Species richness and community structure of reef-building corals on the nearshore Great Barrier Reef

DeVantier, Lyndon; De’ath, Glenn; Turak, Emre; Done, Terry; Fabricius, Katharina

doi:10.1007/s00338-006-0115-8

Cited by 139 publications

(116 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…However, these relationships were generally from temperate areas and few measurements were included from tropical river catchments. The nutrient run-off issue is of particular concern for tropical river catchments adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) because of possible downstream impacts of additional nutrients on this coral reef ecosystem (Fabricius 2005;DeVantier et al 2006;Brodie et al 2007a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The downstream impacts of this run-off into GBR waters are of major concern; however, the direct effects of agricultural run-off on reef communities have been difficult to measure and are, as a result, controversial. Recent research DeVantier et al 2006) has shown a decline in hard-coral richness within the latitudinal zone of 14-18 • S, together with an increase in chlorophyll a concentrations in the central inshore GBR lagoon (Brodie et al 2007a). This zone of apparent change lies adjacent to coastal catchments with high levels of fertiliser-additive land use (FALU), mostly sugarcane, which is relatively close to the GBR.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Relationships between land use and nutrient concentrations in streams draining a 'wet-tropics' catchment in northern Australia

Mitchell

Reghenzani²,

Faithful

et al. 2009

Mar. Freshwater Res.

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Abstract. Differences in stream nutrient concentrations typically reflect upstream differences in land use. In particular, nitrate concentrations are greatly increased by losses from nitrogen (N) fertiliser applied to areas of intensive cropping. In the present study, a relationship between the area of such land use and the nitrate concentrations in the receiving streams was predicted. This relationship was tested using several data sets from the Tully basin, in the wet-tropics bioregion of north Queensland, Australia. The proportions of fertiliser-additive land use (FALU), mostly sugarcane and bananas, were correlated with the concentrations of nutrients in streams that drain these land uses. The data compared included two longterm sampling studies in the Tully River catchment and more recent, broader catchment sampling and plot-scale studies in this region. A strong relationship was shown for nitrate, but weaker relationships were observed for other N-nutrient and P-nutrient forms. Comparisons were made with contemporary and historical land-use changes in the Tully basin. The strong relationship of FALU with nitrate provides evidence that the nitrate exports from this catchment are largely derived from fertiliser use. This relationship can be used to derive nitrate run-off coefficients for fertilised land use in catchment models or to monitor changes following management to reduce fertiliser usage.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships between land use and nutrient concentrations in streams draining a 'wet-tropics' catchment in northern Australia

Mitchell

Reghenzani²,

Faithful

et al. 2009

Mar. Freshwater Res.

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“…The reduced coral biodiversity off the Tully-Murray basin (DeVantier et al 2006) is ascribed to the effects of poor water quality, compared to analogous reef areas further north (adjacent to CapeYork) where water quality is better . The poorer state of this water quality is quantified through a water quality index, which includes measures of nutrient and suspended sediment concentrations .The level of uncertainly on our attribution of nutrient excess causing coral biodiversity loss is moderate (Table 2).…”

Section: Target Setting For the Tully-murray Basin For Nitratementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, considerable quantities of pesticides are now discharged that would have been completely absent before the 1950s (Johnson and Ebert 2000;Mitchell et al 2005). Impacts of this increased pollutant loading on coral reefs in the central part of the GBRWHA has resulted in reef degradation in the wet tropics coastal area and overall reduced coral biodiversity between Townsville and Cooktown (DeVantier et al 2006). In the area adjacent to the Tully River, a reduction in species richness of 40 species, compared with the expected value, is evident (DeVantier et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Impacts of this increased pollutant loading on coral reefs in the central part of the GBRWHA has resulted in reef degradation in the wet tropics coastal area and overall reduced coral biodiversity between Townsville and Cooktown (DeVantier et al 2006). In the area adjacent to the Tully River, a reduction in species richness of 40 species, compared with the expected value, is evident (DeVantier et al 2006). Reefs in the central GBR are also subject to damage from crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks, most likely related to nutrient enrichment .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Target setting for pollutant discharge management of rivers in the Great Barrier Reef catchment area

Brodie

Lewis

Bainbridge

et al. 2009

Mar. Freshwater Res.

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Abstract. Water Quality Improvement Plans (WQIPs) are being developed for individual river basins on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) catchment associated with the GBR Water Quality Protection Plan. Within each WQIP, marine ecosystem targets are linked to end-of-river pollutant (suspended sediments, nutrients and pesticides) load targets and to farm level management practice targets. The targets are linked through quantitative models; e.g. one model connects GBR chlorophyll concentrations (marine target) to end-of-river nitrate loads, a second connects the end-of-river nitrate loads to fertiliser management targets in the catchment, whereas a third model links fertiliser application to nitrate loss at the farm scale. The difficulties of applying these linked models to derive credible and practical management targets are great, given the high degree of uncertainty in each model. Our understanding of the generation of suspended sediments, nutrients and pesticides in catchments and the relationship to on-farm management, the transport of these materials to the ocean, their transport in coastal waters and their effects on marine ecosystems is incomplete. The challenge is to produce estimates from the models, with known levels of uncertainty, but robust enough for management purposes. Case studies from the Tully-Murray basin and the Burdekin basin in north Queensland are discussed.

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The effects of a stressed inshore urban reef on coral recruitment in Suva Harbour, Fiji

Lal

Kininmonth

N’Yeurt

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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A relic inshore reef ecosystem adjacent to the Fijian capital of Suva and another remote inshore reef were monitored monthly from July 2014 to July 2015 for coral recruitment, sedimentation rates, coral cover, temperature, and light intensity. Despite a major sewage spill in Suva Harbour in December 2014, the municipal inshore site exposed to constant anthropogenic activity, recorded no significant differences in coral spat abundance (except for the family Poritidae) on artificial substrata compared to the remote inshore site. Total yearly spat abundance was 106 on municipal reef and 132 on remote reef, while average daily sediment trap collection rates (g cm2/day) were significantly higher in the municipal site for the entire duration of monitoring. Total annual particulate organic matter content in sediment was also significantly higher in the municipal site (107.51 g cm2), compared to the remote site (43.37 g cm2). Mean light intensity was significantly lower for the municipal site (69.81 lum/ft2) compared to the remote site (239.26 lum/ft2), with Photosynthetically Active Radiation also lower for the former (800–1,066.66 µmol m−2 s−1) compared to the latter (3,266.66–3,600 µmol m−2 s−1). The lack of significant differences in coral spat recruitment rates suggests that settling larvae may be unable to distinguish between sub‐optimal and optimal sites probably as a consequence of interference with coral settlement cues arising from anthropogenic development.

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Species richness and community structure of reef-building corals on the nearshore Great Barrier Reef

Cited by 139 publications

References 35 publications

Relationships between land use and nutrient concentrations in streams draining a 'wet-tropics' catchment in northern Australia

Relationships between land use and nutrient concentrations in streams draining a 'wet-tropics' catchment in northern Australia

Target setting for pollutant discharge management of rivers in the Great Barrier Reef catchment area

The effects of a stressed inshore urban reef on coral recruitment in Suva Harbour, Fiji

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