Water Quality, Sediment and Biological Parameters at Four Nearshore Reef Flats in the Herbert River Region, Central GBR
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I-MINN/WV MIIVNIIMIINIII ■ GREAT BARRIER REEF MARINE PARK AUTHORITY RESEARCH PUBLICATION NO. 82 Water quality, sediment and biological parameters at four nearshore reef flats in the Herbert River Region, Central GBR. Britta Schaffelke Sven Uthicke David Klumpp let's- keep it great RESEARCH PUBLICATION NO. 82 Water quality, sediment and biological parameters at four nearshore reef flats in the Herbert River Region, Central GBR. Britta Schaffelke 1 , Sven Uthicke 2 , David Klumpp 2 1 The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority 2 Australian Institute of Marine Science PMB3 Townsville Queensland 4810 Australian Government Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority PO Box 1379 Townsville OLD 4810 Telephone: (07) 4750 0700 Fax: (07) 4772 6093 Email: [email protected] www.gbrmpa.gov.au © Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority 2003 ISSN 1037 – 1508 (Print) ISBN 1 876945 26 5. (Print) ISSN 1447 – 1035 (Online) ISBN 1 876945 27 3 (Online) Published June 2003 by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Director, Information Support Group, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, PO Box 1379, Townsville Qld 4810. The opinions expressed in this document are not necessarily those of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Accuracy in calculations, figures, tables, names, quotations, references etc. is the complete responsibility of the authors. This publication will also be available on the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s website, www.gbrmpa.gov.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data: Schaffelke, Britta, 1962-. Water quality, sediment an biological parameters at four nearshore reef flats in the Herbert River Region, Central Great Barrier Reef. Bibliography. ISBN 1 876945 26 5. (Print) ISBN 1 876945 27 3. (Online) 1. Water Quality biological assessment – Queensland – Herbert River Estuary. 2. Water quality biological Assessment – Queensland – Great Barrier Reef. 3. Herbert River Estuary (N.T. and QLD.). 4. Great Barrier Reef (QLD.) I.Klumpp, D.W. II. Uthicke, Sven. III. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. IV. Title. (Series : Research Publication (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority) ; no. 82). 333.9162099436 PO Box 1379 Townsville Qld 4810 Telephone (07) 4750 0700 Fax (07) 4772 6093 Web site: www.gbrmpa.gov.au CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………….… iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ………………………………………………….………….… 1 INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………... 3 MATERIAL AND METHODS ……………………………………………………….….. 7 Description of sampling locations and adjacent catchments …………….… 7 General sampling design …………………………………………..………..… 8 Dissolved inorganic and organic nutrients in the water column and interstitial water ……………………………………………………….…... 9 Water flow rates .……………………………………………………………...... 9 Particle deposition rates ………………………………………….……………. 11 Sediment sampling ……………………………………………….…………..... 11 Chlorophyll a and phaeophytin in sediments ………………….…………… 11 Bacteria and diatom numbers ……………………………………..………..… 11 Sampling of macroalgal tissue …………………………………….………….. 12 Composition of deposited particles, sediments, and macroalgal tissue .…. 12 Microalgal community production ……………………………….………….. 12 Macroalgal production …………………………………………………….…... 13 Statistical analyses ………………………………………………….…………... 13 RESULTS ………………………………………………………………………….…….. 15 Water column nutrients ……………………………………………………...... 15 Dissolved inorganic nutrients …………………………………….….. 15 Dissolved organic nutrients ……………………………………….….. 18 The water column-sediment interface ………………………………….…..... 20 Nutrients in the interstitial water…………………………….………. 20 Water flow rates …………………………………………………….…. 22 Particle deposition rates …………………………………………….… 24 Parameters integrating nutrient availability …………………………….…... 28 Sediment quality ………………………………………….………...…. 28 Nitrogen, organic and inorganic carbon concentrations…... 28 Chlorophyll a and phaeophytin ……………………….……. 30 Nutrients in macroalgal tissue …………………………………….…. 31 Biological parameters ……………………………………………………….…. 33 Diatom and bacteria numbers in reef flat sediments …………….… 33 Microbenthos community production …………………………….… 34 Effects of light and temperature …………………….……..... 36 Production of Sargassum baccularia ………………………….……….. 36 DISCUSSION ……………………………………………………………….…………… 37 Water column nutrients …………………………………………………....….. 37 The water/sediment interface …………………………………………….…... 41 Parameters integrating nutrient availability …………………………….…... 