• myGriffith
    • Staff portal
    • Contact Us⌄
      • Future student enquiries 1800 677 728
      • Current student enquiries 1800 154 055
      • International enquiries +61 7 3735 6425
      • General enquiries 07 3735 7111
      • Online enquiries
      • Staff phonebook
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Griffith Research Online
    • Journal articles
    • View Item
    • Home
    • Griffith Research Online
    • Journal articles
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

  • All of Griffith Research Online
    • Communities & Collections
    • Authors
    • By Issue Date
    • Titles
  • This Collection
    • Authors
    • By Issue Date
    • Titles
  • Statistics

  • Most Popular Items
  • Statistics by Country
  • Most Popular Authors
  • Support

  • Contact us
  • FAQs
  • Admin login

  • Login
  • Food webs of two intermittently open estuaries receiving 15N-enriched sewage effluent

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    44382_1.pdf (842.6Kb)
    Author(s)
    Hadwen, Wade L
    Arthington, Angela H
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Arthington, Angela H.
    Hadwen, Wade L.
    Year published
    2007
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures were used to assess the response of food webs to sewage effluent discharged into two small intermittently open estuaries in northern New South Wales, Australia. One of these systems, Tallows Creek, has a history of direct sewage inputs, whilst the other, Belongil Creek, receives wastewater via an extensive wetland treatment system. The food webs of both systems were driven by algal sources of carbon, reflecting high autotrophic productivity in response to the nutrients entering the system from sewage effluent. All aquatic biota collected from Tallows Creek had significantly ...
    View more >
    Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures were used to assess the response of food webs to sewage effluent discharged into two small intermittently open estuaries in northern New South Wales, Australia. One of these systems, Tallows Creek, has a history of direct sewage inputs, whilst the other, Belongil Creek, receives wastewater via an extensive wetland treatment system. The food webs of both systems were driven by algal sources of carbon, reflecting high autotrophic productivity in response to the nutrients entering the system from sewage effluent. All aquatic biota collected from Tallows Creek had significantly enriched d15N signatures relative to their conspecifics from Belongil Creek, indicating that sewage nitrogen had been assimilated and transferred throughout the Tallows Creek food web. These d15N values were higher than those reported from studies in permanently open estuaries receiving sewage effluent. We suggest that these enriched signatures and the transfer of nitrogen throughout the entire food web reflect differences in hydrology and associated nitrogen cycling processes between permanently open and intermittently open estuaries. Although all organisms in Tallows Creek were generally 15N-enriched, isotopically light (less 15N-enriched) individuals of estuary perchlet (Ambassis marianus) and sea mullet (Mugil cephalus) were also collected. These individuals were most likely recent immigrants into Tallows Creek, as this system had only recently been opened to the ocean. This isotopic discrimination between resident (enriched) and immigrant (significantly less enriched) individuals can provide information on fish movement patterns and the role of heavily polluted intermittently open estuaries in supporting commercially and recreationally valuable estuarine species.
    View less >
    Journal Title
    Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
    Volume
    71
    Publisher URI
    http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/622823/description#description
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2006.08.017
    Copyright Statement
    © 2007 Elsevier. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version. This is the author-manuscript version of this paper. Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.
    Subject
    Earth Sciences
    Environmental Sciences
    Biological Sciences
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/17696
    Collection
    • Journal articles

    Footer

    Disclaimer

    • Privacy policy
    • Copyright matters
    • CRICOS Provider - 00233E

    Tagline

    • Gold Coast
    • Logan
    • Brisbane - Queensland, Australia
    First Peoples of Australia
    • Aboriginal
    • Torres Strait Islander