Paleoclimate studies and natural-resource management in the Murray-Darling Basin II: unravelling human impacts and climate variability

Mills, Keely; Gell, Peter; Gergis, Joëlle; Baker, Patrick J.; Finlayson, C. Max; Hesse, Paul; Jones, Roger; Kershaw, A. Peter; Pearson, Stuart; Treble, Pauline C.; Barr, Cameron; Brookhouse, Matthew; Drysdale, Russell N.; McDonald, Janece; Haberle, Simon; Reid, Michael; Thoms, Martín; Tibby, John

doi:10.1080/08120099.2013.823463

Cited by 22 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…This account is, however, contradicted by most charcoal records from south-east Australia which show an increased incidence of fire after European settlement (Mooney et al, 2011;Mills et al, 2013). The high charcoal counts below 170 cm are consistent with high rates of indigenous burning of fringing reedbeds before tubers were harvested, which has been a recognized common practice (Head, 1987).…”

Section: Impact Of Settlementcontrasting

confidence: 40%

Blooms of cyanobacteria in a temperate Australian lagoon system post and prior to European settlement

et al. 2016

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Abstract. Blooms of noxious N 2 fixing cyanobacteria such as Nodularia spumigena are a recurring problem in some estuaries; however, the historic occurrence of such blooms in unclear in many cases. Here we report the results of a palaeoecological study on a temperate Australian lagoon system (the Gippsland Lakes) where we used stable isotopes and pigment biomarkers in dated cores as proxies for eutrophication and blooms of cyanobacteria. Pigment proxies show a clear signal, with an increase in cyanobacterial pigments (echinenone, canthaxanthin and zeaxanthin) in the period coinciding with recent blooms. Another excursion in these proxies was observed prior to the opening of an artificial entrance to the lakes in 1889, which markedly increased the salinity of the Gippsland Lakes. A coincident increase in the sediment organic-carbon content in the period prior to the opening of the artificial entrance suggests that the bottom waters of the lakes were more stratified and hypoxic, which would have led to an increase in the recycling of phosphorus. After the opening of the artificial entrance, there was a ∼ 60-year period with low values for the cyanobacterial proxies as well as a low sediment organic-carbon content suggesting a period of low bloom activity associated with the increased salinity of the lakes. During the 1940s, the current period of re-eutrophication commenced, as indicated by a steadily increasing sediment organic-carbon content and cyanobacterial pigments. We suggest that increasing nitrogen inputs from the catchment led to the return of hypoxia and increased phosphorus release from the sediment, which drove the reemergence of cyanobacterial blooms.

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Section: Impact Of Settlementcontrasting

confidence: 40%

Blooms of cyanobacteria in a temperate Australian lagoon system post and prior to European settlement

et al. 2016

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“…diatoms, cladocerans) of wetland condition. These have been supplemented since the 1990s with other records (see Mills et al, 2013). In many instances these records, which provide a pre-European benchmark, reveal that much wetland change commenced soon after European settlement in the early 1800s.…”

Section: Impacts Of Land Cover and Land Use Change On Australian Fresmentioning

confidence: 97%

When trends intersect: The challenge of protecting freshwater ecosystems under multiple land use and hydrological intensification scenarios

Davis

O’Grady

Dale

et al. 2015

Science of The Total Environment

115

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“…The papers in this Special Issue ) provide an overview of palaeoecological approaches that have been used to investigate changes in wetlands, with further information available in Gell (2012) and links to management outlined in Mills et al (2013). In particular, the papers illustrate .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These approaches have, perhaps, not done themselves service by pursuing evidence for change over periods not readily seen to be relevant to contemporary management, nor have they always addressed key management issues (Mills et al 2013). However, for several decades now, palaeoecology has dealt with shorter time frames in fine resolution, so providing clear insights into the nature of change through industrial times.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, for several decades now, palaeoecology has dealt with shorter time frames in fine resolution, so providing clear insights into the nature of change through industrial times. Palaeoecology now deliberately addresses natural system management and those questions significant to the broader ecological community (Mills et al 2013;Seddon et al 2014). By requiring nations to identify the ecological character of a wetland and, more recently, limits of acceptable change to that character, the Ramsar Convention lends itself well to incorporating the lessons that accrue from a longer-term perspective of change.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Understanding change in the ecological character of Ramsar wetlands: perspectives from a deeper time – synthesis

Gell

Finlayson

Davidson

2016

Mar. Freshwater Res.

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Abstract. The Convention for Wetlands was signed in 1971 as part of a global measure to mitigate the loss and degradation of the world's wetlands. Signatory nations nominate wetlands as internationally important and commit to maintaining their 'ecological character'. In many cases the character that has been maintained was that occurring at the time of nomination with scant attention to the variability and change that occurs over longer periods. Palaeoclimate and palaeoecological research now reveals a diverse array of conditions in wetlands in the past and attests that any recently identified condition may be transient. The research further reveals the considerable magnitude and antiquity of the impact of people on wetlands. Hence the site description used by wetland managers would benefit from the provision of a longerterm perspective of change. The changing state of wetlands provides a dilemma for wetland managers. In response, a workshop on understanding change in wetlands was held in Queenscliff, Australia, in November 2013 to draw together perspectives of change from neo-and palaeoecological sources to enable the formulation of new pathways of assessment to better accommodate the dynamic nature of wetlands. A synthesis of the information provided at the workshop is provided in this paper.

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Paleoclimate studies and natural-resource management in the Murray-Darling Basin II: unravelling human impacts and climate variability

Cited by 22 publications

References 69 publications

Blooms of cyanobacteria in a temperate Australian lagoon system post and prior to European settlement

Blooms of cyanobacteria in a temperate Australian lagoon system post and prior to European settlement

When trends intersect: The challenge of protecting freshwater ecosystems under multiple land use and hydrological intensification scenarios

Understanding change in the ecological character of Ramsar wetlands: perspectives from a deeper time – synthesis

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