• 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
  • Longitudinal trends in river functioning: Patterns of nutrient and carbon processing in three Australian rivers

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    65394_1.pdf (524.7Kb)
    Author(s)
    Hadwen, Wade L
    Fellows, Christine S
    Westhorpe, Douglas P
    Rees, Gavin N
    Mitrovic, Simon M
    Taylor, Brett
    Baldwin, Darren S
    Silvester, Ewen
    Croome, Roger
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Fellows, Christy S.
    Hadwen, Wade L.
    Year published
    2010
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    Understanding longitudinal trends in the processing of carbon in rivers represents a much conceptualised, but infrequently tested, issue in aquatic ecology. In this study, we conducted concurrent longitudinal examinations of three very different rivers in eastern Australia to determine whether general principles in river functioning exist across broad geographic and hydrologic scales. Specifically, we examined trends in ambient basic water chemistry, nutrient concentrations, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), extracellular enzymes and food web structure and functioning and conducted bioassays to examine the degree to which DOC ...
    View more >
    Understanding longitudinal trends in the processing of carbon in rivers represents a much conceptualised, but infrequently tested, issue in aquatic ecology. In this study, we conducted concurrent longitudinal examinations of three very different rivers in eastern Australia to determine whether general principles in river functioning exist across broad geographic and hydrologic scales. Specifically, we examined trends in ambient basic water chemistry, nutrient concentrations, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), extracellular enzymes and food web structure and functioning and conducted bioassays to examine the degree to which DOC and nutrients limit heterotrophic bacterial respiration. These parameters revealed striking similarities across all sites. For metazoan communities, stable isotope analysis showed that algal carbon was the dominant basal resource utilised by consumers in all three rivers, suggesting that in-stream primary producers strongly underpin trophic pathways regardless of the position within a catchment or catchment condition. Analyses of extracellular enzymes revealed that microbial communities are actively utilising DOC at all sites. In fact, heterotrophic microbial respiration was strongly limited by DOC at all sites, with nutrient additions resulting in only relatively minor increases in respiration. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that DOC and algal carbon are critically important drivers of ecosystem processes in Australian riverine ecosystems. Furthermore, across all of our sites and rivers, ambient nutrient concentrations did not influence carbon processing. The consistent longitudinal trends in river function identified in this study provide useful insights for catchment managers and modellers with respect to identifiying key principles that underpin ecosystem functioning in Australian rivers.
    View less >
    Journal Title
    River Research and Applications
    Volume
    26
    Issue
    9
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.1321
    Copyright Statement
    © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Longitudinal trends in river functioning: Patterns of nutrient and carbon processing in three Australian rivers, River Research and Applications, Volume 26, Issue 9, pages 1129–1152, November 2010, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rra.1321
    Subject
    Ecosystem Function
    Environmental Science and Management
    Ecology
    Environmental Engineering
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/38042
    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