Determining the ‘health’ of estuaries: Priorities for ecological research

Fairweather, Peter G.

doi:10.1046/j.1442-9993.1999.00976.x

Cited by 38 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 50 publications

(65 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…As a result, Ward et al (1998) reviewed 61 possible indicators for Australian estuaries and the seas, making recom mendations and identifying possible data sources. Despite this early work, and a host of related scientific studies (Fairweather, 1997;Deeley and Paling, 1999;Harris and Silveira, 1999;Kennedy and Jacoby, 1999;Edgar and Barrett, 2000;Ward, 2000;Melville and Pulkownik, 2006;Hirst and Kilpatrick, 2007;Scanes et al, 2007;Birch and Olmos, 2008), a clear set of national guidelines for monitoring Australian estuaries and marine waters have not been developed. A major obstacle in developing a consistent approach to monitoring of natural resources in Australia has been the complex and often confus ing process of coastal zone management, which is well documented (e.g., Zann, 2000).…”

Section: Australiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Classifying Ecological Quality and Integrity of Estuaries

Borja¹,

Basset²,

Bricker³

et al. 2011

Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is an increasing need in assessing ecological quality and integrity of estuaries and lagoons. This chapter shows the most recent efforts in assessing individual biological elements (from phytoplankton to fishes), together with the integrative tools developed in different geographical areas worldwide. However, reducing complex information from multiple ecosystem elements to a single color or value is a substantial challenge to marine scientists, and requires the integration of different disciplines (chemists, engineers, biologists, ecologists, physics, managers, etc.), to reach agreement on the final assignment of ecological status. Hence, in the near future, emphasis needs to be directed at understanding the complexities of estuarine system functioning rather than simplifying and scaling down the system into smaller components. Provided for non-commercial research and educational use.Not for reproduction, distribution or commercial use.This chapter was originally published in Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science, published by Elsevier, and the attached copy is provided by Elsevier for the author's benefit and for the benefit of the author's institution, for noncommercial research and educational use including without limitation use in instruction at your institution, sending it to specific colleagues who you know, and providing a copy to your institution's administrator.All other uses, reproduction and distribution, including without limitation commercial reprints, selling or licensing copies or access, or posting on open internet sites, your personal or institution's website or repository, are prohibited.For exceptions, permission may be sought for such use through Elsevier's permissions site at: Author's personal copy AbstractThere is an increasing need in assessing ecological quality and integrity of estuaries and lagoons. This chapter shows the most recent efforts in assessing individual biological elements (from phytoplankton to fishes), together with the integrative tools developed in different geographical areas worldwide. However, reducing complex information from multiple ecosystem elements to a single color or value is a substantial challenge to marine scientists, and requires the integration of different disciplines (chemists, engineers, biologists, ecologists, physics, managers, etc.), to reach agreement on the final assignment of ecological status. Hence, in the near future, emphasis needs to be directed at understanding the complexities of estuarine system functioning rather than simplifying and scaling down the system into smaller components.

show abstract

Section: Australiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Classifying Ecological Quality and Integrity of Estuaries

Borja¹,

Basset²,

Bricker³

et al. 2011

Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Nevertheless, artificial substrata such as concrete, tiles and plastic, have been used in numerous studies of settlement (Dean and Hurd 1980;Gombach et al 1992;Keough 1998;Fairfull and Harriott 1999;Fairweather 1999;Satumanatpan et al 1999;Atilla 2000;Bulleri and Chapman 2004;Bulleri et al 2005;Moreira 2006;Worm and Lotze 2006). Although natural variability in settlement may render the process unreliable as a single indicator of anthropogenic impact (Fairweather 1999), settlement of larvae to artificial substrata may provide a measure of the existing and potential conditions (Dean and Hurd 1980;Gombach et al 1992;Keough 1998;Fairfull and Harriott 1999;Fairweather 1999;Satumanatpan et al 1999;Atilla 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of estuarine water quality on cover of barnacles and Enteromorpha spp.

