Assessing the response of estuarine intertidal assemblages to urbanised catchment discharge

Courtenay, GC; Gladstone, W; Schreider, M

Assessing the response of estuarine intertidal assemblages to urbanised catchment discharge

Courtenay, GC Gladstone, W

Schreider, M

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2005, 107 (1-3), pp. 375 - 398
Issue Date:: 2005-08-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Courtenay, GC	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Gladstone, W https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4517-4605	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Schreider, M	en_US
dc.date.available	2004-09-20	en_US
dc.date.issued	2005-08-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2005, 107 (1-3), pp. 375 - 398	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0167-6369	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/14747
dc.description.abstract	Measurement of intertidal rock assemblages was investigated as a potential biological indicator to provide a quantitative estimate of the impact of urbanised catchment discharge on the estuaries of Sydney, Australia, from 1995 to 1999. Based on the presence and characteristics of adjacent human activities, sampling locations were categorised as: Bush; Urban; Urban with Sewer Overflows; and Industry with Sewer Overflows. In Sydney Harbour, variation in assemblage structure was measured between most impact categories, however differences between impact categories were not consistent for each year. Nevertheless, in years of above average rainfall (1998-1999), reference assemblages adjacent to national parks and distant from urbanisation were different to all other putatively impacted assemblages. Variability within assemblages was least at reference locations in each year and greatest at locations adjacent to stormwater canals and sewer overflows, particularly in 1998-1999. Variation in assemblage structure in Sydney estuaries was most strongly correlated with chlorophyll - a concentrations. Univariate analysis also identified highly significant differences for a number of factors, however, interactions between year, impact categories and location for numerous analyses, confounded the differentiation between impact categories. The results suggest that intertidal rock assemblages in Sydney Harbour and surrounding estuaries appear to be responding to the quality and quantity of discharge from urbanised catchments and, furthermore, that assemblages are more suitable than individual taxa to indicate the difference between Bush and anthropogenically disturbed estuarine locations. © Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. 2005.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Environmental Monitoring and Assessment	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1007/s10661-005-3545-9	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Environmental Sciences	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Animals	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Birds	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Humans	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Plants	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Chlorophyll	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Water Pollutants, Chemical	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Cohort Studies	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Cities	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Rain	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Environmental Monitoring	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Population Dynamics	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Geography	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Geologic Sediments	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Time Factors	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Australia	en_US
dc.title	Assessing the response of estuarine intertidal assemblages to urbanised catchment discharge	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	1-3	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	107	en_US
utslib.for	0599 Other Environmental 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	open_access
pubs.issue	1-3	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	107	en_US

Abstract:

Measurement of intertidal rock assemblages was investigated as a potential biological indicator to provide a quantitative estimate of the impact of urbanised catchment discharge on the estuaries of Sydney, Australia, from 1995 to 1999. Based on the presence and characteristics of adjacent human activities, sampling locations were categorised as: Bush; Urban; Urban with Sewer Overflows; and Industry with Sewer Overflows. In Sydney Harbour, variation in assemblage structure was measured between most impact categories, however differences between impact categories were not consistent for each year. Nevertheless, in years of above average rainfall (1998-1999), reference assemblages adjacent to national parks and distant from urbanisation were different to all other putatively impacted assemblages. Variability within assemblages was least at reference locations in each year and greatest at locations adjacent to stormwater canals and sewer overflows, particularly in 1998-1999. Variation in assemblage structure in Sydney estuaries was most strongly correlated with chlorophyll - a concentrations. Univariate analysis also identified highly significant differences for a number of factors, however, interactions between year, impact categories and location for numerous analyses, confounded the differentiation between impact categories. The results suggest that intertidal rock assemblages in Sydney Harbour and surrounding estuaries appear to be responding to the quality and quantity of discharge from urbanised catchments and, furthermore, that assemblages are more suitable than individual taxa to indicate the difference between Bush and anthropogenically disturbed estuarine locations. © Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. 2005.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/14747