Dissolved organic carbon delivery from managed flow releases in a montane snowmelt river

Rohlfs, AM; Mitrovic, SM; Williams, S; Hitchcock, JN; Rees, GN

Dissolved organic carbon delivery from managed flow releases in a montane snowmelt river

Rohlfs, AM

Mitrovic, SM

Williams, S Hitchcock, JN

Rees, GN

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Aquatic Sciences, 2016, 78 (4), pp. 793 - 807
Issue Date:: 2016-10-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Rohlfs, AM https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8707-8967	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Mitrovic, SM https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5528-2215	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Williams, S	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Hitchcock, JN https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0113-6001	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Rees, GN	en_US
dc.date.issued	2016-10-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Aquatic Sciences, 2016, 78 (4), pp. 793 - 807	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1015-1621	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/117957
dc.description.abstract	© 2016, Springer International Publishing. Managed flow releases are increasingly being utilised in the rehabilitation of regulated rivers to improve physical habitat condition and restore spatial connectivity. However, the potential for managed flow releases to influence basal resource availability to the downstream food web has received less attention. This study investigated dissolved organic carbon (DOC) delivery from managed flow releases from Jindabyne Dam and a regulated tributary to the Snowy River; a mixed rainfall-snowmelt river in south-east Australia. DOC concentration and load were monitored downstream of Jindabyne Dam during two high-flow dam releases and 2 month-long tributary releases provided by temporarily suspending tributary weir diversions. DOC chemical composition in the downstream Snowy River was characterised using fluorescence spectrophotometry. A negligible change or decrease in DOC concentration occurred at all monitored sites during both dam releases. In contrast, pulsed increases in DOC concentration concomitant with natural high-flow events were observed in the Snowy River during the tributary releases. The estimated DOC load delivered by the larger dam release increased 1.5-fold between sites 2 and 22 km downstream of the Jindabyne Dam. Reservoir release waters contained both humic-like and protein-like DOC fluorophores, whereas tributary releases contained only humic-like DOC fluorophores. Collectively, these results suggest that changes in DOC quantity and composition during managed dam releases reflect localised wetting and DOC mobilisation from the riparian zone whilst tributary releases deliver storm-associated pulses of terrestrial DOC flushed from the catchment. The unique DOC regimes associated with dam and tributary-sourced water releases may influence ecosystem functioning in the downstream river.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Aquatic Sciences	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1007/s00027-016-0472-5	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	en_US
dc.title	Dissolved organic carbon delivery from managed flow releases in a montane snowmelt river	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	4	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	78	en_US
utslib.for	060204 Freshwater Ecology	en_US
utslib.for	04 Earth Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	05 Environmental Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	06 Biological Sciences	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	4	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	78	en_US

Abstract:

© 2016, Springer International Publishing. Managed flow releases are increasingly being utilised in the rehabilitation of regulated rivers to improve physical habitat condition and restore spatial connectivity. However, the potential for managed flow releases to influence basal resource availability to the downstream food web has received less attention. This study investigated dissolved organic carbon (DOC) delivery from managed flow releases from Jindabyne Dam and a regulated tributary to the Snowy River; a mixed rainfall-snowmelt river in south-east Australia. DOC concentration and load were monitored downstream of Jindabyne Dam during two high-flow dam releases and 2 month-long tributary releases provided by temporarily suspending tributary weir diversions. DOC chemical composition in the downstream Snowy River was characterised using fluorescence spectrophotometry. A negligible change or decrease in DOC concentration occurred at all monitored sites during both dam releases. In contrast, pulsed increases in DOC concentration concomitant with natural high-flow events were observed in the Snowy River during the tributary releases. The estimated DOC load delivered by the larger dam release increased 1.5-fold between sites 2 and 22 km downstream of the Jindabyne Dam. Reservoir release waters contained both humic-like and protein-like DOC fluorophores, whereas tributary releases contained only humic-like DOC fluorophores. Collectively, these results suggest that changes in DOC quantity and composition during managed dam releases reflect localised wetting and DOC mobilisation from the riparian zone whilst tributary releases deliver storm-associated pulses of terrestrial DOC flushed from the catchment. The unique DOC regimes associated with dam and tributary-sourced water releases may influence ecosystem functioning in the downstream river.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/117957