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dc.contributor.authorOlley, Jon
dc.contributor.authorBurton, Joanne
dc.contributor.authorHermoso, Virgilio
dc.contributor.authorSmolders, Kate
dc.contributor.authorMcMahon, Joe
dc.contributor.authorThomson, Belinda
dc.contributor.authorWatkinson, Andrew
dc.date.accessioned2018-07-25T05:28:53Z
dc.date.available2018-07-25T05:28:53Z
dc.date.issued2015
dc.identifier.issn0885-6087
dc.identifier.doi10.1002/hyp.10369
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/147489
dc.description.abstractA decline in the ecosystem health of Australia's Moreton Bay, a Ramsar wetland of international significance, has been attributed to sediments and nutrients derived from catchment sources. To address this decline the regional management plan has set the target of reducing the loads by 50%. Reforestation of the channel network has been proposed as the means to achieve this reduction, but the extent of revegetation required is uncertain. Here we test the hypothesis that sediment and nutrient loads from catchments decrease proportionally with the increasing proportion of the stream length draining remnant vegetation. As part of a routine regional water quality monitoring program sediment and nutrient loads were measured in 186 flow events across 22 sub‐catchments with different proportions of remnant woodland. Using multiple linear regression analysis we develop a predictive model for pollutant loads. Of the attributes examined a combination of runoff and the proportion of the stream length draining remnant vegetation was the best predictor. The sediment yield per unit area from a catchment containing no remnant vegetation is predicted to be between 50 and 200 times that of a fully vegetated channel network; total phosphorus between 25 and 60 times; total nitrogen between 1.6 and 4.1 times. There are ~48 000 km of streams in the region of which 32% drain areas of remnant vegetation. Of these 17 095 km are above the region's water storage dams. We estimate that decreasing the sediment and phosphorus loads to Moreton Bay by 50% would involve rehabilitating ~6350 km of the channel network below the dams; halving the total nitrogen load would require almost complete restoration of the channel network.
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherJohn Wiley & Sons
dc.publisher.placeUnited Kingdom
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom2290
dc.relation.ispartofpageto2300
dc.relation.ispartofissue10
dc.relation.ispartofjournalHydrological Processes
dc.relation.ispartofvolume29
dc.subject.fieldofresearchPhysical geography and environmental geoscience
dc.subject.fieldofresearchGeomorphology and earth surface processes
dc.subject.fieldofresearchCivil engineering
dc.subject.fieldofresearchEnvironmental engineering
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode3709
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode370901
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode4005
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode4011
dc.titleRemnant riparian vegetation, sediment and nutrient loads, and river rehabilitation in subtropical Australia
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.descriptionC1 - Articles
dc.type.codeC - Journal Articles
gro.facultyGriffith Sciences, Griffith School of Environment
gro.hasfulltextNo Full Text
gro.griffith.authorOlley, Jon M.


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