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Identifying Threats to the Ecological Condition of Victorian Estuaries

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Identifying Threats to the Ecological Condition of Victorian Estuaries Identifying threats to the ecological condition of Victorian estuaries December 2008 a Identifying threats to the ecological condition of Victorian estuaries Authors: Dr Jan Barton Dr Adam Pope Prof Gerry Quinn Assoc Prof John Sherwood School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Warrnambool, Victoria, 3280 A report on the project “Linking catchments to the sea: understanding how human activities impact on Victorian estuaries” funded by the National Heritage Trust (NHT) and the Department of Sustainability and Environment. This report should be cited as: Barton, J.L., Pope, A.J., Quinn, G.P. and Sherwood, J.E. (2008) Identifying threats to the ecological condition of Victorian estuaries. Department of Sustainability and Environment Technical Report. Cover photograph: Merri River estuary, Warrnambool, Victoria. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the following people for their assistance and advice during this project: Name Organisation Michaela Dommisse Penny Gillespie Paul Wilson Paulo Lay Department of Sustainability and Environment Dr Helen Arundel Dr Alistair Becker Claire McClusky Jess McKenzie Jacquomo Monk Alex Rattray Deakin University Prof Peter Fairweather Flinders University Dr Nicole Barbee Dr Steve Swearer University of Melbourne Dr Jeremy Hindell Arthur Rylah Institute of Environmental Research Tim Allen Australian Government NRM Facilitator (Victoria) – Coastal and Marine Dr Richard Mount National Land and Water Audit and University of Tasmania Di Rose Nina Bate David Tiller Lisa Dixon Environment Protection Authority Victoria Mark Rodrigue Parks Victoria Dr David May * Greg Peters Corangamite CMA (* now GHD) Linda Grant Graeme Jeffries Glenelg Hopkins CMA Published by the Victorian Government Melbourne, April 2009 © The State of Victoria 2009 This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Authorised by the Victorian Government, 8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne ISBN 978-1-74208-745-0 (PDF) For more information contact the Department of Sustainability & Environment Customer Service Centre 136 186 Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. Accessibility If you would like to receive this publication in an accessible format, such as large print or audio, please telephone 138 186, 1800 122 969 (TTY), or email [email protected] This document is also available in PDF format on the Internet at www.dse.vic.gov.au Contents Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................b Executive summary ...................................................................................................................................iii Introduction and background ...................................................................................................................1 Section1: Information on Victorian estuaries ........................................................................................3 1.1 Description of data collected in Victorian estuaries ..........................................................................................5 1.2 Summary of available data on Victoria’s estuaries ............................................................................................6 Section 2: Classification of Victoria’s estuaries ....................................................................................11 2.1 Existing classification schemes ..........................................................................................................................11 2.1.1 Estuary Classification at the National scale ..........................................................................................11 2.1.2 Estuary classification at the regional scale ...........................................................................................12 2.1.3 Estuary classification in Victoria ............................................................................................................13 2.2 Rationale for new classification analyses .........................................................................................................15 2.3 Methods for classification analyses ..................................................................................................................16 2.4 Estuaries and their catchments .........................................................................................................................16 2.4.1 Defining Victoria’s estuaries and their extent ......................................................................................16 2.4.2 Defining catchments and deriving physical data .................................................................................19 2.4.3 Spatial products: Estuary and catchment layers ...................................................................................23 2.5 ‘Functional’ classifications .................................................................................................................................24 2.5.1 Estuaries and estuarine catchments ......................................................................................................24 2.5.2 Fluvial catchments ..................................................................................................................................24 2.5.3 Comparison with geography .................................................................................................................24 2.5.4 Summary of functional classifications ...................................................................................................26 2.6 Assessment of existing classifications ...............................................................................................................26 2.7 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................................................27 Section 3: Linking human activities to estuarine condition ...............................................................29 3.1 Threat-based classifications ...............................................................................................................................29 3.1.1 Land use and population in estuarine catchments ..............................................................................29 3.1.2 Land use and population in fluvial catchments ...................................................................................31 3.1.3 Catchment condition and hydrological alteration in fluvial catchments ..........................................32 3.1.4 of threats classifications ........................................................................................................................33 3.2 Relationships between functional and threat characteristics .......................................................................33 3.3 Linking estuarine condition to threats .............................................................................................................35 3.3.1 New work linking estuary catchment development and microbial function in estuary sediments 35 3.3.2 New work linking estuary catchment population density and structure of estuary sediments ......35 3.3.3 Future opportunities for linking threats to estuarine condition ........................................................36 Conclusions and recommendations ........................................................................................................37 Bibliography ..............................................................................................................................................38 Appendix 1: Well studied estuaries: a summary ...................................................................................45 i Appendix 2: Indicators of estuarine condition ......................................................................................47 Criteria for evaluating Indicators .............................................................................................................................47 Indication of something useful .........................................................................................................................47 Cost-effectiveness ...............................................................................................................................................47 Available data .....................................................................................................................................................47 Temporal and spatial scales ...............................................................................................................................47 Causal links to drivers ........................................................................................................................................48 Threats ........................................................................................................................................................................48
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