Connecting targets for catchment sediment loads to ecological outcomes for seagrass using multiple lines of evidence
| Autor: | Ryan D.R. Turner, Matthew P. Adams, Megan I. Saunders, Zoe Bainbridge, Catherine J. Collier, Michael Rasheed, Jon Brodie, Victoria Lambert, Alex Carter, Stephen Lewis, Katherine R. O'Brien |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Geologic Sediments Drainage basin 010501 environmental sciences Aquatic Science Oceanography 01 natural sciences Rivers Marine ecosystem Ecosystem 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Hydrology Biomass (ecology) geography geography.geographical_feature_category biology Discharge 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology Australia Sediment biology.organism_classification Pollution Seagrass Environmental science Bay Environmental Monitoring |
| Zdroj: | Marine pollution bulletin. 169 |
| ISSN: | 1879-3363 |
| Popis: | Catchment impacts on downstream ecosystems are difficult to quantify, but important for setting management targets. Here we compared 12 years of monitoring data of seagrass area and biomass in Cleveland Bay, northeast Australia, with discharge and associated sediment loads from nearby rivers. Seagrass biomass and area exhibited different trajectories in response to river inputs. River discharge was a slightly better predictor of seagrass indicators than total suspended solid (TSS) loads, indicating that catchment effects on seagrass are not restricted to sediment. Linear relationships between Burdekin River TSS loads delivered over 1–4 years and seagrass condition in Cleveland Bay generated Ecologically Relevant Targets (ERT) for catchment sediment inputs. Our predicted ERTs were comparable to those previously estimated using mechanistic models. This study highlights the challenges of linking catchment inputs to condition of downstream ecosystems, and the importance of integrating a variety of metrics and approaches to increase confidence in ERTs. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|
Full Text from ScienceDirect