Courtenay¹,

Gladstone

Scammell

et al. 2010

Environ Monit Assess

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

1 This is the accepted version of the manuscript that was published in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 175:685-697 (2011).Abstract. The influence of ambient water quality on the settlement of barnacles and the green alga Enteromorpha spp.to an artificial substratum in the estuaries of Sydney, Australia, was investigated to test the efficacy of both groups of organisms as indicators of changes in water quality due to urban stormwater runoff and/or sewage overflows. Wooden settlement panels were immersed for four months on 17 occasions between 1996 and 2005 at 11 locations known to vary in water quality parameters (conductivity, total uncombined ammonia, oxidised nitrogen, total nitrogen, filterable phosphorus, total phosphorus, faecal coliforms and chlorophyll-a) and ambient meteorological conditions (total rainfall, maximum rainfall). Water quality data were collected during the time that the settlement panels were deployed. Cover of barnacles was highly variable among locations (range 1.2 -55.2%). Hierarchical partitioning found that chlorophylla, total phosphorus and total nitrogen had significant independent positive effects on barnacle cover. Together, these variables explained 26% of the variation in barnacle cover. Mean cover of Enteromorpha spp., however, did not vary significantly among locations suggesting that other potentially more important factors are influencing its settlement and growth. The results of this study suggest that barnacle cover is likely to be a useful indicator of some components of water quality.

show abstract

“…Its inclusion to the final model suggests that it is complementary to the MpiMjm. The indicator species should show a high degree of fidelity to a particular habitat and certain conditions (Fairweather, 1999 Table 3) …”

Section: Indicator Species Smelt (Mpisme)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, bioassessment protocols reflecting both short and long term effects are relatively inexpensive and easily performed. Estuarine bioassessment protocols use submersed aquatic vegetation (Dennison et al, 1993), diatoms (Bate et al, 2004), benthos (Weisberg et al, 1997;Van Dolah et al, 1999;Llanso et al, 2002), fish (Deegan et al, 1997;Harrison et al, 2000;Hughes et al, 2002;Whitfield & Elliott, 2002;Coates et al, 2004;Harrison & Whitfield, 2004;Moy, 2004) or a combination of these taxa (Cooper et al, 1994;Fairweather, 1999;Borja et al, 2004).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A fish-based assessment tool for the ecological quality of the brackish Schelde estuary in Flanders (Belgium)

et al. 2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper presents a new approach which was developed to find an optimal combination of candidate metrics for creating a fishbased estuarine biotic index (EBI) for defining the quality status of an estuarine area. The key idea was that a powerful index should minimise two prediction errors simultaneously: falsely declaring the status of a site as disturbed while it is not (Type I error) and the reverse, falsely declaring a disturbed site as undisturbed (Type II error). The balance between both errors is an inherent characteristic of an index and can be displayed as a curve. The area under this curve (AUC) is a measure of the misclassification rate (smaller = better). This criterion was the basis for a stepwise approach whereby in each step a metric resulting in the highest reduction of AUC was added. Five metrics were selected and the distribution of their average was the basis to derive the thresholds for the classes of the EBI. This paper presents the fish-based index (EBI) for the brackish Schelde estuary in Flanders (Belgium). The index was calibrated against fyke net data from five sites during the period from 1995 to 2004. The sites ranged in quality from moderately impacted to very disturbed, classes 3 to 5 respectively. Despite there being neither of the highest classes 1 (high) and 2 (good), the EBI presented can serve as an evaluation tool in the highly impacted situation in Flanders as it discriminates well between moderate and highly impacted sites. In addition, its definition complies with the biological status classes of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD).Keywords Brackish estuary AE Fish-based index of biotic integrity AE Schelde AE Flanders IntroductionWorldwide, estuaries suffer from ever increasing human pressure (Dennison et al., 1993;Simenstad

show abstract

Determining the ‘health’ of estuaries: Priorities for ecological research

Cited by 38 publications

References 50 publications

Classifying Ecological Quality and Integrity of Estuaries

Classifying Ecological Quality and Integrity of Estuaries

The influence of estuarine water quality on cover of barnacles and Enteromorpha spp.

A fish-based assessment tool for the ecological quality of the brackish Schelde estuary in Flanders (Belgium)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About