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dc.contributor.advisorHulsman, Kees
dc.contributor.authorQuinnell, Susan Elizabeth
dc.date.accessioned2018-01-23T02:31:06Z
dc.date.available2018-01-23T02:31:06Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.identifier.doi10.25904/1912/1853
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/366573
dc.description.abstractBramble Bay, an estuary with a long history of contamination, appears to have crossed multiple tipping points into a state of unstable biomass dominated by opportunistic species. In early 1996 mass mortality events began to affect the bay’s macrobenthic community within a few days of modest rainfall (30 mm) over the catchments. The numbers of wading birds and fish using the beach at such times greatly declined. Between mortality events the macrobenthos staged partial recoveries. However, 10 years later the beach had not attained the diversity of species it supported prior to 1996. Also, the riverine estuaries that drain the catchments had been severely affected. Monitoring in 1998 – 2000 showed that the abundance of riverine macrobenthos in six drainage systems was < 15% of that in 1972 – 1973 when these drainage systems were extensively surveyed and < 2.5% of that after extreme flooding in 1974. Remarkably, the variance of total abundance within estuaries had been reduced by 90 - 99%. Nearly all of the once-dominant peracarids had gone. Chemical tests could not explain this. Nor are other simplistic explanations credible, such as floods or changes in the rate of sedimentation, because only some components of the macrobenthos have been adversely affected. Most deposit feeders have been severely reduced, however, deposit-feeding annelids as well as suspension feeding molluscs and crustaceans have continued to thrive amongst the sediments.
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherGriffith University
dc.publisher.placeBrisbane
dc.rights.copyrightThe author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
dc.subject.keywordsBramble Bay
dc.subject.keywordsMacrobenthic measures
dc.subject.keywordsRiverine estuaries
dc.subject.keywordsEstuarine ecology
dc.titleEstuarine Canaries: Macrobenthos Measures Pollution when Chemical Tests Cannot
dc.typeGriffith thesis
gro.facultyScience, Environment, Engineering and Technology
gro.rights.copyrightThe author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
gro.hasfulltextFull Text
dc.contributor.otheradvisorPollard, Peter
dc.rights.accessRightsPublic
gro.identifier.gurtIDgu1358138682824
gro.source.ADTshelfnoADT0
gro.source.GURTshelfnoGURT1370
gro.thesis.degreelevelThesis (PhD Doctorate)
gro.thesis.degreeprogramDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
gro.departmentGriffith School of Environment
gro.griffith.authorQuinnell, Susan


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