Developing a monitoring program for six key estuaries in North-West Tasmania: Montagu River

We implemented a monitoring program developed by Crawford and White (2006), which was designed to assess the current condition of six key estuaries in NW Tasmania: Port Sorell, the Leven, Inglis, Black, Montagu and Arthur River estuaries. This study considered a range of water quality and ecological indictors commonly used to monitor estuaries. These included: salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH, nutrients (nitrate + nitrite, dissolved reactive phosphorus and ammonia), silica molybdate reactive and chlorophyll a for the water column; chlorophyll a and macroinvertebrate community structure amongst the sediments. The data represented by this record was collected in Montagu River.

Simple

Identification info

Date (Creation)
2011-11-18T10:33:00

Principal investigator

Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute (TAFI) - Crawford, Christine, Dr
Private Bag 49
Hobart
TAS
7001
Australia
ORCID ID >

Collaborator

Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute (TAFI) - Beard, Jason
Private Bag 49
Hobart
TAS
7001
Australia

Collaborator

Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute (TAFI) - Hirst, Alastair, Dr
Private Bag 49
Hobart
TAS
7001
Australia
Purpose
Given the economic, social and environmental importance of estuaries in NW Tasmania there is a need for baseline and ongoing assessment of estuarine condition.
Credit
Natural Resource Management (NRM) Cradle Coast
Status
Completed

Principal investigator

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) - Crawford, Christine, Dr
IMAS - Taroona
Private Bag 49
Hobart
TAS
7001
Australia
ORCID ID >

Point of contact

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) - Ross, Jeff, Dr
IMAS - Taroona
Private Bag 49
Hobart
TAS
7001
Australia
ORCID ID >

Temporal resolution
P0Y1M0DT0H0M0S
Topic category
  • Oceans

Extent

N
S
E
W


Geographic identifier
3414:104:4

Title
c-squares
Date (Creation)
2001-12-13T00:00:00

Owner

CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
>

Temporal extent

Time period
2006-11-01T00:00:00 2007-10-31T00:00:00

Vertical element

Minimum value
0
Maximum value
8
Identifier
EPSG::5715
Name
MSL depth
Maintenance and update frequency
Not planned

Resource format

Title
Microsoft Excel (xls)
Date
Edition
2003
Keywords (Theme)
  • Human impact
  • Degradation
  • Monitoring program
  • Benthic macroinvertebrates
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords Version 8.0
Keywords (Discipline)
  • Temperate Reef
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC): Fields of Research
Keywords (Theme)
  • Salinity
  • Temperature
  • Dissolved oxygen
  • Turbidity
  • Ammonia
  • Nitrate plus Nitrite
  • Reactive phosphorus
  • Silica
  • Chlorophyll a
  • Abundance - benthic macroinvertebrates
  • pH

Resource constraints

Classification
Unclassified

Resource constraints

Use limitation
The data described in this record are the intellectual property of the University of Tasmania through the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute.

Resource constraints

Linkage
http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/2.5/au/88x31.png

License Graphic

Title
Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia License


>

Website
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/

License Text

Other constraints
The citation in a list of references is: citation author name/s (year metadata published), metadata title. Citation author organisation/s. File identifier and Data accessed at (add http link).

Associated resource

Title
Tasmanian Estuaries Monitoring
Date (Creation)
2011-11-16T00:00:00
Character encoding
UTF8
Supplemental Information
Beard, J., Crawford, C., & Hirst, AJ. (2008)DEVELOPING A MONITORING PROGRAM FOR SIX KEY ESTUARIES IN NORTH-WEST TASMANIA. NRM Final Report

Content Information

Content type
Physical measurement
Name
Salinity

Name
ppt
Name
Temperature

Name
Degrees celcius
Name
Dissolved oxygen

Name
DO

Name
percentage saturation
Name
pH

Name
Turbidity

Name
NTU
Name
Ammonia

Name
mg/L
Name
Nitrate plus Nitrite

Name
NOx

Name
mg/L
Name
Reactive phosphorus

Name
mg/L
Name
Silica

Name
mg/L
Name
Chlorophyll a

Name
ug/L
Name
Abundance - benthic macroinvertebrates

Distribution Information

Distribution format
  • Microsoft Excel (xls)

Distributor

Principal investigator

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) - Crawford, Christine, Dr
OnLine resource
DATA ACCESS - Montagu River dataset [direct download]

OnLine resource
REPORT - Final project report [direct download]

