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  • Seasonal contrasts in carbon resources and ecological processes on a tropical floodplain

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    Author(s)
    Pettit, NE
    Bayliss, P
    Davies, PM
    Hamilton, SK
    Warfe, DM
    Bunn, SE
    Douglas, MM
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Bunn, Stuart E.
    Hamilton, Stephen K.
    Year published
    2011
    Metadata
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    Abstract
    1. Globally, tropical floodplains are highly productive ecosystems. This is largely because of predictable seasonal rains providing replenishing floodwaters that stimulate nutrient turnover which, in turn, substantially boosts both primary and secondary productivity. This is associated with concomitant shifts in the types of primary producers and associated food webs. 2. The Magela Creek floodplain on Kakadu National Park in northern Australia is one of the most studied tropical freshwater ecosystems in Australia and provides an opportunity to collate and examine information on organic carbon sources and pathways through ...
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    1. Globally, tropical floodplains are highly productive ecosystems. This is largely because of predictable seasonal rains providing replenishing floodwaters that stimulate nutrient turnover which, in turn, substantially boosts both primary and secondary productivity. This is associated with concomitant shifts in the types of primary producers and associated food webs. 2. The Magela Creek floodplain on Kakadu National Park in northern Australia is one of the most studied tropical freshwater ecosystems in Australia and provides an opportunity to collate and examine information on organic carbon sources and pathways through food webs to gain a fundamental understanding of how these systems may function. 3. We reviewed biophysical information published since the early 1980s to construct an assessment of the carbon resources for the channel and floodplain. 4. We conclude that macrophytes, largely in the form of grasses and aquatic plants, produce the greatest above-ground biomass on the Magela Creek floodplain. Although macrophytes provide suitable substrata for the attachment of epiphytes, they do not appear to be an important carbon source for aquatic consumers themselves. Nevertheless, macrophytes do provide critical seasonal food and habitat structure for other producers and consumers on the floodplain, such as the abundant magpie geese. 5. We developed a generalised conceptual food web and carbon budget contrasting the 'wet' and 'dry' seasons for the Magela Creek system, as a representative of tropical seasonal floodplain systems. 6. Our conceptual model of tropical floodplains indicates that knowledge of the seasonal and spatial links and exchanges between the floodplain and the river is critical in understanding ecosystem function.
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    Journal Title
    Freshwater Biology
    Volume
    56
    Issue
    6
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2010.02544.x
    Copyright Statement
    © 2011 Blackwell Publishing. This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Seasonal contrasts in carbon resources and ecological processes on a tropical floodplain, Freshwater Biology, Vol. 56(6), 2011, pp. 1047-1064, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2010.02544.x.
    Subject
    Freshwater Ecology
    Ecosystem Function
    Environmental Sciences
    Biological Sciences
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/42506
    Collection
    • Journal articles

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