44 Biological parameters ……………………………………………………….…. 46 Method assessment and recommendations …………………………….…… 48 Synthesis and outlook ……………………………………………………....…. 50 REFERENCES……………………………………..………………………………….… 53 iii FIGURES 1. Study locations at nearshore islands in the Herbert River region ………… 7 2. Concentrations of ammonium (a), nitrite (b), nitrate (c), dissolved inorganic nitrogen, DIN (d), and phosphate (e) in the water column at four nearshore reefs in the central section of the GBR. …………………...... 16 3. Concentrations of dissolved organic nitrogen (a: DON) and dissolved organic phosphorus (b: DOP) in the water column at four nearshore reefs in the central section of the GBR. …..…………………………………... 18 4. Water flow rates at Great Palm Island measured with erosive blocks. .….. 23 5. Total amount and composition of particulate matter (PM) collected in sediment traps in the seaweed zone and in the hard coral zone at Great Palm Island. ….…..…………………………………………………….… 25 6. Correlations of water flow rates and (a) total amount of particulate matter (PM), (b) organic carbon-, (c) nitrogen-, and (d) phosphorus content of PM collected in sediment traps in the seaweed zone at Great Palm Island. ……………….…………………………………………………….. 26 7. Concentrations of nitrogen (a), organic carbon (b), and calcium carbonate (c) in the surface layer of sediments of three nearshore reefs in the central section of the GBR. ……………………………………………………………... 29 8. Concentrations of chlorophyll a (a) and phaeophytin (b) in the surface layer of sediments at three nearshore reefs in the central section of the GBR. …………………………………………………………………...…. 30 9. Nitrogen (a) and phosphorus (b) content in Sargassum baccularia tissue collected at three nearshore reefs in the central section of the GBR. ..…….. 32 10. Benthic diatom- (a) and bacteria numbers (b) in the surface layer of sediments of three nearshore reefs in the central section of the GBR. ……. 33 11. Net production and biomass of Sargassum baccularia at Great Palm Island. ……………………………………………………………………... 36 iv TABLES 1. Sampling dates for the various sampled parameters. ………..…………..… 10 2. ANOVA for phosphate (PO4), ammonium (NH4), nitrite (NO2), nitrate (NO3) and total dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in the water column at four nearshore reefs …...…………………….…………..…. 17 3. ANOVA for concentrations of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) in the water column at four nearshore reefs …………………….…………………..…………..………….... 19 4. Summary of phosphate (PO4), ammonium (NH4), nitrite (NO2), nitrate (NO3) and total dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) concentrations in the water column at four nearshore reefs.….....… 19 5. Summary of nutrient concentrations found in the sediment pore water at three nearshore reefs. ……………………………...……………….……...... 20 6. ANOVA for phosphate (PO4), ammonium (NH4), nitrite (NO2), nitrate (NO3) and total dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in the sediment pore water at three nearshore reefs. ……………………….…..…. 21 7. ANOVA for dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) concentrations in the sediment pore water at three nearshore reefs. …………………………………………………………………. 22 8. ANOVA for water flow rates measured at Great Palm Island.…...……….. 23 9. ANOVA for total amount and composition of particulate matter (PM) collected in sediment traps in two zones on the reef flat at Gr. Palm Island…………….……………………………………………………………….. 27 10. ANOVA for organic carbon, nitrogen and inorganic carbon concentrations in sediments at three nearshore reefs. ……...…...……………………….…... 28 11. ANOVA for chlorophyll a and phaeophytin concentrations in sediments at three nearshore reefs. ………………..……………………………….……... 31 12. ANOVA for nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in tissue of Sargassum baccularia at three nearshore reefs. ………………………….……. 31 13. ANOVA for diatom numbers in sediments at three nearshore reefs. …..... 34 14. ANOVA for bacterial numbers in sediments at three nearshore reefs. ..…. 34 15. ANOVA (factor Month) for community net and gross production, P/R and Pmax of microbenthos communities at Great Palm Island.……...… 35 16. Monthly average of production parameters from in situ measurements of microphytobenthos communities at Great Palm Island . 35 17. Monthly average of temperature and light from in situ measurements of microphytobenthos production at Great Palm Island…………………..…... 36 18. Summary of dissolved inorganic nutrients in the water column of different water bodies in the GBR region. ………………………………………..…….. 38 19. Ratios of dissolved organic to dissolved inorganic nutrients in the water column of different water bodies in the GBR region.…..….………………... 40 20. Summary of suspended particle characteristics in the water column of different water bodies in