouched, the data indicate that spearfishers have frequented Coral Sea reefs for at least 43 years and reported captures have increased exponentially. Post-1993 trophy captures in the Coral Sea (mean 23 kg) were larger than the adjacent GBR (9 kg). Reef species characterize the GBR catch, while large pelagic species characterize the Coral Sea catch. Provided that functionally important fishes are not targeted, the relatively small scale of recreational spearfishing and the focus on pelagic species suggests that spearfishing currently exerts limited pressure on the ecology of Coral Sea reefs.

scholarly journals Spatial and Temporal Patterns in Macroherbivore Grazing in a Multi-Species Tropical Seagrass Meadow of the Great Barrier Reef

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Abigail L. Scott ◽  
Paul H. York ◽  
Michael A. Rasheed
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Important Process ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Patterns ◽  
Video Cameras ◽  
Seagrass Meadows ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Green Island

Macroherbivory is an important process in seagrass meadows worldwide; however, the impact of macroherbivores on seagrasses in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has received little attention. We used exclusion cages and seagrass tethering assays to understand how the intensity of macroherbivory varies over space and time in the seagrass meadows around Green Island (Queensland), and what impact this has on overall meadow structure. Rates of macroherbivory were comparatively low, between 0.25–44% of daily seagrass productivity; however, rates were highly variable over a one-year period, and among sites. Loss of seagrass material to macroherbivory was predominantly due to fish; however, urchin herbivory was also taking place. Macroherbivory rates were of insufficient intensity to impact overall meadow structure. No macroherbivory events were identified on video cameras that filmed in the day, indicating that feeding may be occurring infrequently in large shoals, or at night. While relatively low compared to some meadows, seagrass macroherbivory was still an important process at this site. We suggest that in this highly protected area of the GBR, where the ecosystem and food webs remain largely intact, macroherbivory was maintained at a low level and was unlikely to cause the large-scale meadow structuring influence that can be seen in more modified seagrass systems.

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