An assessment of residence times of land-sourced contaminants in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon and the implications for management and reef recovery

Brodie, Jon; Wolanski, Eric; Lewis, Stephen E.; Bainbridge, Zoë

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.12.011

Cited by 53 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 146 publications

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“…In contrast to Brodie et al (2012a), which demonstrates that the residence time of 30 nutrients and sediments is on the order of a few weeks in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon, we have found no systematic response of the chlorophyll a to tropical cyclone-related weather at timescales longer than 16 days. We find that the winddriven re-suspension mechanism only contributes to raising minimum values of chlorophyll a in the Great Barrier Reef during and just after the tropical cyclone activity, and that the mean and extreme values which degrade the water quality for Biogeosciences Discuss., doi :10.5194/bg-2017-23, 2017 Manuscript under review for journal Biogeosciences Published: 6 February 2017 c Author(s) 2017.…”

Section: Rainfall-river Discharge Mechanism (16 Day Lag)contrasting

confidence: 99%

“…the reef environment appear to be governed primarily by the catchment inundation and river discharge mechanism through tropical cyclone size and, to a lesser extent, translation speed and rainfall at a 16-day lag. However, it is important to note that any external nutrients and sediments brought to the Great Barrier Reef through storm surge and rainfall runoff that are not biologically utilized during the wet season may persist in the lagoon into the dry season (Brodie et al 2012a). These latent nutrients may then be re-suspended in the water column through the wind-driven mechanisms during any high-wind 5 event in the dry season, causing an unusual phytoplankton response for the dry season Devlin et al 2001;Udy et al 2005).…”

Section: Rainfall-river Discharge Mechanism (16 Day Lag)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Relationship between Tropical Cyclone Activity, Nutrient Loading, and Algal Blooms over the Great Barrier Reef

Parker

Lynch

Spera

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Abstract. The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef ecosystem, is subject to many environmental stressors. This study utilizes remotely sensed Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) chlorophyll a concentration data to explore statistically significant relationships between local-scale tropical cyclone disturbance and relative water quality 10 between 2004-2014. The study reveals that tropical cyclone activity reduces water quality at 8-and 16-day time lags.Relationships suggest that at early stages (during and just after cyclone activity) algal response is induced primarily through wind-driven sediment re-suspension. However, wind speed in isolation only increases minimum levels of chlorophyll a, rather than mean or extreme upper values. At greater time lags (16-day), it is suggested that nutrient runoff from rainfall (and perhaps storm surge) increase phytoplankton activity, leading to detrimental ecological effects. The analyses systematically 15 demonstrate the dominance of tropical cyclone size on mean and extreme values of chlorophyll a during and after tropical cyclone activity (at 0-, 8-, and 16-day time lags). Both the total area affected and the area from which nutrients can be extracted have more impact on chlorophyll a concentrations than either the duration or intensity of the cyclone. Findings indicate that efforts to reduce nutrient and sediment leaching into the reef lagoon from the Queensland coastal lands need to be continued and improved. This will be particularly important in the context of climate change, since tropical cyclone 20 frequency, dynamics and characteristics are likely to change.

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Section: Rainfall-river Discharge Mechanism (16 Day Lag)contrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Rainfall-river Discharge Mechanism (16 Day Lag)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relationship between Tropical Cyclone Activity, Nutrient Loading, and Algal Blooms over the Great Barrier Reef

Parker

Lynch

Spera

et al. 2017

Preprint

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“…For the GBRW, the reef matrix is very close to shore (<25 km), which implies that the selected cluster for this study ( Figure 5) may be impacted by river runoff much faster that in the southern GBR, where the reef matrix is further off-shore (up to 250 km) [41,61]. The midshelf waters therefore benefit from more frequent freshwater discharges from the adjacent rivers.…”

