Research plan 1997-2000
Revised for 1999-2000

Project Leader: Dan Alongi

Human impacts on tropical coastal ecosystems must be understood if they are to be managed efficiently.

Human impacts along the Great Barrier Reef shelf originate from expansion of agricultural and coastal development. Threats include the discharge of agrochemicals and silt from the land, as well as sewage and other pollutants. Our capacity to minimise these impacts is hampered by inadequate understanding of how terrestrial and marine ecosystems process these materials. Recreational and commercial fishing is another type of impact associated with centres of population along the coastal strip.

This multidisciplinary project has concentrated on the fate of materials entering the sea from tidal rivers, using knowledge and skills from physical, chemical and biological sciences. It includes long-term monitoring of water quality in the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon, for both excess nutrients and biotoxic pollutants.

These studies are done in the context of understanding the functioning of healthy ecosystems, especially those of mangroves and seagrasses, which are thought to be biofilters as well as being habitats critical to the productivity of prawns and fish stocks. Our ideas are being tested by comparative studies from the Kimberley region of Western Australia (few mangroves, low rainfall and low population) to the Mekong Delta of Vietnam (a heavily populated region subject to high environmental stress, where we seek to determine the limits of ecological sustainability).

Goals

• to identify and measure input and effects of nutrients of human origin, pesticides and other contaminants into the coastal zone;
• to identify key aspects of the food web in the coastal zone;
• to identify the physical factors affecting food webs and nutrient cycles.

Sub-projects

Rivers and mangroves (Leader: Barry Clough)

Nutrient exchanges between rivers and adjacent coastal waters are being studied to reveal the fate and impact of nutrients within mangrove and other coastal systems. This study is funded partly by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, the CRC for Aquaculture and the Kansai Electric Power Company (Japan). It includes collaborative projects in Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.

Inshore and reef trophic processes (Leader: David Klumpp)

Flux of materials into and within ecosystems of the coastal zone, especially reefs and seagrass beds, are being studied to reveal processing of organic matter and biological responses to the input of materials.

Pelagic-benthic coupling (Leader: Miles Furnas)

This is a study into the impact of nutrients of human origin on plant production in the coastal seas, and the processing of nutrients within the pelagic food webs.

Physical processes and modelling (Leader: Eric Wolanski)

This study unifies the overall project by linking ecological processes with physical oceanographic processes. Systems models will be constructed to predict the ecologically sustainable limits of human inputs.

Coastal fisheries biodiversity and sustainability. (Leader: Janet Ley)

This study is investigating the impact of net fishing practices on estuarine fish numbers and species diversity. It is a collaborative project with the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, and is supported by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation.

Links with other AIMS projects

Marine Biogeochemistry of Contaminants

• historical records in sediments;
• nutrient data from rivers.

Sustaining Coral Reefs

• models of faunal changes;
• determination of human impacts.

Predicting the Coastal Marine Environment

• surface circulation data and models;
• effects of floods, cyclone and other high impact events.

Links with other organisations

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, CSIRO Marine, CRC for Aquaculture, Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Queensland Department of Environment, James Cook University, as well as research organisations in Malaysia, Vietnam, Germany, People’s Republic of China and Japan.

Links with strategic directions

1998/99 funding base
Total budget $2,223,000 (78% appropriation; 22% external)

Major external sources:

Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)
CRC for the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC)
Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO)
Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA)

Scientific staff

Research scientists: Daniel Alongi, Barry Clough, Miles Furnas (50%), David Klumpp, Janet Ley, David McKinnon (50%), Eric Wolanski (40%).

Scientific support: Otto Dalhaus, Andrew Davidson, Paul Dixon, Alan Mitchell (50%), Katie Moore, Michele Skuza, Simon Spagnol, Lindsay Trott, Margaret Wright.

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