Resource lineage

Statement
This site was sampled on a bimonthly basis. Sampling was conducted from a small boat or by wading if sites became inaccessible by boat. All sampling was conducted at low tide when estuaries are influenced to a greater extent by freshwater flows (Hirst et al., 2005). Physico-chemical parameters measured at each site at low tide were: · Salinity, · Temperature (ºC), · Dissolved oxygen (% saturation), · pH, · Turbidity (NTU), · Dissolved nutrients – ammonia, nitrate + nitrite (NOx), reactive phosphorus(mg/L), · Silica (mg/L), Ecological parameters monitored were: · Water column chlorophyll a and benthic chlorophyll a and · Macroinvertebrates (sampled once only during autumn and spring). Results obtained for benthic chlorophyll a were not presented in the report but will be made publicly available in a subsequent report. Water quality measurements were taken mid channel. Salinity, temperature and dissolved oxygen were measured from the surface to the bottom at 1 m intervals. Where the bottom did not fall exactly on a 1 m interval the true depth was recorded. During the course of the study, salinity and temperature were recorded with a WTW LF196 and WTW Cond 315i instruments. Dissolved oxygen was measured with a TPS WP-82Y meter. Salinity and dissolved oxygen were not recorded on occasions due to equipment failure. Turbidity, pH, nutrients and water column chlorophyll a measurements were all sampled in surface waters (<30cm). Three turbidity readings were taken at each site using a HACH 2100P Turbidimeter and averaged. The pH meter (Hanna HI 98127) was recalibrated every month prior to field sampling. Nutrients were sampled using standard protocols set by Analytical Services Tasmania (AST) and Eriksen (2006) and analysed by AST. In the field, water column chlorophyll a samples were collected using a 1 L plastic container covered with alfoil to reduce photo-degradation and stored in an esky containing ice packs. Samples were filtered through Whatman GF/F 45mm diameter filter paper within a day of collection and immediately frozen. Benthic chlorophyll a samples were collected using a 35mL syringe with the end removed and marked 3cm from the end point. At each site three mud samples were collected at the low tide mark (0m), each containing approximately 3cm of sediment. After completing a field sampling day all benthic chlorophyll a samples were immediately frozen. Benthic Macroinvertebrates To determine the diversity and abundance of estuarine invertebrate fauna in the sediments, macroinvertebrate samples were collected at each site within each estuary during autumn and spring of 2007. All sampling was undertaken at low tide using similar methods to Hirst et al. (2005). At each site five sediment cores (diameter = 150mm, depth = 100mm) were taken along a line at 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.5m depths. The core samples were sieved through a 1mm sieve in the field and the remaining contents were fixed in 10% formalin. In the laboratory macroinvertebrates were identified to species level where possible and counted. Water column chlorophyll a Chlorophyll a analyses were conducted using standard techniques at the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute. The concentration of chlorophyll a was calculated using the equation Total Chlorophyll a = 11.0(Abs665-Abs750) v/Vp where V is the volume filtered (L), v is the volume of acetone (mL) and p is the path length (cm). The amount of phaeophytin, a natural degradation product of chlorophyll a was also calculated and found to be negligible. Therefore results for chlorophyll a are presented without a correction for phaeophytin.
Hierarchy level
Dataset

Metadata

Metadata identifier
357591e6-e0f8-4d30-a7d1-c875c004da4c

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Point of contact

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) - IMAS Data Manager
Parent metadata

Type of resource

Resource scope
Dataset
Metadata linkage
https://metadata.imas.utas.edu.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/357591e6-e0f8-4d30-a7d1-c875c004da4c

Point of truth URL of this metadata record

Date info (Creation)
2021-03-30T21:34:04
Date info (Revision)
2021-03-30T21:34:04

Metadata standard

Title
ISO 19115-3:2018
 
 

Overviews

Spatial extent

N
S
E
W


Keywords

Abundance - benthic macroinvertebrates Ammonia Benthic macroinvertebrates Chlorophyll a Degradation Dissolved oxygen Human impact Monitoring program Nitrate plus Nitrite Reactive phosphorus Salinity Silica Temperature Turbidity pH
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords Version 8.0
ANIMALS/INVERTEBRATES BENTHIC HABITAT CHLOROPHYLL ESTUARINE HABITAT INTERTIDAL ZONE NUTRIENTS OXYGEN SALINITY TURBIDITY WATER QUALITY WATER TEMPERATURE

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Associated resources

Not available