Section: Spatio-temporal Phytoplankton Dynamics In the Gbr Wet Tropicsmentioning

confidence: 96%

ESA-MERIS 10-Year Mission Reveals Contrasting Phytoplankton Bloom Dynamics in Two Tropical Regions of Northern Australia

et al. 2014

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Abstract:The spatial and temporal variability of phytoplankton blooms was investigated in two tropical coastal regions of northern Australia using the MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) full mission (2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012) reduced resolution dataset. Satellite-derived proxies for phytoplankton (Chlorophyll-a (Chl), Fluorescence Line Height (FLH), Maximum Chlorophyll Index (MCI)) and suspended sediment (Total Suspended Matter (TSM)) were jointly analyzed for two clusters of the Great Barrier Reef Wet tropics (GBRW; 15°-19.5°S; Queensland) and the Van Diemen Gulf (VDG; 9°-13°S; Northern Territory). The analysis of time-series and Hovmöller diagrams of the four MERIS products provided a unique perspective on the processes linking phytoplankton blooms and river runoff, or resuspension, across spatio-temporal scales. Both regions are characterized by a complex oceanography and seasonal inflows of sediment, freshwater and nutrients during the tropical wet season months (November to April). The GBRW is characterized by a great variability in water clarity (Secchi depth 0-25 m). A long history of agricultural land use has led to a large increase in the seasonal discharge of sediments and nutrients, triggering January and April. Over the 10-year MERIS mission, a weak decline in Chl and TSM was observed for the VDG (Sen slope: −2.85%/decade, τ = −0.32 and −3.57%/decade, τ = −0.24; p 0.05), while no significant trend in those two satellite products was observed in the GBRW. Cyanobacteria surface algal blooms occur in both regions between August and October. The MCI and FLH products were found to adequately complement Chl, while TSM provided relevant insight for the assessment of sediment resuspension and river runoff.

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“…Barrier Reef resulting from use in mining (Bowling Green Bay) and agricultural pesticides (Upstart Bay) (Brodie et al, 2012). In the Pearl River estuary (Shi et al, 2010) Hg concentrations decrease on moving seawards along the estuary.…”

Section: Hg Concentrations Have Been Identified In Sediments In Variomentioning

confidence: 99%

Mercury (Hg) speciation in coral reef systems of remote Oceania: Implications for the artisanal fisheries of Tutuila, Samoa Islands

Morrison

Peshut

West

et al. 2015

Marine Pollution Bulletin

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We investigated Hg in muscle tissue of fish species from three trophic levels on fringing reefs of Tutuila (14°S, 171°W), plus water, sediment and turf alga. Accumulation of total Hg in the herbivore Acanthurus lineatus (Acanthuridae, lined surgeonfish, (n =40)) was negligible at 1.05 (±0.04) ngg -1 wet-weight, (~65% occurring as methyl Hg). The mid-level carnivore Parupeneus spp. (Mullidae, goatfishes (n =10)) had total Hg 29.8 (±4.5) ngg -1 wet-weight (~99% as methyl Hg). Neither A. lineatus or Parupeneus spp. showed a propensity to accumulate Hg based on body size. Both groups were assigned a status of "un-restricted" for monthly consumption limits for non-carcinogenic health endpoints for methyl Hg. The top-level carnivore Sphyraena qenie (Sphyraenidae, blackfin barracuda, n =3) had muscle tissue residues of 105, 650 and 741ngg -1 wetweight (100% methyl Hg, with increasing concentration with body mass, suggesting that S. qenie >15kg would have a recommendation of "no consumption".

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An assessment of residence times of land-sourced contaminants in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon and the implications for management and reef recovery

Cited by 53 publications

References 146 publications

The Relationship between Tropical Cyclone Activity, Nutrient Loading, and Algal Blooms over the Great Barrier Reef

The Relationship between Tropical Cyclone Activity, Nutrient Loading, and Algal Blooms over the Great Barrier Reef

ESA-MERIS 10-Year Mission Reveals Contrasting Phytoplankton Bloom Dynamics in Two Tropical Regions of Northern Australia

Mercury (Hg) speciation in coral reef systems of remote Oceania: Implications for the artisanal fisheries of Tutuila, Samoa Islands

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