Effects of salinity on river, stream and wetland ecosystems in Victoria, Australia

Hart, Barry T.; Bailey, Paul; Edwards, R. T.; Hortle, Kent G.; James, Kim R.; McMahon, Andrew; Meredith, Charles; Swadling, Kerrie M.

doi:10.1016/0043-1354(90)90173-4

Cited by 113 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Although we cannot rule out from our observational study that other environmental variables, such as waterlogging, grazing or fire, are responsible for these differences in plant species diversity and composition, two lines of evidence support a causative role for soil salinity. First, soils with EC 1 : 5 -values above 35-40 mSm −1 have previously been found to adversely affect the growth and reproductive capacity of plants (Abrol et al 1988;Hart et al 1990Hart et al , 1991. The soil salinity near the cleared part of Lemon catchment is clearly high enough to impact upon the riparian vegetation in this area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The considerable economic impacts of dryland salinization include reduced agricultural productivity and damage to rural infrastructure (Stirzaker et al 2000;Kingwell et al 2003). Dryland salinity has also progressed from being an agricultural problem to arguably Australia's most pressing environmental crisis, potentially threatening the biodiversity of many Australian terrestrial and aquatic habitats (Hart et al 1990(Hart et al , 1991George et al 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Stream salinization is associated with reduced taxonomic, but not functional diversity in a riparian plant community

2006

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Dryland salinity presents an overwhelming threat to terrestrial and aquatic habitats in Australia, and yet there remains very little empirical evidence of the impacts of secondary salinization on the biodiversity of riparian communities. Here we describe the response of a riparian plant community to stream and soil salinization, 25 years after the experimental clearing of a catchment in south-western Australia. Riparian plant species diversity was inversely related to soil salinity, and plant species composition was significantly altered by increased soil salinity. Despite the evidence for an impact of salinization on the taxonomic diversity and composition of the riparian plant community, there was little evidence for any effect of salinization on functional group diversity, or on ecological functioning, as measured by the percentage of above-ground plant cover.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Stream salinization is associated with reduced taxonomic, but not functional diversity in a riparian plant community

2006

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“…The information summarized above has been used by Hart et al (1990) to predict the broad effects of salinity increases in aquatic ecosystems most likely to be impacted in Australia, viz. lowland rivers and wetlands.…”

Section: Discussion and Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of the salt sensitivity of the Australian freshwater biota

et al. 1991

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In Victoria, Australia, both dryland salinity and salinity in irrigation regions are serious agricultural problems. One option to control the latter is to pump groundwater to maintain it below the surface. However, this leaves a saline wastewater for disposal, probably into local streams or wetlands. This review of the salt sensitivity of the biota of Australian streams and wetlands gives information of interest to those responsible for developing controls on these discharges. The review addresses the lethal and sub-lethal effects of salinity on microbes (mainly bacteria), macrophytes and micro-algae, riparian vegetation, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds. Data suggest that direct adverse biological effects are likely to occur in Australian river, stream and wetland ecosystems if salinity is increased to around 1000 mg L-I. The review highlights a general lack of data on the sensitivity of freshwater plants and animals to salinity increases.

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“…Bunn and Davies 1992;Davis 1980;Hart et al 1990;Mitchell and Richards 1992;Short et al 1991;Williams et al 1991) with most interest focusing on the negative economic impact. However, the impoverished freshwater faunas of anthropogenically salinized streams can not be compared with those of natural saline streams which are expected to have evolved evolutionary adaptations to cope with salinity stress.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal dynamics of macroinvertebrate communities in a semiarid saline spring stream with contrasting environmental conditions

2009

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Semiarid saline streams are rare aquatic ecosystem types. Their constituent biota is expected to have adapted evolutionarily to strong hydrological variability and salinity stress; however, their ecology is not well known. In this study, we quantify the seasonal changes in the structure of the macroinvertebrate community in the Reventón Rambla (south-eastern Spain), a permanent saline spring stream which is included in a drainage system consisting of ephemeral dry channels (so-called ''ramblas''). Seasonal patterns of community structure were studied in two reaches with contrasting environmental regimes using univariate and multivariate statistics. The upstream site showed more stable environmental conditions than the downstream site, and both sites also differed with regard to species richness, and structural and functional group attributes. On a seasonal basis, community dissimilarity was high during periods when both sites were isolated during summer droughts but dissimilarity decreased when both sites were connected through surface flow. Furthermore, the communities tended to show cyclical trajectories in multivariate ordination space. Rather than being related to salinity stress, these patterns seemed to track the hydrological disturbance regime of this rambla system. Spates tended to disrupt communities, while signs of recovery were evident during low-flow periods. Results suggest that salinity fluctuation does not pose a severe abiotic constraint to these adapted macroinvertebrate communities. Their suits of functional properties provide them with the necessary traits to recover quickly from natural disturbance. While human-caused salinization of streams severely impacts communities eventually reducing their recovery potential, our results suggest that communities in natural saline streams may show similar responses to hydrological disturbance as communities from non-saline streams.

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Effects of salinity on river, stream and wetland ecosystems in Victoria, Australia

Cited by 113 publications

References 11 publications

Stream salinization is associated with reduced taxonomic, but not functional diversity in a riparian plant community

Stream salinization is associated with reduced taxonomic, but not functional diversity in a riparian plant community

A review of the salt sensitivity of the Australian freshwater biota

Seasonal dynamics of macroinvertebrate communities in a semiarid saline spring stream with contrasting environmental conditions

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