Development and application of the Riparian Mapping Tool to identify priority rehabilitation areas for nitrogen removal in the Tully - Murray basin, Queensland, Australia

Rassam, David; Pagendam, Dan

doi:10.1071/mf08358

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…This too can cause large spatial variations in groundwater nitrogen concentrations. The benefits of such riparian zones have already been shown in studies in this region (McKergow et al , 2004a,b) and have led to the identification of priority revegetation areas on this floodplain (Hunter et al , 2006; Rassam and Pagendam, 2009) and extensive riparian replanting has been undertaken by the local council. However, our chemical balance of Kyambul lagoon will include any water quality improvement provided by the surrounding riparian vegetation, but without any knowledge of the groundwater quality entering this zone we cannot quantify its effect separately.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

The filtering capacity of a tropical riverine wetland: II. Sediment and nutrient balances

McJannet

Wallace

Keen

et al. 2011

Hydrological Processes

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Abstract:The ability of wetlands to improve the quality of water has long been recognized and has led to the proliferation of wetlands as a means to treat diffuse and point source pollutants from a range of land uses. However, much of the existing research has been undertaken in temperate climates with a paucity of information on the effectiveness of wetlands, particularly natural wetlands, in tropical regions. This paper contributes to addressing this issue by presenting a comprehensive measurement based assessment of the potential for a naturally occurring tropical riverine wetland to improve the quality of the water entering it. We found small net imports and exports of sediment to/from the wetland in individual years, but over the longer term this kind of wetland is neither a sink nor source of sediment. In contrast, phosphorus was continually removed by the wetland with an overall net reduction of 14%. However, it should be noted that there is no 'permanent' gaseous loss mechanism for phosphorus, and its removal from the water column is equal to its accumulation in the wetland soil. We found very little removal of nitrogen by this type of wetland from several analyses including: (i) Surface and groundwater fluxes, (ii) Estimation of water column and soil denitrification rates, (iii) Wetland residence times, and (iv) Hydraulic loading. We also found no clear evidence for transformation of nitrogen to more or less bio-available forms. Hence, while the benefits of using wetlands to improve water quality in controlled environments have been demonstrated in the literature, these benefits may not always be directly translated to unmanaged natural wetland systems when there is strong seasonality in flows and short residence time during the periods of maximum sediment and nutrient load.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

The filtering capacity of a tropical riverine wetland: II. Sediment and nutrient balances

McJannet

Wallace

Keen

et al. 2011

Hydrological Processes

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“…Whilst riparian zones are known to reduce DIN through the process of denitrification, a range of conditions are required for this to occur. These include appropriate floodplain hydrology, high levels of organic carbon through the soil profile, anaerobic conditions, and appropriate residence time (Rassam and Pagendam, ). It is possible that the reason we found that riparian vegetation did not reduce the concentration of DIN as some might have expected was because the conditions for denitrification to occur were not met.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remnant riparian vegetation, sediment and nutrient loads, and river rehabilitation in subtropical Australia

et al. 2014

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A decline in the ecosystem health of Australia's Moreton Bay, a Ramsar wetland of international significance, has been attributed to sediments and nutrients derived from catchment sources. To address this decline the regional management plan has set the target of reducing the loads by 50%. Reforestation of the channel network has been proposed as the means to achieve this reduction, but the extent of revegetation required is uncertain. Here we test the hypothesis that sediment and nutrient loads from catchments decrease proportionally with the increasing proportion of the stream length draining remnant vegetation. As part of a routine regional water quality monitoring program sediment and nutrient loads were measured in 186 flow events across 22 sub-catchments with different proportions of remnant woodland. Using multiple linear regression analysis we develop a predictive model for pollutant loads. Of the attributes examined a combination of runoff and the proportion of the stream length draining remnant vegetation was the best predictor. The sediment yield per unit area from a catchment containing no remnant vegetation is predicted to be between 50 and 200 times that of a fully vegetated channel network; total phosphorus between 25 and 60 times; total nitrogen between 1.6 and 4.1 times. There are~48 000 km of streams in the region of which 32% drain areas of remnant vegetation. Of these 17 095 km are above the region's water storage dams. We estimate that decreasing the sediment and phosphorus loads to Moreton Bay by 50% would involve rehabilitating~6350 km of the channel network below the dams; halving the total nitrogen load would require almost complete restoration of the channel network.

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“…Restoration of riparian vegetation was a key directive of the Tully WQIP for its potential to deliver supporting and regulating water quality ecosystem services (Kroon et al, 2009). In addition to shade for temperature and aquatic weed regulation, riparian vegetation may also filter groundwater nitrate, trap sediments, and reduce erosion ( Rassam and Pagendam, 2009;Pert et al, 2010). To locate target areas for restoration that would provide the best return on investment, riparian ecosystem services in the Tully Murray floodplain have been mapped (Pert et al, 2010), including riparian areas with high denitrification ability near agricultural land with elevated nutrient loads (Rassam and Pagendam, 2009).…”

Section: Restoration Case Study 3: Riparian Habitat Loss and Reduced mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This interest extends beyond water quality benefits, with potential to provide an economic benefit to landholders through public/private market schemes investing in restoration "green" projects . Additional water quality co-benefits could be gained by planting riparian buffers around constructed wetlands, enhancing filtration capacity of the low-lying land through denitrification by riparian vegetation (Rassam and Pagendam, 2009).…”

Section: Restoration Case Study 3: Riparian Habitat Loss and Reduced mentioning

confidence: 99%

Lost Floodplain Wetland Environments and Efforts to Restore Connectivity, Habitat, and Water Quality Settings on the Great Barrier Reef

et al. 2019

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Managers are moving toward implementing large-scale coastal ecosystem restoration projects, however, many fail to achieve desired outcomes. Among the key reasons for this is the lack of integration with a whole-of-catchment approach, the scale of the project (temporal, spatial), the requirement for ongoing costs for maintenance, the lack of clear objectives, a focus on threats rather than services/values, funding cycles, engagement or change in stakeholders, and prioritization of project sites. Here we critically assess the outcomes of activities in three coastal wetland complexes positioned along the catchments of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) lagoon, Australia, that have been subjected to restoration investment over a number of decades. Each floodplain has been modified by intensive agricultural production, heavy industry and mining infrastructure, urban/peri urban expansion, aquaculture development and infrastructure expansion. Most development has occurred in low-lying coastal floodplains, resulting in major hydrological modifications to the landscape. This has left the floodplain wetlands in a degraded and hydrologically modified state, with poor water quality (hypoxic, eutrophication, sedimentation, and persistent turbidity), loss of habitat, and disconnected because of flow hydraulic barriers, excessive aquatic plant growth, or establishment of invasive species. Successful GBR wetland ecosystem restoration and management first requires an understanding of what constitutes "success" and must be underpinned by an understanding of complex cause and effect pathways, with a focus on management of services and values. This approach should recognize that these wetlands are still assets in a modified landscape. Suitable, long term, scientific knowledge is necessary to provide government and private companies with the confidence and comfort that their investment delivers dividend (environmental) returns.

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Development and application of the Riparian Mapping Tool to identify priority rehabilitation areas for nitrogen removal in the Tully - Murray basin, Queensland, Australia

Cited by 10 publications

References 37 publications

The filtering capacity of a tropical riverine wetland: II. Sediment and nutrient balances

The filtering capacity of a tropical riverine wetland: II. Sediment and nutrient balances

Remnant riparian vegetation, sediment and nutrient loads, and river rehabilitation in subtropical Australia

Lost Floodplain Wetland Environments and Efforts to Restore Connectivity, Habitat, and Water Quality Settings on the Great Barrier Reef

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