The Burrum River estuary: identifying reference sites for Australian sub-tropical estuarine systems using paleolimnological methods |
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Authors: | Brendan Logan Kathryn H Taffs |
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Institution: | (1) School of Environmental Science and Management, Southern Cross University, PO Box 157, Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia;(2) Southern Cross Geoscience, Southern Cross University, PO Box 157, Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia |
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Abstract: | There is a pressing need to obtain historical information on estuaries so that levels of natural variability and ecosystem
thresholds can be identified. Once these factors are known, estuaries that exhibit high conservation value and minimal impact
from anthropogenic activity can be acknowledged and protected. In order to understand and quantify the level of change that
may have occurred due to human impact, near pristine estuaries that have the potential to act as reference sites need to be
identified. However, this is often difficult due to a lack of documented knowledge of estuary variability. This paper retrospectively
assesses environmental conditions in the Burrum River, a sub-tropical east Australian estuary on the coast of Queensland,
using diatom and stable isotope analyses. These techniques were combined with AMS 14C dating methods to determine if this system has undergone any natural or anthropogenically induced change. Diatom assemblages
have shown very little variation over the past 5,000 years, indicating minimal changes to water quality. Upper and lower limits
for δ13C and δ15N stable isotope results also infer that the sources of carbon and nitrogen to the Burrum River estuary have remained constant
over this time period. Carbon inputs have been dominated by marine autotrophic production, whilst nitrogen inputs are indicative
of terrestrial sources. Hence, the Burrum River has not been altered by anthropogenic activities and is a suitable reference
site for benchmarking impacted sub-tropical estuaries. This paper demonstrates that paleolimnological techniques can be applied
successfully to identify estuaries that are suitable as reference sites. |
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