Wolff, Nicholas H., Da Silva, Eduardo Teixeira, Devlin, Michelle, Anthony, Kenneth R.N., Lewis, Stephen, Tonin, Hemerson, Brinkman, Richard, and Mumby, Peter J. (2018) Contribution of individual rivers to Great Barrier Reef nitrogen exposure with implications for management prioritization. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 133. pp. 30-43.

PDF (Published Version) - Published Version Restricted to Repository staff only

Abstract

Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) runoff from Great Barrier Reef (GBR) catchments is a threat to coral reef health. Several initiatives address this threat, including the Australian Government's Reef 2050 Plan. However, environmental decision makers face an unsolved prioritization challenge: determining the exposure of reefs to DIN from individual rivers. Here, we use virtual river tracers embedded within a GBR-wide hydrodynamic model to resolve the spatial and temporal dynamics of 16 individual river plumes during three wet seasons (2011−2013). We then used in-situ DIN observations to calibrate tracer values, allowing us to estimate the contribution of each river to reef-scale DIN exposure during each season. Results indicate that the Burdekin, Fitzroy, Tully and Daintree rivers pose the greatest DIN exposure risk to coral reefs during the three seasons examined. Results were used to demonstrate a decision support framework that combines reef exposure risk with river dominance (threat diversity).

Item ID:	56671
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1879-3363
Keywords:	water quality, river pollution, nutrients, coral health, decision support, prioritization
Copyright Information:	© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Funders:	National Environmental Research Program (NERP), BHP Billington Mitsubishi Alliance, Australian Government, Queensland Government
Projects and Grants:	NERP Project 9.1
Date Deposited:	15 Jan 2019 02:27
FoR Codes:	41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410404 Environmental management @ 100%
SEO Codes:	96 ENVIRONMENT > 9605 Ecosystem Assessment and Management > 960503 Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Coastal and Estuarine Environments @ 100%
Downloads:	Total: 1
	More Statistics