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  • Ecological roles and threats to aquatic refugia in arid landscapes: dryland river waterholes

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    64567_1.pdf (349.8Kb)
    Author(s)
    Sheldon, Fran
    Bunn, Stuart E
    Hughes, Jane M
    Arthington, Angela H
    Balcombe, Stephen R
    Fellows, Christine S
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Arthington, Angela H.
    Hughes, Jane M.
    Bunn, Stuart E.
    Sheldon, Fran
    Year published
    2010
    Metadata
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    Abstract
    Dryland rivers are renowned for their periods of 'boom' related to the episodic floods that extend over vast floodplains and fuel incredible production, and periods of 'bust' where the extensive channel network is restricted to the permanent refugial waterholes. Many of these river systems are unregulated by dams but are under increasing pressure, especially from water abstraction and overland flow interception for agriculture and mining. Although some aquatic organisms with desiccation-resistant life stages can utilise ephemeral floodplain habitats, the larger river waterholes represent the only permanent aquatic habitat ...
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    Dryland rivers are renowned for their periods of 'boom' related to the episodic floods that extend over vast floodplains and fuel incredible production, and periods of 'bust' where the extensive channel network is restricted to the permanent refugial waterholes. Many of these river systems are unregulated by dams but are under increasing pressure, especially from water abstraction and overland flow interception for agriculture and mining. Although some aquatic organisms with desiccation-resistant life stages can utilise ephemeral floodplain habitats, the larger river waterholes represent the only permanent aquatic habitat during extended periods of low or no flow. These waterholes act as aquatic refugia in an otherwise terrestrial landscape. Variable patterns of connection and disconnection in space and time are a fundamental driver of diversity and function in these dryland river systems, and are vital for dispersal and the maintenance of diverse populations, generate the spatial and temporal variability in assemblage structure for a range of different organisms and fuel the productivity that sustains higher trophic levels. Changes to natural patterns of connection and disconnection of refugial waterholes, owing to water-resource development or climate change, will threaten their persistence and diminish their functional capacity to act as aquatic refugia.
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    Journal Title
    Marine & Freshwater Research
    Volume
    61
    Issue
    8
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1071/MF09239
    Copyright Statement
    © 2010 CSIRO. This is the author-manuscript version of this paper. Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version.
    Subject
    Conservation and biodiversity
    Environmental management
    Freshwater ecology
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/34424
    Collection
    • Journal articles

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